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Buhl earns U.S. Gold in Four Cross
American’s High Flying Jumps Prove Useful in Italy
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Exhausted, sunburned but smiling in her new rainbow jersey — that’s how Melissa Buhl spent her Saturday evening.
The Arizona native had a jam-packed schedule on the sun-baked penultimate day of the 2008 UCI world mountain bike championships in Val di Sole, Italy. First Buhl tackled the pro women’s downhill, speeding down the steep 1.40-mile track with the 10th fastest time of the day.
Buhl then took the line for four cross competition with a few hours of down time in between. The 26-year-old dug deep into her bag of tricks, and came up with a level of skill and confidence that her competition lacked. In the seeding rounds, Buhl repeatedly flew over the course’s double-jump section while the other women rode the slower, easier route.
The tactic earned Buhl a spot in the finals, and she did not disappoint. Heavy favorite Anneke Beerten of the Netherlands and Czech rider Romana Labounkova sped to an early lead on the winding track, but the two miscalculated the course’s third sharp corner. Buhl, who caught up to the duo with her high-flying jumps, stuck the turn and sprinted around for the biggest win of her career.
“It was a long day. Switching channels from downhill to four cross is so mentally draining,” Buhl admitted. “It’s challenging and it sometimes drives me crazy, but I love it. I’ve tried doing one event and it bores me.”
With her victory, Buhl steps into the big shoes left open by her compatriot, Jill Kintner. Kintner, the world champ from 2005-07, stepped away from four cross racing this season to pursue nomination to the inaugural Olympic BMX race. Buhl finished third at worlds in ’07, and admitted that Kintner was missed this year.
“Of course it’s always a bummer when Jill isn’t here, but both Czech girls are BMX riders with their eyes on the Olympics,” said Buhl, herself a former BMX great. “A lot of women’s focus is going to BMX right now. There were a lot of fast girls here this weekend. There wasn’t a lack of talent here.”
Alvarez scores
Buhl's medal marks the first for the United States so far at the 2008 UCI world championships. The U.S. was favored to medal in men’s four cross with reigning champ Brian Lopes. Lopes flew through his qualifying heats with ease, but ran into some trouble in the semi-final round. An errant move by Roger Rinderknecht stuffed the American in the second turn, and Lopes saw his chances at repeating his win evaporate in a cloud of dust.
“I was ahead of Roger going into that turn, but it’s just one of those things where you gotta pick the minute when you’re going to make your move, because a lot of the other guys end up being kind of kamikaze” Lopes said. “I didn’t want to lose, but I can’t complain about the race. I’m satisfied.”
Lopes’ departure opened the door for Australian Jared Graves, who was unquestionably the fastest man of the weekend. Graves posted the fastest time in Friday’s time-trial qualification round, and was undefeated through his preliminary rounds. The man from Towoomba, Australia is also preparing for the Olympic BMX event, and often rode several meters ahead of his dueling competition.
“I’ve been doing a lot of sprints and power stuff. A lot of time in the gym,” said Graves before the race.
But Graves saw his chances crash and burn on the course’s second turn. The Aussie was fastest out of the gate, but was sandwiched between Frenchman Mickael Deldycke and Rinderknecht. The three came together and crashed. The last man out of the gate, Spaniard Rafael Alvarez, sped by the carnage en route to his first-ever world title. Rinderknecht and Deldycke hopped back on their rigs and followed chase.
“That’s how four cross is — a lot of it is based on luck,” Rinderknecht said.
A visibly distraught Graves remounted his rig slowly, grabbing his arm in pain. The stone-faced Aussie then disappeared into the crowd.
Graves’ Yeti-Fox teammate Ross Milan, who finished a strong eighth, offered his play-by-play account of what went wrong.
“It was tough to tell, but it looked like Jared swung out wide and those two guys got underneath him but they started sliding and just took him out,” Milan said. “He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. And of course it had to be in the finals. Jared was the fastest dude today, it was his race to lose.”
Check back soon for a report from the men’s and women’s downhill race.
2008 UCI world mountain bike championships
Val di Sole, Italy
Four Cross
Men
1. Rafael Alvarez (Sp)
2. Roger Rinderknecht (Swi)
3. Mickael Deldycke (F)
4. Jared Graves (Aus)
5. Brian Lopes (USA)
6. Scott Beaumont (GB)
7. Roman Saladini (F)
8. Ross Milan (USA)
9. Cedric Gracia (F)
10. Tomas Slavik (CZ)
Women
1. Melissa Buhl (USA)
2. Jana Horakova (USA)
3. Romana Labounkova (USA)
4. Anneke Beerten (Nl)
5. Caroline Buchanan (Aus)
6. Lucia Oetjen (Swi)
7. Anita Molcik (Aut)
8. Mio Suemasa (Jpn)
9. Sabrina Jonnier (F)
10. Fionn Griffiths (GB)
