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Grouse Mountain: World Cup set to go in B.C.

By Jason Sumner, VeloNews associate editor
Published: Jul. 10, 2003

After taking an unscheduled week off because of the cancellation of the Telluride event, the mountain bike World Cup circus is set to unfurl its tents this weekend on the steep slopes of Grouse Mountain near Vancouver in beautiful British Columbia.

Racing action at stop No. 4 of 5 will be spread out over three days, with the four-cross specialists first out of the gate on Friday. Qualifying gets underway at 4:15 p.m. PST. That’s followed by the finals starting at 6 p.m. This will be the first World Cup four-cross held at the small ski resort, which overlooks downtown Vancouver. Originally that distinction was to go to last year’s stop here, but that was before the gravity events were cancelled in a controversial decision that was attributed to there being too much snow on the mountain.

There will be no such problems this year, giving American Eric Carter a chance to solidify his grasp on the top spot in the overall standings. Through three races the Mongoose-Hyundai rider owns a commanding lead (140 points to 86) over the Czech Republic’s Michal Prokop. After taking second at the season opener in Fort William, Scotland, Carter has won the last two events, including two weeks ago on the other side of Canada, at Mont-Ste-Anne, Quebec.

On the women’s side of the four-cross ledger, Aussie Katrina Miller (Jamis) also has a pair of wins and one second place finish, which has given her a stout 140 to 70 advantage over the surprising Mio Suemasa (Trek-Volkswagen).

Several of the expected top contenders will not be at Grouse Mountain, including Americans Tara Llanes and Brian Lopes. Llanes broke her foot in an automobile accident in mid June, while Lopes suffered a fractured ankle in a crash at the Fort William race. Also missing will be reigning four-cross world champion Anne-Caroline Chausson, who’s taken a step back from traditional racing this year and is only hitting select European events.

Action picks back up Saturday with the downhill semifinals (11 a.m.) and finals (2 p.m.). Two years ago when the World Cup first came to Grouse Mountain, France’s Fabien Barel won the closest downhill race in World Cup history, besting Aussie Chris Kovarik by just 0.01 second on the short 1.5km course. The track remains essentially the same this year, meaning sub-2-minute times and exceptionally tight racing should be expected.

Adding to the excitement is the fact that this year’s downhill competition has been as wide open as ever, with no rider (male or female) winning more than one World Cup race through the first three races.

Sunday is cross-country day, with the women heading out at 10:30 a.m. and the men following at 2 p.m. Notable in the women’s race will be weather or not Norwegian Gunn-Rita Dahle can keep here amazing winning streak alive. The Merida rider is undefeated in World Cup action this year, winning the first three contests. Dahle also won five of the six early season European races she entered this spring, making her an astounding 8-for-9 in 2003.

Dahle’s streak of three straight World Cup wins is the longest since Paolo Pezzo ran off six in a row in 1997. The all-time record is held by American Juli Furtado who won eight straight in 1993.

In the men’s cross country, all eyes will be on two-time defending world champion Roland Green, who will be trying to win what is essentially a hometown race. Green (Trek-Volkswagen) spent part of his youth growing up in Vancouver, and now lives across the Strait of Georgia in Victoria on Vancouver Island.

Two years ago Green looked to be well on his way to a win here, but then saw his day crushed by a last-lap puncture that relegated him to second place. Last year Green had a somewhat off day, finishing sixth, 3:24 behind race winner and eventual 2002 World Cup overall champion Filip Meirhaeghe.

This year Green suffered through a slow start to his 2003 campaign after a bad crash in an early-season road race derailed his form. But two weeks ago at the Mont-Ste-Anne World Cup Green grabbed third place despite puncturing. His form is clearly improving.

Check back to VeloNews.com starting Friday night for full reports, results and photos.

Nation Rankings Update
Things are getting very interesting for the American men and their chances for the Olympics. In the latest set of UCI nation rankings (issued July 2) the U.S. is 14th, meaning two spots at the Olympics is anything but assured.

Just like in 2000, the number of entrants in Olympic cross-country races will be determined by each country’s place in those nation rankings at the end of the year prior to the Olympics (that’s this year). Countries in the top five (top three for women) will receive three entries, while those ranked six to 15 will get 2. Fall out of the top 15, and one is all you get.

Right now the top five men’s countries are France, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain. Canada is currently seventh overall, 188 points behind the fifth-placed Spaniards. Meanwhile the U.S. has 846 points, 25 more than 15th-placed Denmark, and more importantly, 271 more than the Czech Republic, which is 16th.

