XC#7 Conyers, Georgia If Hoydahl wins Bromont and Evans does worse than fifth, guess who’ll win the overall? We’ll give you a Giant hint. Paola Pezzo won Olympic gold here in '96 and mentioned that she'd like to take some of that historic turf home. So the organizers cut out a chunk and gave it to her. Only Specialized, Ritchey and Diamondback drove their rigs here from Canada, as they now have to schlepp them back to Cali for Mammoth. DBR is happy they did, though. Speaking of Diamondback, their new rider Katey Maher took 15th in her WC debut. And, don’t be surprised to see Leboucher wearing the big red D next season. Team manager KK wants that trade team championship. Caroline Alexander (GBR, Ritchey) went home Friday due to illness. Kirk Molday (USA, Trek Volkswagen) pulled a muscle in Canmore and didn’t race either. It rained so hard the last lap that a tunnel which racers used to cross under the road flooded, forcing a ride through knee-deep water at race’s end. Will Sunn-Un exist next season? Probably not in its present glorious form — look for star riders to show up on new teams next season. Back to Top XC#6 Canmore, Alberta, CAN Cadel Evans had such a strong lead coming into this race that he could have joined us armchair quarterbacks in the palatial pressroom and still retained the jersey. Paola Pezzo has been tearing it up on the road courses, and may race road AND mountain next season. She might also attempt the Tour de France Feminine. Kirk Molday (USA, Trek Volkswagen) is back! A 10th here finally takes some mental pressure off the NCS champ as he recovers from big-team pressures. Top American woman was Ruthie Matthes (PowerBar) who diced it out with Tammy Jacques (USA, Schwinn-Toyota) most of the day. The two took 11th and 13th. Pro-Flex is now No-Flex. K2 Bikes (formerly ProFlex) are no longer the full suspension holdouts on the XC circuit. Pros are now riding 21lb. Easton hardtails in competition. Gunn-Rita Dahle (NOR, American Eagle) is a Bald American eagle once again. I guess she didn’t like her blue hair, but she still looks great. Luca Bramati (ITA) has signed with the Mt. Dew/Specialized squad after his Colnago team folded. DBR has indeed signed Katey Maher of Oregon onto their NORBA and WC squad. She DNF’d with a twisted chain this weekend. Margarita Fullana (ESP, Mt. Dew/Specialized) missed this round due to Spanish Olympic team qualifying races back home. She’ll also miss Conyers. Only 56 men finished in the lead lap. Back to Top DH#4 Big Bear, California A bummin’ Shaun Palmer (USA, Mt. Dew/Specialized) was spotted cruising the venue Sunday with a big arm brace after busting his collarbone (clavicle) during Saturday’s Dual warmup. Asked if the course was too gnarly, Napalm replied “It ain’t the course’s fault I crashed, it’s mine.” Speaking of broken collarbones, John Tomac decided he wanted to have a knitting contest instead of a racing contest with ‘Palm and promptly broke HIS collarbone during Sunday’s DH finals. We’ll see if either of these two can come back by Mammoth. Volvo-Cannondale now has 5 of the 7 leaders jerseys which exist, with 3 XC jerseys (Evans/Sydor) and both DH jerseys (Giove/Vazquez). Just wait until they hire a Dual specialist next season... Nicolas Vouilloz (FRA, Sunn-Un) hurt his hand during practice but said it had nothing to do with his lackluster 12th place finish. Actually, he couldn’t figure out why he did so poorly, and was at a loss to explain his final run. Sharples was riding an off-the-shelf, production Trek DH bike which happens to be built to his measurements. Go buy one now.. oops, they’re sold out. The Sintesi Verlicchi team went to Disneyland Monday and surfing in LA Tues. before heading up to Seattle. What a site that must be... Zapata Espinoza, “the editor so good he’s in the hall of fame” (TM) rode a fast (unconfirmed) 4:51 amateur DH run in a funky green-accented bike/gear kit. Industry honch Steve Boehmke (OC, Shimano) won his Clydesdale class. April Lawyer looked as good as Regina Stiefl as both raced in silver skinsuits. Seems like the women’s field is getting cuter and cuter (and faster and faster). Word Watch: “Presstitute” Coined by PR hack Matt Lanning to describe all us sell-out media types. Back to Top DH#3 Les Gets, France Sari Jorgenson (SUI, Yeti) took 6th; unable to repeat Nevegal's hat trick. Elke Brutsaert (USA, Schwinn-Toyota) and Mercedes Gonzales (ESP, GT) came back from injury for 7th and 8th respectively. Tara Llanes (USA, Mt. Dew/Specialized) broke the top ten of world cup racing (in 10th) while other newbie American Nicole Grant (USA, Giant) took 16th - nicely done! Top American male Kirt Voreis (USA, Mt. Dew/Specialized) with 8th - his second strong run in two weeks. Teammate and drinking buddy Palmer got 25th. Scott Sharples (AUS, Trek Volkswagen) and team/country-mate Michael Ronning (AUS, Gary Fisher) missed their start times (which were back-to-back) and were not allowed to race. Tires were the difference in this race. Taillefer credited his own secret system built into his Michelin spike tires. Engstrom likes his dry tires so much he used them in the mud. Flat tires ruined the rides of several riders including Gracia. Dave Cullinan (USA, Schwinn-Toyota) won the Dual for a second week. Aussie Katrina Miller (Jamis) won the women's event. Brian Lopes (USA, Mongoose) and Cullinan both ran the new Shimano Airlines on their downhill bikes, in world cup competition. Word is that Marla Streb (USA, Yeti) also ran the cool new air-powered shifting system. Dig the new breed. Back to Top DH#2 Nevegal, Italy David Cullinan (USA, Schwinn-Toyota) won the men's dual and is happy to be back on the podium, thank you. Shaun Palmer was unimpressive with a 20th place finish, but still took the time to give winner Gracia a beer after the