September 3/07 7:21 am - MTB World Championships

Posted by Editor on 09/3/07
 

MTB World Championships Fort William, Scotland

Coverage sponsored by Maxxis

Photos

It is now less than 24 hours until the start of the 2007 Mountain Bike World Championships in Fort William, Scotland, and organizers are feverishly working to get all the inevitable last minute bits and pieces finished before tomorrow's Team Relay. Riders are beginning to show up at the venue and are training on the cross-country circuit (which officially opened for training today), and we were able to walk the circuit and get some impressions from the athletes.

The 7.9 kilometre circuit (7.6 kilometres for the opening lap) is, in the words of American pro Adam Craig, "a climber's race for sure. I'm not really a big fan; you go up a lot and then down, it's been over-prepped to the point that it's a decent bike path, really. I prefer the old one; it was more raw."

The start lap cuts out an initial tight, wooded singletrack section called The Wiggle and heads straight to the climb, which runs in step ups for the first three kilometres. On a non-start lap the first thing the riders hit after the line is an abrupt right onto a short steep ramp built of large boulders. Dirt is packed in between the rocks to make a relatively smooth surface, but a lot of riders are still struggling quite a bit to get up and over it - the Chinese women spent a lot of time practicing today, and were successful only 50% of the time; Craig, on the other hand, had little trouble.

After the rock ramp the riders have a slow speed, winding run in the woods - much of it on a wooden boardwalk - before spilling out onto a gravel fire road for the main climb. The vast majority of the climb alternates between double track and fire road, with only one short section of singletrack. The final 500 metres of the climb is some of the steepest, out in the open with switchbacks, and offers a tremendous view across the valley with the mighty Ben Nevis mountain as a backdrop.

Once at the top, the riders immediately drop back down into a series of BMX-style banked berms for nearly a kilometre. Canada's Max Plaxton (bronze medalist in U23 last year) comments "you need a good rhythm here, it isn't tough technically, but you need to be in the right line."

Craig is less polite: "they're (the berms) so tight that it is impossible to ride them fast without having to brake right at the apex of the turn. But this isn't a spot to do much; the top 40 guys will all go down within 10 seconds of each other's time."

There is another kilometre and a half of descending after this section though the woods; still singletrack (without the berms), but very smooth and fast trail with nary a root in sight. The descent ends with an abrupt drop-off (Hole in the Wall) - most of the pros don't consider it particularly difficult, although there is a longer alternate ride-around.

From here the riders go into an almost two kilometre long fast, flat forest road and then traverse a short boggy section via a boardwalk, before a final set of berms in front of the start-finish (retained from the old course).

It is too early for the number of laps to be released, but the expectation is that it will be five laps for the men (elite and U23), four for women and Junior men.

So far, the weather has been good - lots of sun with occasional cloudy periods and brief shower bursts. Hopefully, it will continue.

Competition begins tomorrow with the Team Relay, and one of the usual favourites will be absent from the start line - Canada. None of the Canadian Elite men or women have arrived in Fort William, making a team entry pretty much impossible.

The American squad looks to be very strong, led by Adam Craig and Georgia Gould, with Sam Schultz as the U23 rider and Ethan Gilmour the Junior man. Teams have not yet been announced, but Switzerland, Germany and Poland are also likely to field strong squads. 17 countries will participate. Each rider will do one full lap of the circuit, so the race will also provide the first chance to see what race speeds are likely to be later in the week.

The Team Relay starts at 1:30 pm local (8:30 am EDT/5:30 am PDT), and we will provide lap-by-lap coverage.

Both the 4-Cross (Friday) and Downhill (Sunday) use lengthened versions of the traditional courses. For the downhill the new top part is a fast open section which should - based on Steve Peat's time at the test event - add approximately 20-25 seconds to the previous winning times.

The 4-Cross is considerably longer than the previous version, with the first corner crucial to winning. It offers multiple lines, but is unraced at this point and riders will have to wait until Wednesday to determine how the course rides.

Race Notes

- British hopes took a dive when downhiller Steve Peat broke a bone in his foot recently, but Peaty is still scheduled to race, broken foot or not. The organizers say that they are conservatively estimating 40,000 spectators for the Worlds, with the majority of gravity-mad Scots and Brits expected for Friday night and Sunday. Organizers announced today that advance ticket sales for the 4X are 300% ahead of last year's World Cup. Saturday (elite XC) and Sunday (DH) are up over 40%. Gondola tickets for the downhill are completely sold out.

