1998
Mountain Biking
World Championships

Mont Sainte- Anne,
Quebec, Canada
September 18-20

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Christophe Tops

It’s never been done before, but 1998 has the honor of being the year that France swept the nine-year-old UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. Five major categories, five gold medals. We’re seeing French warmup suits in our sleep...

Sunday was the final day of competition here in lovely Mont Saint-Anne and, while everyone scrambled to get tickets to the infamous Sunday night party (this year with a 007 theme) Laurence Leboucher (FRA, Peugeot LaPoste) and Christophe Dupouey (FRA, Sunn-Un) calmly plotted their own world domination... no tickets needed.

Laurence Leboucher

The weather was cool but dry, the course in a hard, fast mode. It was a mode perfectly suited for the former road racer Leboucher who — after only one lap — said au revoir to world cup champ Alison Sydor and rode to her first World Championship gold medal.

Sydor, although the favorite on this home-court course, pretty much burned her biscuits winning the overall Grundig title and couldn’t have been in top form this weekend. She made a great race of it though, chasing both Leboucher and super-studette Gunn-Rita Dahle (NOR, American Eagle) for five long laps and a bronze medal.

Dahle, meanwhile, hoped to repeat her devastating performance from Bromont two weeks ago and went after Leboucher with a vengeance. Both knew, however, that the course favored Leboucher’s superior climbing and — without the tricky descents of Bromont — wouldn’t be as kind to Dahle’s superior descending.

So the two yo-yo’d for a few laps, Dahle making up time on the course’s one good descent and promptly losing it on the long fireroad climbs. The two went away from the field, dropping all other riders.

Gunn Rita Guns

America’s best ride came from none other than Alison Dunlap (USA, GT) who came back into form just in time for this race. She passed Spanish champ Margarita Fullana (ESP, Mt. Dew/Specialized) late in the race and had 4th place finisher Annabella Stropparo (ITA, Volvo-Cannondale) within her sights as well, taking 5th to shut up anyone who thought she’d gone flat this season.

The men were a different story. Christophe Dupouey (FRA, Sunn-Un) was the Zone’s pick for victory, and he didn’t disappoint. He completely killed the field two weeks ago in Bromont and without his little teammate Martinez to bother him, left countryman Jerome Chiotti (FRA, GT) and Filip Meirhaeghe (BEL, Mt. Dew/Specialized) behind to contest the lower steps of the podium.

Dupouey was lucky that Chiotti was on his national team, because Chiotti wasn’t able to help Meirhaeghe close the gap - that would have meant attacking a teammate - very bad by French national federation standards. So Meirhaeghe, who may have had the strength to win with a work-share program - was forced to close gaps alone, allowing Chiotti to attack him. And they say mountain biking has no strategies.

No one else was in the running after a lap or two of this sort of racing, but Michael Rasmussen made a heck of an attempt. The straight-shooting Dane chased in fourth - solo at 110% - but blew up after going redline and went from 4th to 7th at the finish. And bless Tinker Juarez’s heart, he was the top American... in 21st place. Welcome to the way it is, and always will be in men’s XC racing.

After the race the champagne sprayed for the last time of the season, as everyone quietly wrote their own lyrics to the now-familiar French national anthem. Two hours later we were all dressed in tuxes and sexy garb for the James Bond party, and we even brought a camera. Check out the pics, and we’ll see you soon at another race.

Rich Neare, retiring his name for the winter, for The Mountain Zone.