race. He then got a bit rowdy that evening and was rumored to be headed home... we'll see. Nolvenn LeCaer, France's beautiful and talented GT rider, was injured in the finals and carted off in an ambulance but bolted from the hospital and said she'd race this weekend. Andy Bueller broke his nose in practice. Mercedes Gonzales hurt her shoulder in Big Bear and didn't race. Neither did Elke Brutsaert who crashed in practice. Brian Lopes hurt his thumb in the Dual and was out. Bikes were running the biggest fattest tires you've ever seen during practice — they almost touch the fork's arch at sizes like 3.5. Scott and Sunn have new bikes, and Rock Shox has a new 7-inch Boxxer fork. American men still can't keep up with the Euros; Tomac was tops at 11th. Back to Top XC#5 Plymouth, Great Britain Paola Pezzo missed England and her hopes of a WC title diminish and plans for a one hour record take hold. Dahle sported a lovely new 'do of hair dyed blue. "Now if I can get the jersey to match..." she quipped. Brits love Caroline Alexander - their national champ - and cheered voraciously for her Saturday. Mary Grigson's results don't tell the story of how dominant this comer was. Leboucher is a full-on net-head, she even reads the 'Zone. Team Be-One has a great hair coloring/shaving bet based on top results. Martinez dnf'd as a result of his crash and nearly went into shock as a result. Volvo-Cannondale, DBR and Sunn-un lead the trade team rankings. XC WC racing next picks up July 4th weekend in Canada. Back to Top XC#4 St. Wendel, Germany Hubert Pallhuber (ITA, Diamondback) was involved in an early-race crash and tweaked his rear wheel, slowing him down considerably. Thomas Frischknecht (SUI, Ritchey) wasn't feeling well and pulled after the second lap. Steve Larsen was the top U.S. rider and Tinker Jaurez wasn't around as he prepares to race in the Big Bear NORBA opener - his home town. Germany's Mike Kluge may not be so fast anymore since taking 5th here in '96, but he got huge cheers from his homey crowd. Martinez and Dupouey opted for rigid (no shock) bikes on this smooth course. Caroline Alexander was sick this week and now-healed Chrissy Redden took the Ritchey flag to a 7th place finish. Speaking of sick - it seems like nearly everyone got some sort of flu, bug, cold or allergy after Portugal or Budapest. Back to Top XC #3 — Budapest, Hungary Jerome Chiotti pulled out early from the men's race, saying later "I am a cyclist, not a runner." Shari Kain was absent as she is undergoing back surgery. Beth Coats continues to receive therapy in a Colorado rehab hospital. Hubert Pallhuber has recovered from earlier injuries, but still has a large wooden splinter embedded in his hand from another fall. Volvo-Cannondale is the number-one trade team, with Sunn-un in second and Diamondback one point behind in third. Kirk Molday will race in the NORBA Big Bear race, then join the world cup in North America as he has recovered from an earlier illness. Cannondale wins the drivetrain mechanical-problem award with plenty of chainsuck and shifting problems to go around their fleet of blue CAD 4 bikes, and reports that Missy Giove's DH bike blew another fork in France. Back to Top XC #2 Silves, Portugal This is Evans's first victory for his new Volvo-Cannondale team and his manager Charlie Livermore was a bundle of nerves before the finish. World Champion Hubert Pallhuber (ITA, Diamondback) was riding in 7th place until a late-race flat dropped him to 18th. Alison Dunlap says she's studying Alison Sydor much like Sydor studied Juli Furtado a few years back. Paola Pezzo's English is getting much better and a relaxed golden girl finally looks like she's past that whole drug thing. Trek's studs Michael Rasmussen and Kirk Molday were absent from the race. Caroline Alexander (GBR, Ritchey) worked her way up from dead last after a flat tire to a strong finish. Dario Cioni (ITA, Mapei-Kona) is hot now, but has a tendency to do well early on. Watch out if he and Roland Green hook up. Back to Top DH #1 Stellenbosch, South Africa Team Sintesi's van got plowed on the street with Corrado, Giovanna and Helen Mortimer in the van, all were shaken but Helen Mortimer got racked hard, she didnt even remember her name, I saw her later that day with a whiplash bracket around her neck...this accident had Corrado and Giovanna mentally screwed as it happened race day morning Regina Stiefl made a comeback here in SA, she probabaly wont be happy with her result (18th) We stayed at the same hotel as the team Scott guys, and girl, (andy, Johan, Guillame, Cyril, ALex, and Malin), what a bunch of funny kids, yeah the oldest is 23-yrs-old Palmer Flatted, I believe this is his 1st DNF from a flat tire, he enjoys nude surfing I am told Bas De Bever, last years winner had a crappy run, made up for it last night As I write this I can hear Little Andy Bueler of Scott puking his brains out in the bathroom (the walls are very thin!) Mercedes Gonzalez busted her lip open in practice The new Dual head 2 head format race was underway here and saw Mike King and Malin Lindgren win, followed by Carter and Lopes in the mens race and Lisa Sher getting second in the womens. Only 8 women entered the head 2 head. This format is so lame I really dont see it making it thru the whole season, I will probably eat my words on this but this style will create some really bad blood and dirty riding styles and take away the finesse and skill of slalom racing! John Tomac's new bikes were here, with him piloting them of course, they look pretty cool, tomac got 19th Cully got 10th Fork wars....rock shox had 12 forks in the top 10 of womens and mens Manitou had one fork in the top 10 womens and mens Sunn had 2 forks in the top 10 mens and womens and Cannondale had 4 forks in the top 10. Back to Top