Beerten Takes World Cup Mountaincross Series Title

Anneke Beerten took the 4X win at Schladming, Austria yesterday, solidifying her title as 2009 World Cup Series Champion. And, Anneke has dominated the series for 3 years in a row! Jill Kintner crashed early on, and was not a threat to the win--she finished third in the overall standings.

Race Results
1. Anneke Beerten
2. Anita Molcik
3. Katy Curd
4. Mio Suemasa
5. Romana Labounkova
6. Emmeline Ragot
7. Rachel Seydoux
8. Lucia Oetjen
9. Helene Valerie Fruhwirth
10. Eva Castro Fernandez
11. Tereza Votavova
12. Neven Steinmetz
13. Laura Brethauer
14. Stephanie Teltscher
15. Neza Knez
16. Jill Kintner

Final World Cup Standings
1. Anneke Beerten
2. Fionn Griffiths
3. Jill Kintner
4. Melissa Buhl
(more to come soon!)

Caroline Buchanan Wins World Championship 4X

Caroline Buchanan took the World Championship 4X win in Canberra, Australia last night with a solid gate start that surprised Jill Kintner. Jill couldn't close the gap, and Caroline snagged the world champ's jersey in her home country.

4X
1. Caroline Buchanan
2. Jill Kintner
3. Melissa Buhl
4. Anita Molcik
5. Anneke Beerten
6. Mio Suemasa
7. Sarsha Huntington
8. Julia Boer
9. Romana Labounkova
10. Joanna Petterson
11. Fionn Griffiths

MSA Mountaincross Results

The World Cup 4X race took place today at Mont Sainte Anne, Canada. Anneke Beerten held her lead from qualifying to take the win. Jill Kintner was plagued by crashes and finished 4th. Anneke's win today gives her the overall lead in the series. The next World Cup races will be held next weekend in Bromont, Canada.

4X
1. Anneke Beerten
2. Fionn Griffiths
3. Joanna Petterson
4. Jill Kintner
5. Melissa Buhl
6. Anita Molcik
7. Sarsha Huntington
8. Mio Suemasa
9. Lucia Oetjen
10. Eva Castro Fernandez
11. Neven Steinmetz
12. Anne Laplante

Mont Sainte Anne World Cup Results

Sabrina Jonnier took another World Cup downhill win at Mont Sainte Anne, Canada this weekend, and furthered her overall lead in the series. This race is her fifth World Cup downhill win in a row. The 4X finals are today, and Jill Kintner will be chasing Anneke Beerten for the #1 spot.

Downhill
1. Sabrina Jonnier
2. Emmeline Ragot
3. Tracy Moseley
4. Celine Gros
5. Floriane Pugin
6. Mio Suemasa
7. Melissa Buhl
8. Emilie Siegenthaler
9. Anita Molcik
10. Fionn Griffiths
11. Micayla Gatto
12. Kathy Pruitt
13. Claire Buchar
14. Petra Bernhard
15. Danice Uyesugi
16. Anais Pajot
17. Rebecca McQueen
18. Jessica Stone
19. Darian Harvey
20. Gabrielle Molloy

Jonnier Wins at La Bresse

Sabrina Jonnier returned to the top of the podium at the second World Cup downhill race of the season. This weekend's race in La Bresse, FRA saw Sabrina best current World Cup points leader Tracy Moseley by 5 seconds. Tracy has been consisently winning races this season, but Sabrina was on her home soil and proved that she's still very much in the game. The next World Cup race will be held in Vallnord, Andorra next weekend and will be the third stop for both downhill and mountaincross.

1. Sabrina Jonnier
2. Tracy Moseley
3. Myriam Nicole
4. Mio Suemasa
5. Emmeline Ragot
6. Celine Gros
7. Fionn Griffiths
8. Melissa Buhl
9. Floriane Pugin
10. Emilie Siegenthaler
11. Petra Bernhard
12. Miriam Ruchti
13. Joanna Petterson
14. Diana Marggraff
15. Helen Gaskell
16. Anita Molcik
17. Jessica Stone
18. Antje Kramer
19. Micayla Gatto
20. Caroline Sax

We found these results on CyclingNews.com.

World Cup 4X and Downhill Results

Anneke Beerten dominated the 4X finals for the win on Saturday night. Jill Kintner had qualified first, but didn't make it into the big final for a chance to race Anneke, who won all of her heats on her way to the top of the podium.

On Sunday, Tracy Moseley won the downhill by 6 seconds over Emmeline Ragot. Tracy's first World Cup win of the season also fell on her 30th birthday. The next round World Cup racing will be a 4X event held in Houffalize, Belgium on May 2-3.

4X
1. Anneke Beerten
2. Fionn Griffiths
3. Romana Labounkova
4. Jana Horakova
5. Jill Kintner
6. Emmeline Ragot
7. Melissa Buhl
8. Helene Valerie Fruhwirth

Downhill
1. Tracy Moseley
2. Emmeline Ragot
3. Sabrina Jonnier
4. Fionn Griffiths
5. Claire Buchar
6. Floriane Pugin
7. Melissa Buhl
8. Myriam Nicole
9. Joanna Petterson
10. Emilie Siegenthaler
11. Helen Gaskell
12. Sarah Newman
13. Anka Martin
14. Helene Valerie Fruhwirth
15. Elisa Canepa
16. Risa Suseanty
17. Victoria Phillips

Yes! There Is a Pro Gravity Tour!

