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Ruthie Matthes

Sunday’s XC racing went off under warm and humid conditions as the rains held off and hazy sunshine warmed up two large fields of NORBA racers. Contesting a steep 6-mile course of hard climbing and technical descents, the women went 3 laps while the men raced four; joined at this race by roadie legend Lance Armstrong who tried his hand at MTB racing.

The women’s race initially looked like a carbon copy of last week’s race, Tammy Jacques (USA, Schwinn-Toyota) leading out rival Ruthie Matthes (USA, PowerBar) and the usual cast of top female riders. Both battling for the leader’s jersey, the duo’s rivalry was cut short early when Jacques flatted on the first climb; destined to spend the day fighting back from 23rd to an eventual 10th place finish.

Meanwhile, Matthes went out like a rocket, putting one and a half minutes on the field and maintaining it the entire race. She was, in a word, untouchable. It then became a race for second as Rene Marshman (USA, Moots/PowerBar), Ann Trombley (USA, Ellsworth/Zzyzx), last week’s winner Chrissy Redden (CAN, Ritchey) and round one’s winner Golden Brainard (USA, Catera/Pure Energy) rode together - chasing Matthes and vying for the podium.

Lesley Tomlinson (CAN, Polo Sport) soon moved up past Trombley and Wallick into third as Marshman took advantage of Redden crashing (and flatting) to ride to a best-ever second. "When Chrissy crashed I just went for it and rode as hard as I could,” she commented. Marshman’s finish gave small bike builder Moots both first and second place.

Flat tires were a major factor today not only for Jacques, but also early front-runner Alla Epifanova (RUS, Volvo-Cannondale) who double-flatted, Sarah Wallick (USA, Headshok) who finished with a flat and - most notably - Redden who flatted at the end after riding in second most of the day.

With her season’s first win, Matthes overtook Jacques as the points leader with a powerful effort. "It’s been a tough year - it makes winning all the more precious” she said. "I feel bad for Tammy though... It would have been nice to race her head-to-head. That’s bike racing,” Jacques conceded. "Ruthie rode tremendously well.”

Tinker Beats the Heat

Men’s racing began soon thereafter, the skies heating up for four laps of racing. While the battle for the jersey featured names like Tinker Juarez (USA, Volvo-Cannondale) and Steve Larsen (USA, Schwinn-Toyota), the name on everyone’s tongue was road honch Lance Armstrong who, riding in his U.S. Postal Service road uniform on a Trek hardtail, decided to give this whole mountain biking thing a go.

With Armstrong looking to test his dirt legs in his first-ever pro MTB race, the field headed up the first climb at full speed - led by, you guessed it - Armstrong. Thirty seconds separated him from his "legitimate” chasers by the top of the first climb; Larsen, Juarez and Pavel Tcherkassov (RUS, Diamondback) riding tightly in pursuit.

As Armstrong got smoked on the tricky descents, he hammered the climbs and stayed in the top five for the race’s first half before DNF-ing in the beginning of the fourth lap; a victim of leg cramps and chainsuck. His presence, however, was appreciated by everyone as the rest of the field upped their efforts to catch him.

Tcherkassov also lead for awhile before blowing out a tire’s sidewall, Larsen finally taking over the lead. Next to surprise the field was Tim Gould (GBR, Schwinn-Toyota) who moved into fourth, then second, the legendary climber coming up with his best ride in years.

Juarez continued in third with Greg Randolph (USA, GT) in fourth by the third lap. Roland Green (CAN, Mapei-Kona) moved up several placed to 6th then 5th, and Peter Swenson (USA, Polo Sport) replaced Travis Brown (USA, Trek Volkswagen) and teammate Dave Wiens in 5th, then 4th place.

Gould Wins

Gould now passed his teammate in a slightly controversial move - Larsen needed as many points as he could earn while Gould needed a win for end-of-season sponsorship negotiations. Gould continued to power off the front to the tune of 35 seconds, Larsen and Juarez chasing hard. If it sounds confusing, it was — rider roulette was the norm in this volatile race. When it all ended, much of the established order had been upset as riders like Swenson, Green and local-boy Eric Jones (USA, KHS) made their mark here in Park City.

For Gould, this hard-fought win couldn’t have come at a better time. "I’ve been a bit disgruntled lately,” he said. "But I didn’t panic today... I know I’m capable of winning. I took last week really easy, which helped a lot.”

"I was definitely hurting today,” admitted second-place Larsen. "We all went full on today - it was a heck of a race.” Diplomatic in being bested by a teammate in this important race, he added "[Gould] did what he had to do, and I don’t hold that against him.”

Juarez now wears the ugly gray NORBA leader’s jersey, with Travis Brown and Larsen next in points. As soon as Larsen’s low score is dropped, he should hop into the jersey. Next week’s action takes place at a (literally) breath-taking 10,000 feet, so racers will now strap oxygen bottles to their back and contest the last race before Mt. Snow’s finals.

— Rich Neare, Mountain Zone Correspondent