- Some of the American team got a jump on Worlds competition by racing the Single Speed Worlds yesterday (Sunday), about 100 kilometres from Fort William. As befitting this nonofficial event, winner Adam Craig wore denim cutoffs and denim vest (he referred to it as a 'Canadian summer tuxedo'), while women's winner Kelli Emmett was stylin' in a tube top and velour pants. Men's second place Carl Decker went native in a kilt...Craig and Emmett received tatoos in lieu of trophys as their prize.

- Britain's Liam Killeen is listed as a competitor, but it is said to be highly unlikely that he will compete.

- The U.S. team had a nasty shock when the UCI unceremoniously turfed them from the digs they had reserved over a year ago; the international federation decided to take over the hotel space for their own use.

Preliminary start list for XC and Relay

Elite Men
Luciano Caracioli (Argentina)
Chris Jongewaard (Australia)
Dylan Cooper (Australia)
Sid Taberlay (Australia)
Michael Weiss (Austria)
Karl Markt (Austria)
Martin Kraler (Austria)
Hannes Metzler (Austria)
Christoph Soukup (Austria)
Sven Nys (Belgium)
Roel Paulissen (Belgium)
Filip Meirhaeghe (Belgium)
Valeriano Rubens Donizeti (Brazil)
Seamus McGrath (Canada)
Geoff Kabush (Canada)
Ricky Federau (Canada)
Cristobal Silva (Chile)
Javier Puschel (Chile)
John Jairo Botero Salazar (Colombia)
Hector Leonardo Paez Leon (Colombia)
Julio Humberto Caro Silva (Colombia)
Ivica Mesaric (Croatia)
Pavao Roset (Croatia)
Kristian Hynek (Czech Republic)
Milan Spesny (Czech Republic)
Filip Eberl (Czech Republic)
Klaus Nielsen (Denmark)
Peter Riis Andersen (Denmark)
Marti Gispert Labarta (Spain)
José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spain)
Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez (Spain)
Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spain)
Ruben Ruzafa Cueto (Spain)
Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spain)
Caspar Austa (Estonia)
Taavi Selder (Estonia)
Eero Jappinen (Finland)
Julien Absalon (France)
Nicolas Filippi (France)
Cédric Ravanel (France)
Jean-Christophe Peraud (France)
Liam Killeen (Great Britain)
Oliver Beckingsale (Great Britain)
Ian Wilkinson (Great Britain)
Nicholas Craig (Great Britain)
Simon Richardson (Great Britain)
Paul Oldham (Great Britain)
Wolfram Kurschat (Germany)
Lado Fumic (Germany)
Manuel Fumic (Germany)
Karl Platt (Germany)
Jochen Kass (Germany)
Moritz Milatz (Germany)
Stefan Sahm (Germany)
Andras Parti (Hungary)
Robin Seymour (Ireland)
Dror Pekatch (Israel)
Jader Zoli (Italy)
Johann Pallhuber (Italy)
Massimo De Bertolis (Italy)
Gilberto Simoni (Italy)
Mirko Pirazzoli (Italy)
Martino Fruet (Italy)
Marco Aurelio Fontana (Italy)
Tony Longo (Italy)
Kenji Takeya (Japan)
Keiichi Tsujiura (Japan)
Dzintars Ozolins (Latvia)
Mannie Heymans (Namibia)
Marc Bassingthwaighte (Namibia)
Frank Schotman (Netherlands)
Bart Brentjens (Netherlands)
Rudi Van Houts (Netherlands)
Bas Peters (Netherlands)
Axel Bult (Netherlands)
Jelmer Pietersma (Netherlands)
Marcus Roy (New Zealand)
Stuart Houltham (New Zealand)
Michael Northcott (New Zealand)
Kashi Leuchs (New Zealand)
Eric Drower (New Zealand)
Marcin Karczynski (Poland)
Marek Galinski (Poland)
Mariusz Kowal (Poland)
John Paul Pearton (South Africa)
Kevin Evans (South Africa)
Justice Makhale (South Africa)
David Leiman (South Africa)
Johan Van Zyl (South Africa)
Ivan Seledkov (Russian Federation)
Alexey Medvedev (Russian Federation)
Yury Trofimov (Russian Federation)
Maxim Gogolev (Russian Federation)
Evguen Petchenine (Russian Federation)
Nathan Byukusenge (Rwanda)
Miha Solar (Slovenia)
Lenart Noc (Slovenia)
Lukas Flückiger (Switzerland)
Ralph Näf (Switzerland)
Martin Gujan (Switzerland)
Christoph Sauser (Switzerland)
Jürg Graf (Switzerland)
Balz Weber (Switzerland)
Thomas Frischknecht (Switzerland)
Florian Vogel (Switzerland)
Milan Barenyi (Slovakia)
Fredrik Kessiakoff (Sweden)
Muammer Yildiz (Turkey)
Bilal Akgul (Turkey)
Yilmaz Kanat (Turkey)
Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (United States of America)
Jeremiah Bishop (United States of America)
Adam Craig (United States of America)
Carl Decker (United States of America)
Todd Wells (United States of America)
Michael Broderick (United States of America)
Barry Wicks (United States of America)

