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MTB News and Notes: Green to Malaysia, Gray areas and more
It’s about as far away from a mountain bike race as you can get, but when the two-time reigning world cross-country champ decides to show up at Malaysia’s Tour de Langkawi it’s news.
Roland Green has committed to ride in the 10-day road stage race in Malaysia as part of Canada’s national team. Joining the Trek-Volkswagen pro will be fellow mountain bikers Seamus McGrath and Peter Wedge, plus roadies Gord Fraser, Cory Lange and Alexandre Lavallee. And while it will surely be an uphill battle against a solid slate of Euro pros, you have to count Green as at least a dark horse candidate for the overall.
A year ago he nearly pulled off the upset at the Redlands road race, and his training partner and buddy Ryder Hesjedal was in the mix last year in Malaysia until he got shelled on the brutal climb up into the Genting Highlands. I’ll take a flier and put Green on the podium when the race concludes in the Southeast Asian country’s capital city of Kuala Lumpur.
Speaking of Hesjedal, the young British Columbian has no plans to return to the race in Malaysia and instead will head back over to Europe to ride on the road with Rabobank during the early season. Even though Hesjedal keeps insisting that mountain biking remains his primary near-term focus, you’ve got to wonder how long before the Rabobank people are on the phone with Subaru-Gary Fisher discussing a buyout of his mountain-biking contract.
GRAY AREA LEFTOVERS
Anyone who’s had a chance to peruse the latest issue of VeloNews was treated to a rather extensive package on cheating in bike racing. And while we tried to cram in as many stories as possible, there were a few that didn’t make the cut. Fortunately we have the Web site as back up, so here are a few more stories of indiscretion from the world of mountain biking.
ANNABELLA THE INNOVATOR
Flat tires were just part of the game at the 2002 World Cup cross-country race on the steep, jagged slopes of Grouse Mountain in British Columbia. Of the 136 men and women who started the race that day, only 53 would finish on the lead lap and 22 didn’t make it home at all. One rider who did manage to keep it together was Annabella Stropparo, but not without a bit of controversy.
After leading for much of the race’s opening half and looking like she was on her way to victory, Stropparo was momentarily felled by a slow leak in her rear tubeless tire. Initially, the Italian rider simply walked off the course, tears running down her round cheeks. But a moment later after disappearing into the woods with her bike, she dove back into the race and clawed her way back onto the podium, finishing fifth.
The question floating around after the race was how had Stropparo fixed her flat? Several team managers said they were certain she wasn’t carrying an inflation cartridge or a spare tube, meaning she must have taken an illegal hand-up. But Stropparo insisted she fixed the tire herself — she said she used a stick she found in the woods to get her tire off — and no protest was filed, allowing her result to stand.
CAUGHT IN THE ACT: ANNABELLA PART II
A year earlier at the same World Cup venue, Stropparo didn’t fare as well. Again the Italian was the early-race leader at the Grouse Mountain cross country, leading the field for most of the first four laps. But a bad case of chain suck cost her her lead near the end of the fourth lap, and she tumbled out of the top five while trying to fix the problem. That tumble would eventually lead all the way to the bottom of the standings, when Stropparo was disqualified for receiving outside assistance from one of her Be One coaches, who helped get her chain freed.
And how did she get caught you ask? Turns out that one of the many photographers on site to record the race that day just happened to be standing a few feet from Stropparo when the incident happened. Being a good photojournalist, he snapped a few images, including several that clearly showed the Be One coach with his hands all over Stropparo’s bike. Later, when the pictures were shown to race officials, she was DQ’d for cheating.
MOUNTAIN MAN
Anyone who’s ever spun a lap around the cross-country course at the Sea Otter Classic knows about the tough hike-a-bike. It comes well into the 18-mile loop, sucking away precious energy at the worst time. Certainly it was with that in mind that former Specialized team manager Gert-Jan Theunisse decided to make a trip out to the courses far reaches in order to give his minions a slight advantage over the rest of the field.
