May 5/06 7:10 am - Canadian DH Riders Head for Vigo

Posted by Editoress on 05/5/06
 

Five Canadian Downhill Riders To Take Part In The First Stage Of The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup In Vigo, Spain
Courtesy CCA

Five Canadian downhill experts have been selected to compete in the first stage of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Vigo, Spain this weekend (May 6-7).

Canadian downhillers Claire Buchar, 28, of Whistler (BC), Katrina Strand, 30, of Vancouver (BC), Brook Baker, 21, and Danika Schroeter, 27, of Maple Ridge (BC) will participate in the first UCI Mountain Bike World Cup held in Vigo, Spain this weekend. Derek Chambers, 25, of Nelson (BC), will represent Canada on the men's side. He will encounter fierce competition from the world's top downhill riders Greg Minnaar (RSA), Samuel Hill (AUS) and Cédric Gracia (FR).

Claire Buchar is currently Canada's leader with a 20th position in UCI rankings, followed by Danika Schroeter, in 36th place and Brook Baker in 57th. The cream of the crop of the women's mountain bike downhill world will be present, with names such as France's Sabrina Jonnier and Great Britain's Tracey Moseley and Rachel Atherton.

The Vigo, Spain stage opens the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup season in downhill.

This weekend will also mark the opening of the 2006 Cross-Country Marathon World Cup. The race will be primary organized in Naoussa, Greece, a symbolic country for a marathon event (the word Marathon, which means every human effort possible, took its name from the effort of Phidippides, a messenger, who in 430 B.C. run from the town of Marathon to Athens in Greece to announce the victory of the Athenians towards the Persians, at the battle of Marathon).

The best women and men elite marathon riders will compete on a 100 km course in the morning of Sunday May, 7.