U23 Men
Joel Martinez Fernandez (Andorra)
Carlos Rodrigo Sigre (Argentina)
Andres Ignacio Pereyra (Argentina)
Catriel Daniel Soto (Argentina)
Dario Alejandro Gasco (Argentina)
Hector Daniel Gasco (Argentina)
Lachlan Norris (Australia)
Daniel Mcconnell (Australia)
Robert Gehbauer (Austria)
Dries Govaerts (Belgium)
Bjorn Brems (Belgium)
Tim Wijnants (Belgium)
Felipe Avelar (Brazil)
Max Plaxton (Canada)
Neal Kindree (Canada)
Raphael Gagne (Canada)
Mario Rojas (Colombia)
Jorge Camilo Castiblanco Cubides (Colombia)
Paolo Montoya (Costa Rica)
Mario Zubcic (Croatia)
Dani Simcic (Croatia)
Giorgos Fattas (Cyprus)
Marios Athanasiades (Cyprus)
Jiri Friedl (Czech Republic)
Jaroslav Kulhavy (Czech Republic)
Vaclav Hlavac (Czech Republic)
Jan Skarnitzl (Czech Republic)
Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark)
David Lozano Riba (Spain)
Martin Loo (Estonia)
Marc Colom (France)
François Bailly Maitre (France)
Guillaume Vinit (France)
Alexis Vuillermoz (France)
Stéphane Tempier (France)
Ian Field (Great Britain)
Ross Creber (Great Britain)
Ian Bibby (Great Britain)
Andi Weinhold (Germany)
Rene Tann (Germany)
Wilko Rochow (Germany)
Robert Mennen (Germany)
Periklis Ilias (Greece)
Niall Davis (Ireland)
Conor Mcconvey (Ireland)
Rotem Ishai (Israel)
Umberto Corti (Italy)
Cristian Cominelli (Italy)
Andrea Tiberi (Italy)
Lorenzo Martelli (Italy)
Kohei Yamamoto (Japan)
Ken Onodera (Japan)
Smolins Ervins (Latvia)
Didzis Praulins (Latvia)
Reinis Andrijanovs (Latvia)
Toms Veinbergs (Latvia)
Nieck Busser (Netherlands)
Hans Becking (Netherlands)
Frank Beemer (Netherlands)
Tim Ottens (Netherlands)
Niels Wubben (Netherlands)
Erik Nellen (Netherlands)
Anders Hovdenes (Norway)
Kryspin Pyrgies (Poland)
Dariusz Batek (Poland)
Adrian Brzozka (Poland)
Craig Paul (South Africa)
Burry Stander (South Africa)
Renay Groustra (South Africa)
Dmitry Medvedev (Russian Federation)
Denis Vorontsov (Russian Federation)
Adrien Niyonshuti (Rwanda)
Luka Mezgec (Slovenia)
Luka Rakusa (Slovenia)
Severin Disch (Switzerland)
Pascal Meyer (Switzerland)
Matthias Flückiger (Switzerland)
Fabian Giger (Switzerland)
Patrik Gallati (Switzerland)
Nino Schurter (Switzerland)
Lukas Hanus (Slovakia)
Martin Skopek (Slovakia)
Martin Kostelnicak (Slovakia)
Alexander Wetterhall (Sweden)
Emil Lindgren (Sweden)
Kamil Alev (Turkey)
Mitchell Peterson (United States of America)
Samuel Schultz (United States of America)
Colin Cares (United States of America)
Sam Jurekovic (United States of America)
Tad Elliot (United States of America)

