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The opening round of the 2008 Mountain Bike World Cup took place in Houffalize, Belgium. A record field of more than 400 riders lined up for the first event that factors into Olympic team selection.
Of the sixteen Americans that competed, Georgia Gould (Ketchum, ID) posted the top finish with a fifth place effort in the women’s race. In men’s competition, Todd Wells (Durango, CO) posted the best American result with an 11th place finish.
Ranked third in the world for elite women’s cross-country mountain biking, the U.S. Olympic Team will be sending the maximum of two women to contest the Olympic cross-country event in Beijing later this summer. Gould secured 140 valuable points with her fifth place effort. On a slippery course that turned to mud by the penultimate lap, the top American rode most of the contest in the lead group along with Canadian Marie-Helene Premont and Russian Irina Kalentieva.
China’s Ren Chengyuan spoiled the hopes of the three leaders with a late race surge that resulted in the win while Kalentieva followed in second and Premont in third. Early race leader Margarita Fullana (Spain) surpassed Gould for fourth and the American crossed the line in fifth, 47 seconds off the winning pace.
The second best performance for the U.S. in the women’s contest came from 2004 Olympian Mary McConneloug (Fairfax, CA), who finished just over 10 minutes off the pace of Chengyuan in 18th. Heather Irmiger (Boulder, C0) was 22nd to put three American women in the top 25.
In elite men’s cross-country mountain biking, the U.S. Olympic Mountain Bike Team has earned two start spots for Beijing. Todd Wells was the American to secure the most points toward one of those spots in Houffalize, earning 90 points with an 11th place finish.
On a course that was much drier than what the women had faced earlier in the day, France’s 2004 Olympic champion Julian Absalon claimed a convincing win. He crossed the finish line nearly a minute ahead of second and third place finishers Nino Schurter and and Christoph Sauser, both from Switzerland.
Wells was just over five minutes off the pace of the leader. The American’s performance over the five laps was impressive considering the fact that the GT Team bikes were stolen and he contested the event on a brand new frame built from scratch the day before. Adam Craig (Bend, OR) wasn’t far behind the lead American. With a 15th place effort just 39 seconds behind Wells, Craig earned 76 points toward an Olympic start spot.
The Mountain Bike World Cup continues next weekend, with round two slated for April 26-27 in Offenburg, Germany.
HOUFFALIZE RESULTS
1. JULIEN ABSALON (FRA)...ORBEA...2:06:56
2. NINO SCHURTER Nino (SWI)...SWISSPOWER...+0:00:51 (U23)
3. CHRISTOPH SAUSER (SUI)...SPECIALIZED...0:01:14
4. JAKOB FUGLSANG (DEN)...CANNONDALE-VREDESTEIN...0:02:00
5. CEDRIC RAVANEL (FRA)...LAPIERRE...0:02:37
6. JEAN-CHRISTOPHE PERAUD (FRA)...ORBEA...0:03:10
7. JOSE HERMIDA (SPN)...MULTIVAN MERIDA...0:03:33
8. ROEL PAULISSEN (BEL)...CANNONDALE-VREDESTEIN...0:03:55
9. KASHI LEUCHS (NZL)...CANNONDALE-VREDESTEIN...0:04:09
10. MARTIN GUJAN (SWI)...ATHLETICUM...0:04:34
11. TODD WELLS (USA)...GT MONGOOSE...0:05:16
12. GEOFF KABUSH (CAN)...MAXXIS...0:05:30
15. ADAM CRAIG (USA)...GIANT...0:05:55
60. JEREMY HORGAN-KOBELSKI (USA)...SUBARU GF...0:15:28
61. BARRY WICKS (USA)...KONA...0:15:37
77. JEREMIAH BISHOP (USA)...TREK-VW...+0:17:23
111. MICHAEL BRODERICK (USA)...KENDA-SEVEN...-1Lap
193. COLIN CARES (USA)...U23 NATIONAL...-2Laps (U23)
225. KEVIN SOLLER (USA)...-3Laps (U23)
228. ETHAN GILMOUR (USA)...U23 NATIONAL...-3Laps (U23)
WOMEN
1. REN CHENGYUAN (CHN)...CHINA NATIONAL...2:11:06 (U23)
2. IRINA KALENTIEVA (RUS)...TOPEAK ERGON...+0:00:35
3. MARIE-HELENE PREMONT (CAN)...ROCKY MNT...0:01:08
4. MARGARITA FULLANA (SPN)...MASSI...0:02:23
5. GEORGIA GOULD (USA)...LUNA CHIX...0:02:47
6. GUNN-RITA DAHLE (NOR)...MULTIVAN MERIDA...0:04:00
7. NATHALIE SCHNEITTER (SWI)...COLNAGO CAP ARR...0:04:13 (U23)
8. PETRA HENZI (SUI)...FISCHER-BMC...0:04:26
9. TEREZA HURIKOVA (CZE)...CESKA...0:05:06 (U23)
10. SABINE SPITZ (GER)...CENTRA GHOST...0:05:38
18. MARY MCCONNELOUG (USA)...KENDA-SEVEN...0:10:15
22. HEATHER IRMIGER (USA)...SUBARU GARY FISHER...0:12:42
36. SUSAN HAYWOOD (USA)...TREK-VW...0:17:17
44. WILLOW KOERBER (USA)...SUBARU GARY FISHER...+0:20:08
75. SUSAN BUTLER (USA)...MONAVIE CANNONDALE...-1Lap