Nation rankings are determined on the basis of the three top riders from each nation ranked among the first 100 men (first 60 women) in the UCI’s individual cross country rankings. Currently Todd Wells is the top American in 57th, with Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (74th) and Carl Decker (77th) rounding out America’s top 3. For Canada Roland Green is the top ranked rider in 10th, followed by Ryder Hesjedal (19th) and Seamus McGrath (23rd).

On the women’s side the U.S. has almost no chance of scoring three riders for Athens, after they slipped all the way to seventh in the most recent standings. Germany, Canada and Switzerland occupy the top three spots. If the U.S. has any hopes of getting back into three-spot territory, it will need some big efforts from Susan Haywood (14th in the UCI individual rankings), Willow Koerber (34th) and Mary McConneloug (37th).

The American women’s chances of regaining the top 3 suffered a big blow early this year when top rider Alison Dunlap separated her shoulder, knocking her out for the season and precluding her from helping with the points chase. Canada’s bid to hold onto its spot in the top three is being led by Alison Sydor (5th), Chrissy Redden (9th) and Kiara Bisaro (16th).

VeloNews Grouse Mountain Picks

Cross Country
Men: Roland Green — It’s time he finally won in B.C.
Women: Sabine Spitz — Dahle’s teammate’s turn.

Downhill
Men: Steve Peat — He won last week, and often strings victories together.
Women: Tracy Moseley — She’s the circuit’s most consistent rider.

Four-cross
Men: Eric Carter — Full-package rider is on his game.
Women: Jill Kintner — Europe trip was a disaster. It’s redemption time.

Overall World Cup standings
(through 3 of 5 events)

Cross country
Men
1. Christoph Sauser (Swi) Siemens-Cannondale, 600 points
2. Julien Absalon (F), Motorex-Bianchi 590
3. Lado Fumic (G), T-Mobile, 480
4. Jose Hermida (Sp), Motorex-Bianchi, 360
5. Marek Galinski (P), Orbea, 352

North Americans in the top 20
7. Roland Green (Can), Trek-Volkswagen, 294
19. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA), RLX-Ralph Lauren, 151

Women
1. Gunn-Rita Dahle (N), Merida, 750 points
2. Sabine Spitz (G), Merida, 600
3. Irina Kalentieva (Rus), Merida, 470
4. Barbara Blatter (Swi), Specialized, 430
5. Anna Szafraniec (Pol), Lotto-PZU, 281

North Americans in the top 20
9. Chrissy Redden (Can), Subaru-Gary Fisher, 221
12. Alison Sydor (Can), Trek-Volkswagen, 195

Downhill
Men
1. Cédric Gracia (F), Siemens-Cannondale, 535 points
2. Nathan Rennie (Aus), Iron Horse-MadCatz, 521
3. Greg Minnaar (SA), Haro-Lee Dungarees, 430
4. Mickael Pascal (F), MSC Bikes, 411
5. Chris Kovarik (Aus), Intense, 397

North Americans in the top 20
13. Jordie Lunn (Can), Be One, 134

Women
1. Tracy Moseley (GB), Kona-Clarks, 550 points
2. Sabrina Jonnier (F), Intense, 462
3. Fionn Griffiths (GB), Foes-Azonic, 421
4. Celine Gros (F), Morzine-Avoriaz, 405
5. Marielle Saner (Swi), 374

North Americans in the top 20:
6. Marla Streb (USA), Luna, 357
12. Kathy Pruitt (USA), Luna, 227

Four-cross
Men
1. Eric Carter (USA), Mongoose-Hyundai, 140 points
2. Michal Prokop (Cz), 86
3. Cédric Gracia (F), Siemens-Cannondale, 70
4. Wade Bootes (Aus), Trek-Volkswagen, 56
5. Greg Minnaar (SA), Haro-Lee Dungarees, 50

North Americans in the top 20
7. Brain Schmith (USA), Mongoose-Hyundai, 37
9. Mike King (USA), Haro-Lee Dungarees, 29
17. Colin Bailey (USA), Maxxis, 13

Women
1. Katrina Miller (Aus), Jamis, 140 points
2. Mio Suemasa (Jpn), Trek-Volkswagen, 80
3. Sabrina Jonnier (F), Intense, 55
4. Tracy Moseley (GB), Kona-Clarks, 50
5. Jamie Lilly (USA), 40

North Americans in the top 20
6. Tara Llanes (USA), Giant-Pearl Izumi, 40
9. Jill Kintner (USA), Staats, 20
10.Lisa Sher (USA), Chumba Wumba, 17
13. Marla Streb (USA), Luna, 7
14. Claire Buchar (Can), 5
16. Michelle Dumaresq (Can), 4