“The guys such an animal, he could get out to those far away places,” recalled longtime cross-country pro Dave Wiens. “During the race he’d have his riders drop their bottles at the bottom of the hike, then give them new ones at the top. That section was right after the far feed, so the Specialized guys would get a hand-up, drop it and get a fresh one. It wasn’t a huge deal, but it was a little extra weight they didn’t have to hump up that hill.” TOUR DE RUTA?
It’s there plain as day. Rule No. 10 of the 2002 La Ruta de los Conquistadores mountain bike race reads in big bold letters, “NO OUTSIDE HELP IS ALLOWED EXCEPT AT PCs.” But anyone who rode in this year’s race knows that this rule was broken more times than a politician’s promise. And it wasn’t just the top Costa Rican riders, who among other things were accused (by members of the Mexican national team) of switching bikes mid-stage on day two, using efficient hard tails for the long, mostly paved climb up Volcan Irazu, then jumping on full-suspension rides for the endlessly bumpy trip down the volcano’s backside.
“They approach this race like U.S. Postal approaches the Tour,” said one disgruntled rider about the Pizza Hut-Café de Costa Rica team, which included overall race winner Federico Ramirez. “They have support from beginning to end.”
But this most frequent discretion of on-the-road support was not limited to the pros. During all three days of the race, trucks, cars and even motorcycles were ever present on the course; each one loaded with friends and family who were at the ready to give their rider a spare tube, chain lube, or whatever else they might need. Food and water were the most common handouts, but there were also numerous reports of riders jumping in vehicles to get a little rest while they took the fast track up some of the steeper climbs.
“It seemed like every other rider out there had a support vehicle,” said American Todd Blincoe, who finished 141st overall in a race contested primarily by amateurs. “I know for a fact that I passed one guy at least twice. He was pretty embarrassed when I went by the second time.”
2002 NATIONAL CHAMPS
We told you long ago who all the pro national champs were, but after USA Cycling finally released the complete list with all the winners we figured it was time to give everyone else their due. So here’s the complete list of 2002 national mountain biking champions. Congratulations to all.
CROSS-COUNTRY
Pro: Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, Alison Dunlap
Semi-pro: Grant Berry
Junior X/18 & under: Adam Swartzbaugh, Stephanie White
Expert Master/30-34: Roger Aspholm, Sonya Swartzentruber
Expert Master/35-39: John Galli, Roxanne Prescott
Expert Master/40-44: Gunnar Shogren, Loretta Simpson
Expert Master/45-49: David Wallace, Margaret Thompson
Expert Master/50-54: Marcus Walters, Lydia Barker
Expert Master/55+: Doris Matyasovich
Expert Master/55-59: John Howard
Expert Master/60-64: Jim Case
Expert Master/65+: Frederick Schmid
DOWNHILL
Pro: Eric Carter, Lisa Sher
Semi-pro: Curtis Keene
Junior X/18 & under: Cody Warren, Leana Gerrard
Expert Master/30-34: Daniel Dickan
Expert Master/35-39: Damon Kirchmeier
Expert Master/40-44: Bernard Unhassobiscay, Kathi Krause
Expert Master/45-49: Randy Lewis, Mary Scheerer
Expert Master/50-54: Steve Bird, Kathy Burns
Expert Master/55+: Doris Matyasovich
Expert Master/55-59: Tom Lamb
Expert Master/60-64: Gerardo Florez
Expert Master/65+: Arnie DeGarmo
24 HOURS
Solo Men: Tinker Juarez
Solo Women: Nancy Busching
Four person open women: Vello Bella
Four person open men: Ride the Bear
Six person junior: Rad Racing NW
Four person masters: Winning Wheels Racing
WALLACE OFFICIALLY TREK MANAGER
It’s not new news, but Trek fired off a press release the other day and we figured we’d pass it along to you. The gist was that former Volvo-Cannondale team manager Eric Wallace has officially taken over that same capacity with the Trek-VW team.
“The Trek Volkswagen program is very exciting for me with the combination of great sponsors and powerhouse athletes,” said Wallace in the release. “Everybody on this roster is a reigning or former national or world champion which is an incredible pool of talent.”
The Trek team kicks off its 2003 season with a training camp in Sedona, Arizona in early March. They’ll then head for Phoenix to race in the Nova Desert Classic.