Junior Men
German Dorhmann (Argentina)
Rodrigo Darnay (Argentina)
Paul Van Der Ploeg (Australia)
Nathan Haas (Australia)
Matthias Hoi (Austria)
Andreas Gehbauer (Austria)
Sebastien Carabin (Belgium)
Jim Aernouts (Belgium)
Laurent Mineur (Belgium)
Jonas De Backer (Belgium)
Nick Daems (Belgium)
Henrique Avancini (Brazil)
Jeff Clarkson (Canada)
Francis Morin (Canada)
Ricardo Hazbun (Chile)
Holman camilo Vanegas Villarraga (Colombia)
Milivoj Antic (Croatia)
Andreas Nicou (Cyprus)
Timotheos Skettos (Cyprus)
Kyriakos Papanastasiou (Cyprus)
Filip Adel (Czech Republic)
Jakub Magnusek (Czech Republic)
Radovan Bierski (Czech Republic)
Umbert Almenara Verges (Spain)
Gilles Sarrazin (France)
Anthony Rodeville (France)
Thibaut Bellanger (France)
Fabien Camal (France)
Nicolas Cadene (France)
Clément Koretzky (France)
David Fletcher (Great Britain)
Shaun Hurrell (Great Britain)
Alex Paton (Great Britain)
Hamish Creber (Great Britain)
Felix Euteneuer (Germany)
Marcel Fleschhut (Germany)
Markus Bauer (Germany)
Fabian Strecker (Germany)
Andy Eyring (Germany)
Alexios Kokovikas (Greece)
Zsolt Juhasz (Hungary)
Daniel Koczka (Hungary)
Graham Boyd (Ireland)
Paul O'reilly (Ireland)
Liam Mcgreevy (Ireland)
Idan Shapira (Israel)
Nizan Margalit (Israel)
Haimy Shlomi (Israel)
Francesco Aulino (Italy)
Nicolas Jeantet (Italy)
Seiichi Shimoyama (Japan)
Kazuya Nakayama (Japan)
Bart Maas (Netherlands)
Marco Minnaard (Netherlands)
Tim Lemmers (Netherlands)
Henk Jaap Moorlag (Netherlands)
Thomas Van Regenmortel (Netherlands)
Ole Haavardsholm (Norway)
Kristian Johansen (Norway)
Andreas Gravdal (Norway)
Alex Mcgregor (New Zealand)
James Williamson (New Zealand)
Ashley Hough (New Zealand)
Conor Macfarlane (New Zealand)
Kornel Osicki (Poland)
Piotr Brzozka (Poland)
Marek Konwa (Poland)
Maciej Dombrowski (Poland)
Willie Brink (South Africa)
Timothy Stark (South Africa)
Dominic Calitz (South Africa)
Bryce Munro (South Africa)
Jaco Du Toit (South Africa)
Alexandr Volkov (Russian Federation)
Roman Orlov (Russian Federation)
Vladimir Loginov (Russian Federation)
Alexandr Fedotov (Russian Federation)
Maxim Toporishcev (Russian Federation)
Pavel Pryadein (Russian Federation)
Blaz Znidarsic (Slovenia)
Benjamin Buchi (Switzerland)
Konny Looser (Switzerland)
Jérémy Huguenin (Switzerland)
Thomas Litscher (Switzerland)
Marco Widmer (Switzerland)
Matthias Rupp (Switzerland)
Peter Sagan (Slovakia)
Mattias Nilsson (Sweden)
Niklas Gustavsson (Sweden)
Abdurrahman Dandal (Turkey)
Gregory Carpenter (United States of America)
Stephen Ettinger (United States of America)
Tristan Cowie (United States of America)
Ethan Gilmour (United States of America)
Chris Peterson (United States of America)

