UCI MTB World Cup XC#5, Mont Ste-Anne, Que., June 25, 2005

Cross-country

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My personal report:
I was really excited about the World Cup in Mont Ste-Anne, as I had potential for a really good result, since not very many Europeans made the trip over the Atlantic. The fact that the course was technical and very similar to the National Championships course from two weeks before was also a plus. I got called up near the front of the pack, which was a far cry from May's World Cup in Madrid, where I was the very last person to be called to the line. There's also something exhilirating about racing in an international event in my own country.

I had a very fast start and was motivated to keep it up, but I got edged out going into the singletrack and was stuck behind a particularly weak technical rider. She fumbled the first tricky descent and I rammed into her and went down as well. That's where things started to get difficult. I got stuck trying to chase riders down, which is difficult when the pace at the front is so high. The biggest factor that led my feeling of dissatisfaction with the race, was how the heat affected me. Unlike at the National Championships where I felt I thrived (or at least didn't suffer excessively) in the heat, I really had a hard time with it during the World Cup. Whenever I came out onto a climb exposed to the sun, I felt like I was going to explode. I just did my best and pushed as hard as I could without passing out. I guess the heat fried some brain cells, as I wasn't riding the normally easy technical sections very well and I kept fumbling. On the third lap, my chain came off the top and somehow got wedged and I lost around a minute trying to fix it. By that time, I had lost too much time to leaders and was pulled out at the end of the third lap. It was still a very good learning experience and it was still fun. The best part was, I got to see Marie-Helene Premont (QC, Rocky Mountain-Business Objects) WIN! I'm so excited for her! She's an inspiration.

Thanks to the crowd for cheering and the Pendrels for feeding me!

Photos (L-R) Geoff Kabush (CAN, Maxxis) on his way to a third-place finish; Fred Bussieres (CAN, Rocky Mountain-Business Objects), way to go!; Marti Gispert (ESP, Maxxis-MSC) Venga!; Ricky Federau (CAN, Gears Racing) Hey Ricky, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind, hey Ricky!; Superfans during the men's race; Men's podium: Fourth place, Adam Craig (USA, Giant); second place, Fred Kessiakoff (SWE, Siemens Mobile-Cannondale); first place Christoph Sauser (SUI, Siemens Mobile-Cannondale); third place, Kabush; fifth place, Liam Killeen (GBR, Specialized); The boys on the podium celebrating with bubbly.