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Val Di Sole, Italy
 
The United State's best finish in the U23 Cross-Country at the 2008 Mountain Bike World Championships came in the form of a 41st place finish by the relatively inexperienced Tim Allen of Flagstaff, AZ. None of the four American competitors were able to complete all six laps. The top ranked under-23 American Sam Jurekovic (Colorado Springs, CO) suffered an early race-ending crash.
More than 100 riders took to the start amongst a boisterous crowd in the midday heat of northern Italy. Allen took his start in the very back row. The first year pro, making his first visit overseas, did not let that thwart his effort, moving up 40 spots in the first two laps.
“This was definitely an eye opening experience--incredible,” said Allen. “The start was just insane, like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It was very aggressive and intimidating. I wasn’t able to go that hard on the first lap. With all the bottlenecks and crashes I was just trying to stay upright and make as many moves as I could. After that I felt good and started making my way through the field.”
Although pulled just before his final lap, Allen was able to earn 41st place in a race where only 34 riders completed all six laps. Mitchell Peterson (Sandy, UT) also had a strong ride for the U.S. placing 67th after completing three laps of the contest. Colin Cares (Boulder, CO) ended the race in 85th.
 
After starting in the 15th spot in a call-up system based on UCI points, Jurekovic was amongst the top riders near the completion of the race’s first lap. Luck however was not on his side as he suffered a crash in which his shoes came unclipped on a violent downhill resulting in a completely broken bike frame and forcing him out of the competition.
“I wanted to go hard out of the gate and get amongst the leaders and then set my pace,” explained Jurekovic. “The plan was working great up until that last descent on the first lap.”
Friday’s 21.7 mile race was dominated by Switzerland with the European nation placing three riders in the top five and four inside the top ten. Overall winner Nino Schurter (Swi) set a blistering pace with sub-18-minute laps, besting the times of any of the elite males competing in the Team Relay 3 days prior.
In the evening’s 4-Cross preliminaries, the United States qualified six athletes for the finals. Last year’s World Champion, American  Brian Lopes (San Clemente, CA), qualified eighth, only 0:00.98 behind number one qualifier Jared Graves of Australia. Ross Milan (Golden, CO) qualified in the 12th spot, while Michael Haderer (Concord, CA) qualified 23rd and Blake Carney (Camarillo, CA) 37th. On the women’s side, last year’s bronze medalist Melissa Buhl (Chandler, AZ) qualified third, 0:00.26 behind Anneke Beerten (Ned). Neven Steinmetz (Boulder, CO) qualified in 20th place. 
 
WORLD CHAMP'S U23 CROSS-COUNTRY RESULTS
1. Nino Schurter (Swi)...SwissPower...1:44:34
2. Burry Stander (RSA)...GT...+0:41
3. Matthias Fluckiger (Swi)...Athleticum...3:46
41. Tim Allen...VooDoo...-1 lap
67. Mitchell Peterson...Mona Vie Cannondale...-2 laps
85. Colin Cares...U23 National...-3 laps
DNF. Sam Jurekovic...U23 National