For the first time in five years, the Mountain Bike World Cup will visit the United States, for the conclusion of the 2010 series. Nestled in the Catskill Mountains, 100 miles from New York City, the small resort town of Windham will be the site of the first ever World Cup Final to be held on American soil. All three disciplines of the sport - Olympic Cross-country, Downhill and 4-Cross - will come together to determine who will be crowned the World Cup champions for 2010.
Gee Atherton's lead over Greg Minnaar is down to 4 points after qualifying
Of the six titles up for grabs, only one has been mathematically won: Jared Graves (Yeti Fox Shox) has repeated as men's 4-Cross champion after three victories this season. In the women's 4-Cross, defending champion Anneke Beerten (Suspension Centre) holds a 45 point lead over Austrian rival Anita Molcik, so this title is still in contention. Another rider to watch for the women's event win will be world champion Caroline Buchanan, who has missed most of the season for BMX racing. Rain earlier in the week has softened the course up significantly, and cut down on training time, so the first real chance to see who is going well will be this evening in qualifying.
US Champion Aaron Gwin, 2nd in qualifying
Sabrina Jonnier (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) holds a significant lead over world champion Emmeline Ragot (Suspension Centre) in the women's downhill, but Ragot is coming off two consecutive victories, so Jonnier cannot celebrate yet. Also returning to action is Rachel Atherton (Commencal), who has missed most of the season with shoulder problems. It will be interesting to see if she is fully recovered. The qualifying run saw Ragot finish second behind Trek World Racing's Tracy Moseley, and Ragot managed to lop 20 points more off of Jonnier's lead in the process.
Sabrina Jonnier warms up
The men's race for the title is one of the tightest in memory, with a mere seven points separating the current leader Gee Atherton (Commencal) from rival Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) prior to the qualifying round. After the quailfier it was even closer, with Atherton now four points in front of Minnaar. Whichever rider finishes ahead of the other in the Final on Sunday will decide the title.
Minnaar suffered an arm injury in training, a "subluxation of the elbow", according to team manager Kathy Sessler. Minnaar was at the hospital for x-rays last night, and nothing is broken, but how much of an impact it will have will remains to be seen - in the qualifying run Minnaar finished one spot ahead of Atherton, but both were beat by world champion Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate). Another rider taken out by this course is Mick Hannah (GT), who sustained a damaged shoulder, concussion and possible other injuries. Returning to the start line is Sam Hill (Monster Energy-Specialized), who has missed most of the season with injury.
Jill Kintner in her first World Cup DH was top American woman
Atherton is relaxed and ready to race. "It's a good course, doesn't really favour one rider over another, you just have to be in good form and pedal hard."
The 1.9 kilometre course drops 470 metres, for an average grade of 25%. It is broken into three segments - a rocky section at the top, more open and flatter in the middle and then another rock section before a fast finish.
Minnaar has closed the gap to Gee Atherton to 4 points
The Cross-country finals will be equally exciting, with Catharine Pendrel (Luna) leading Eva Lechner (Colnago Arreghini Sudtirol) by 54 points and Willow Koerber (Subaru Gary Fisher) by 59. All three have led the World Cup this season, but who will be the final one to don the jersey? Missing from the mix will by Under-23 women's leader Julie Bresset (BH-Suntour), who broke her collarbone in training ten days ago. Her season is ended, although she has already wrapped up the U23 World Cup title.
"I'm feeling good, really good," commented Pendrel, "and I'm really hoping to break that World Cup curse this year - every rider so far has lost the jersey in the race they are wearing it!"
Moseley qualified first by a 4.5 second margin
In the men's race, world champion Nino Schurter (Scott-Swisspower) wrested the leader's jersey from Julien Absalon (Orbea) in round five, but his lead is only 26 points, so the title will come down to whomever crosses the finish line first in Windham.
The 5.4 kilometre circuit is very simple: a long climb followed by a shorter, faster descent. The climbing is broken into steps, rather than one big continuous climb, but there is little room to rest between sections. The descent is smoothing out as more people ride it, and has significant sections of singletrack. The races will begin with an uphill start from the center of town before entering the circuit. The women will do five laps and the men six.
Steve Peat has stepped his game up just in time for Worlds, qualifying first here
"It is very traditional East Coast riding," commented Christoph Sauser. "I like the course, it is pretty fun, and the climb is better for being broken up the way it is."
Steve Smith was 7th in qualifying
Riders are still trying decide what to ride - for example, Specialized currently has riders planning on three different bikes: Todd Wells on a 29er full suspension, Sauser on a 26" full suspension, and Burry Stander on a 29er hardtail.
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