Elite Women
Maria Osl (Austria)
Jaqueline Mourao (Brazil)
Catherine Pendrel (Canada)
Marie-Helene Premont (Canada)
Kiara Bisaro (Canada)
Daniela Bunzli (Chile)
Jingjing Wang (People's Republic Of China)
Viviana Maya (Colombia)
Ivana Ruszkowski (Croatia)
Elina Sophocleous (Cyprus)
Sarka Chmurova (Czech Republic)
Katerina Nash (Czech Republic)
Rocio Gamonal Ferrera (Spain)
Margarita Fullana (Spain)
Ruth Moll Marques (Spain)
Maaris Meier (Estonia)
Sabrina Enaux (France)
Cécile Rode Ravanel (France)
Séverine Hansen (France)
Christelle Ferrier-Bruneau (France)
Laurence Leboucher (France)
Ruth McGavigan (Great Britain)
Elizabeth Scalia (Great Britain)
Jenny Copnall (Great Britain)
Adelheid Morath (Germany)
Nina Göhl (Germany)
Katrin Schwing (Germany)
Ivonne Kraft (Germany)
Sabine Spitz (Germany)
Beth Mccluskey (Ireland)
Tarja Owens (Ireland)
Inbar Ronen (Israel)
Evelyn Staffler (Italy)
Elena Gaddoni (Italy)
Rie Katayama (Japan)
Ivanda Eiduka (Latvia)
Arielle Van Meurs (Netherlands)
Bernardine Boog-Rauwerda (Netherlands)
Laura Turpijn (Netherlands)
Elsbeth Van Rooij-Vink (Netherlands)
Lene Byberg (Norway)
Kaytee Boyd (New Zealand)
Rosara Joseph (New Zealand)
Jennifer O'Connor (New Zealand)
Anja Mcdonald (New Zealand)
Magdalena Sadlecka (Poland)
Anna Szafraniec (Poland)
Maja Wloszczowska (Poland)
Sara Muhl (South Africa)
Yolanda Speedy (South Africa)
Amy-Jane Mundy (South Africa)
Tania Raats (South Africa)
Oxana Rybakova (Russian Federation)
Irina Kalentieva (Russian Federation)
Ksenia Chernykh (Russian Federation)
Olga Vinogradova (Russian Federation)
Blaza Klemencic (Slovenia)
Sarah Koba (Switzerland)
Maroussia Rusca (Switzerland)
Katrin Leumann (Switzerland)
Franziska Roethlin (Switzerland)
Petra Henzi (Switzerland)
Lubomira Kalinova (Slovakia)
Janka Stevkova (Slovakia)
Anna Enocsson (Sweden)
Senem Guler (Turkey)
Heather Irmiger (United States of America)
Georgia Gould (United States of America)
Kelli Emmett (United States of America)
Willow Koerber (United States of America)
Lea Davison (United States of America)
Mary McConneloug (United States of America)

U 23 Women
Elisabeth Osl (Austria)
Emiliy Batty (Canada)
Francisca Campos Salas (Chile)
Ying Liu (People's Republic Of China)
Ren Chengyuan (People's Republic Of China)
Viena Balen (Croatia)
Tereza Hurikova (Czech Republic)
Tereza Jansova (Czech Republic)
Caroline Mani (France)
Julie Krasniak (France)
Laura Metzler (France)
Amy Hunt (Great Britain)
Agnes Naumann (Germany)
Hanna Klein (Germany)
Judith Pollinger (Italy)
Eva Lechner (Italy)
Katarzyna Solus (Poland)
Aleksandra Dawidowicz (Poland)
Karolina Kozela (Poland)
Carla Freysen (South Africa)
Vera Andreeva (Russian Federation)
Nina Homovec (Slovenia)
Tanja Zakelj (Slovenia)
Nathalie Schneitter (Switzerland)
Bettina Schmid (Switzerland)
Alexandra Engen (Sweden)
Semra Yetis (Turkey)
Chloe Forsman (United States of America)
Caitlyn Tuel (United States of America)

Junior Women
Sanne Cant (Belgium)
Maaike Polspoel (Belgium)
Andreanne Pichette (Canada)
Valentina Abril (Colombia)
Jitka Skarnitzlova (Czech Republic)
Jana Valesova (Czech Republic)
Claire Hassenfratz (France)
Fanny Bourdon (France)
Julie Bresset (France)
Camille Devi (France)
Amy Thompson (Great Britain)
Annie Last (Great Britain)
Annabel Simpson (Great Britain)
Gesa Bruchmann (Germany)
Ines Thoma (Germany)
Katharina Haase (Germany)
Barbara Benko (Hungary)
Roselisa Palma (Italy)
Samara Sheppard (New Zealand)
Debora Jaworska (Poland)
Anna Kowalczyk (Poland)
Marta Sulek (Poland)
Melanie Palframan (South Africa)
Genee Steyn (South Africa)
Daria Zaitseva (Russian Federation)
Maria Babanova (Russian Federation)
Polona Batagelj (Slovenia)
Kathrin Stirnemann (Switzerland)
Vivianne Meyer (Switzerland)
Jennifer Sagesser (Switzerland)
Stephanie White (United States of America)
Stephanie Cox (United States of America)

Relay
Austria
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Spain
France
Great Britain
Germany
Israel
Italy
Japan
Netherlands
New Zealand
Poland
Russian Federation
Switzerland
Sweden
United States of America

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