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NORBA No. 2: North Americans rule second day in Wisconsin

By Jason Sumner, VeloNews Associate Editor
Published: Jun. 15, 2002
Green rolls to another win.
Green rolls to another win.
Photo: Jason Sumner

Over the years the NORBA National Championship series has become a very international affair, but on the second day of racing at Alpine Valley Resort in Wisconsin it was all North Americans on top of the podium.

Racing on a mostly sunny Saturday started with the short track, and like they did the day before in the cross country, reigning world champions Alison Dunlap and Roland Green came out on top. In the evening the other rainbow-striped rider in attendance — American Brian Lopes — took the debut NORBA mountain cross race, with Tara Llanes winning the women’s event.

Short Track
Dunlap (Luna) earned her win after breaking away from Jimena Florit (RLX-Polo Sport) midway through day’s opening race, then steadily distancing herself from the Argentinean and the rest of the would-be chasers on her way to an all-time best ninth career short track victory.

No one could match Dunlap.
No one could match Dunlap.
Photo: Jason Sumner

The early stages of the race saw a five-rider group off the front, with Dunlap and Florit joined by Chrissy Redden (Subaru-Gary Fisher), Mary McConneloug (Seven Cycles) and Alison Sydor (Trek-Volkswagen). Trailing closely behind was the threesome of Kelli Emmett (Luna), Susy Pryde (Velo Bella) and Kerry Barnholt (SoBe-Cannondale).

Emmett would be the only one able to bridge, though, and that made all the difference for Dunlap. With a teammate in the mix, she was able to sit in during the middle portion of the 20-minutes, plus three laps race, while Emmett took the front and drove the pace.

"It was perfect teamwork," said Dunlap. "I sat out of the wind for two laps while Jimena had to go up front and chase Kelli."

When rest time was over, Dunlap attacked and only Florit was able to hang on her wheel. Things didn’t stay that way for long, though, as the RLX rider fell off the pace with four laps to go. From there Dunlap cruised home for the win, with Florit hanging on for second. Behind them Sydor, Redden, McConneloug and Emmett regrouped, setting up a four-up sprint for third. Sydor would win that battle, followed by Redden then McConneloug.

"I knew whoever came into the last hairpin first would be in good shape," explained Sydor. "That was me, so it worked out."

All told 19 women finished on the lead lap, a substantial increase from round one in Big Bear where only six riders avoided getting the hook. Lap times around the 0.7-mile Alpine Valley course hovered at 2.5 minutes, while Big Bear times were closer to a minute.

In the men’s race, Green’s biggest challenge was working his way through the pack after starting in the third row, the result of a first round one DNF. But even that wasn’t much of a problem.

"The course was so wide I got back up to the front pretty quick," Green said.

Once there it didn’t take long for the Canadian to run away with another NORBA win. The end game started when Green and countryman Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru-Gary Fisher) attacked just three laps into the race. The pair quickly built a gap and it looked like the Canadians were going to get away together. But Hesjedal, still feeling the effects of riding much of Friday’s cross country with a broken saddle, couldn’t match his training partner’s pace and dropped back to the chase group.

Green would never be threatened again, sailing home to his eighth career short track win, also an all-time best.

Behind the winner the battle for second became a protracted game of cat and mouse, with Hesjedal, Seamus McGrath (Haro-Lee Dungarees), Geoff Kabush (Kona), Adrian Bonilla (Café de Costa Rica), Mathieu Toulouse (Gears Racing), Jeff Hall (Salsa Cycles) and local favorite Doug Swanson (Trek-Midwest) in the initial selection. But with none of those seven riders willing to spend too much time at the front, the pace came down, allowing Paul Rowney (Yeti-Pearl Izumi) and Chris Sheppard (Haro-Lee Dungarees) to join in the podium hunt.

At the finish it was Hesjedal winning the sprint, followed by McGrath, Kabush then Rowney.

"Roland was going so hard I decided I was better off if I didn’t try to stay with him," said Hesjedal, who retained the overall points lead.

Mountain Cross
It wasn’t the debut moment anyone was hoping for, but in the long run the practice-run crash that sent Nigel Page to the hospital with a broken leg may be just what makes mountain cross a success. Action, excitement — and carnage — are what organizers have been trumpeting, and Saturday’s racing certainly delivered on that final count. As for the other two, there’s still some work to be done, but this was just the first race.

Like in the old World Cup dual, the holeshot at Alpine Valley played too big a role in outcomes, and that made it all the easier for Lopes. The GT-Fox rider is unmatched coming out of the gate, and he was never really challenged on Saturday.

"The course was so steep that there wasn’t much pedaling," explained Lopes afterward. "It was hard for anyone to pass."

Llanes was quickest to the finish.
Llanes was quickest to the finish.
Photo: Jason Sumner

That left things to the fast starters and three of the four finalists were current or former BMX studs: Lopes, Wade Bootes (Trek-Volkswagen) and Giant’s Thomas Allier. Nathan Rennie completed the final four after a surprising run past the likes of Mike King and Eric Carter.

In the final heat Lopes was out fastest, trailed closely by Allier, but the French BMX star got wide going into the second turn and sailed off the course. That allowed Bootes to move up to second, with Rennie trailing in third, and there was no change the rest of the way down steep Alpine Valley course.

"Once I got to the front I just tried to stay smooth," Lopes explained.

In the women’s race, Llanes (Yeti-Pearl Izumi) used some tactical discretion to take the win. While some of the other top riders — primarily Katrina Miller — attempted to clear all the jumps, Llanes backed off a bit. The result was a clean run to the finals, and a victory over Sabrina Jonnier (Intense), Mio Suemasa (Trek-Volkswagen) and Diana Marggraff (Royal Orange).

"I’d rather I’d won jumping everything," Llanes admitted. "But I’ve never won one of these damn things so I’ll take it."

Miller, the favorite coming into the race, crashed out of the semis when she missed clearing a jump, but afterward said she wasn’t about to change her approach.

"I jump better than I roll things so that’s how I race," she said.

Action in Wisconsin continues Sunday with the semifinals and finals of the downhill. Check back to VeloNews.com for a full report, results and photos.

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