1998 World Cup Mountain Biking
St. Wendel, Germany
May 9-10, 1998

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Euro world cup racing — an evolving machine of speed, showmanship and increased professionalism showed its "new and improved" face this weekend in Germany as two new winners joined the elite ranks of world cup mountain bike race winners.

Dahle Flanked

On a weekend of sunny skies, huge crowds and ultra-fast racing, Gunn-Rita Dahle (NOR, American Eagle) and Filip Meirhaeghe (BEL, Mt. Dew/Specialized) took their turns on the podium as the fresh-face mill continues to churn in the European spring tour.

Pezzo's Got the Shirt

The women's race saw the return of Dahle as the Norwegian simply overpowered the competition and rode up through the ranks in a five lap race. With Laurence Leboucher (FRA, Peugeot LaPoste) and Margarita Fullana (ESP, Mt. Dew/Specialized) holding the lead positions for most of the race and top- ranked riders like Paola Pezzo (ITA, Gary Fisher), Alison Sydor (CAN, Volvo- Cannondale) and Alison Dunlap (USA, GT) out of winning contention, the women's race was an exciting and fast-moving affair; one where the leading duo were just complacent enough to be caught by Dahle and passed as the powerful rider made a last-lap move for victory.

Pezzo and Sydor fought for lower placings against last week's winner Chantal Daucourt (SUI, Trek Volkswagen) but no one could match Dahle's speed today as the women's tour welcomes its fourth winner in as many rounds. Sydor did well enough, however, to retain her blue leader's jersey as she recovers from a cold and looks for her top form again.

The Men

Men's action began at noon on Sunday with an estimated 30,000 spectators lining the 6.9km course - including a huge beer tent through which the course ran on its way to the finish line. Weather was again warm and sunny, with a huge expo area and plenty of great viewing for the enthusiastic beer-drinking Germans. Taking advantage of a (sort of) home field advantage, Filip Meirhaeghe dominated the strong men's field and dusted Cadel Evans (AUS, Volvo-Cannondale) in a last second sprint for his - and Belgium's - first big win ever.

The race was so fast and flat that it quickly turned into a road race where two or three little peletons sped their ways around the smooth course and riders did roadie things like draft, breakaway and sprint... welcome to the new era of world cup racing. The lead group shaped up to contain Meirhaeghe, Rune Hoydahl (NOR, Giant), Evans and the French Sunn-un teamup of Miguel Martinez and Christophe Dupouey - all chasing points and cold cash at the finish.

Evans Trying

After several laps of jockeying for position and a max. capacity men's field trying to catch the fast-moving train, the five dominant riders finally realized that someone was going to have to win the race and Evans made a move off the front in the 6th lap. He was replaced by Meirhaeghe who showed he had the sprint of the day and staved off the Aussie while Hoydahl tried to keep his leader's jersey by chasing Evans. Neither chase was successful and Meirhaeghe claimed the first win for Specialized since '94 and Evans claimed back not only the blue leaders jersey but the U-23 red one as well.

Next week's racing continues in Plymouth, England as the circus wonders who will next stand atop the podium and all top racers realize that hey - it might as well be them.

COURSE LOWDOWN:
St. Wendel's course conformed to the UCI's new sub-7km lap size by a tenth of a km, and was a fast open roadie track - perfect for the type of Euro riders that continue to pummel hapless Americanos as courses get flatter, faster and less technical.

The course, which if you weren't careful you might fall asleep on while walking around, features 270 meters of climbing per lap, but because the climbs are long, partly paved affairs, you don't notice the hills as much. After an open climb the laps cut into the trees for the most interesting sections of singletrack, a man-made rocky descent and steep drops. The course then comes back out onto a grass descent and tears down to the start/finish arena after taking a pass through a huge beer tent - much to the delight of the estimated 10 thousand fans on hand.

Fiction and Fact: The Mountain Zone Almanac
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.

Larsen

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.