When the US MTB Cup was announced last fall, gravity riders across the country groaned at the fact that the MTB Cup is a cross-country-only tour. After much lobbying and organizing by gravity activists like Jeremiah Dylan Dean, USA Cycling has announced a Pro Gravity MTB Tour for 2009. The Pro GRT features 5 stops, three of which are in August, and two of which are in New York. Hey, it's a start!

2009 USA Cycling Pro Gravity MTB Tour:
May 1-3: Fluidride Cup, Port Angeles, WA (DH)
May 23-25: Chile Challenge, Angel Fire, NM (DH and MTX, UCI category 2)
August 8-9: Blast the Mass, Snowmass, CO (DH and MTX, UCI category 2)
August 15-16: Yankee Clipper at Windham Mountain, Windham, NY (DH and MTX, UCI category 1)
August 29: Whiteface 5K, Wilmington, NY (DH)

World Cup Mountaincross Final Standings

Anneke Beerten took the 2008 World Cup mountaincross title with more than double the points of second-place rider Anita Molcik. The USA's Melissa Buhl, who is the current World Champion in mountaincross, was the top-ranked North American in 5th.

World Cup Mountaincross Final Standings
1. Anneka Beerten
2. Anita Molcik
3. Mio Suemasa
4. Fionn Griffiths
5. Melissa Buhl
6. Caroline Buchanan
7. Jana Horakova
8. Romana Labounkova
9. Angelika Hohenwarter
10. Rachel Seydoux
11. Julie Boer
12. Lucia Oetjen
13. Diana Marggraff
14. Eva Castra Fernandez
15. Helene Valerie Fruhwirth
16. Katarina Tothova
17. Emmeline Ragot
18. Neven Steinmetz
19. Sarsha Huntington

We found these results on CyclingNews.com.

World Cup Downhill Final Standings

Rachel Atherton took the overall 2008 World Cup downhill title by a hefty margin. What you hear less about is that there is also a 2008 World Cup Junior downhill title too. That honor went to France's Myriam Nicole, who was also ranked 10th overall in the seniors. The riders with *s by their names are all juniors. Pretty impressive! Canadian Claire Buchar was the top-ranked North American in 8th place.

Final World Cup Downhill Standings
1. Rachel Atherton
2. Sabrina Jonnier
3. Tracy Moseley
4. Emmeline Ragot
5. Florian Pugin
6. Fionn Griffiths
7. Mio Suemasa
8. Claire Buchar
9. Anita Molcik
10. Myriam Nicole *
11. Celine Gros
12. Helen Gaskell
13. Micayla Gatto
14. Diana Marggraff
15. Emilie Siegenthaler
16. Petra Bernhard
17. Scarlett Hagen
18. Helene Valerie Fruhwirth
19. Miriam Ruchti
20. Melissa Buhl
21. Kathleen Pruitt
22. Elisa Canepa
23. Amy Laird
24. Katy Curd
25. Danice Uyesugi
26. Harriet Harper
27. Joanna Petterson
28. Anais Pajot *
29. Birgit Brauman
30. Dalma Kiss
31. Sheryl MacLeod
32. Caroline Buchanan *
33. Melanie Pugin *
34. Katrina Strand
35. Claire Whiteman
36. Miranda Miller *
37. Harriet Rucknagel
38. Leigh Douglas
39. Cara Smith
40. Amber Zirnhelt
41. Sheila Morris
42. Silja Stadler
43. Joanne Fox
44. Marie-Eve Marcotte
45. Victoria Hernandez Molinas
46. Pascaline Reusser
47. Jaymie Mart
48. Maria Michalogiannaki
49. Sandra Rubesam
50. Aimee Dix
51. Sophie Borderes
52. Anka Martin
53. Katarina Tothova
54. Leoni-Caroline Dickerhoff *
55. Anne Laplante *
56. Helena Boskova
57. Julia Boer
58. Jayne Rutter
59. Diana Lorena Dromundo Vargas *
60. Sarah Newman
61. Jessica Stone *
62. Kim Huard
63. Elke Rabeder
64. Calamaty Jayne Cann
65. Antje Kramer
66. Mireia Bosca Ballester
67. Darian Harvey
68. Wendy Reynolds

We pulled these results from CyclingNews.com.

Rachel Atherton Wins In Austria and Takes the World Cup Downhill Title

Not only did Rachel Atherton crush the downhill field by more than 13 seconds in her final run of the 2008 World Cup season, but she solidified her title as the 2008 World Cup downhill champion. On a muddy, mangled Schladming, Austria course, Rachel qualified first by more than 10 seconds over Florian Pugin. Times got just a tad slower in the final, but Rachel managed to increase her lead even further.

1. Rachel Atherton
2. Florian Pugin
3. Sabrina Jonnier
4. Tracy Moseley
5. Emmeline Ragot
6. Fionn Griffiths
7. Helen Gaskell
8. Petra Bernhard
9. Claire Buchar
10. Anita Molcik
11. Miriam Ruchti
12. Diana Marggraff
13. Elisa Canepa
14. Myriam Nicole
15. Birgit Braumann
16. Harriet Rucknagel
17. Dalma Kiss
18. Emilie Siegenthaler
19. Silja Stadler
20. Mio Suemasa

These results came from CyclingNews.com

I Scored UCI Points! Now What?

Technically I hit my goal. I wanted to accumulate enough UCI points this year to be eligible to race a World Cup. Low and behold, it happened. I grabbed them at the US National Championships in Vermont on July 20. Sweet! I thought, I can drive to Mount-Sainte-Anne next week and finally race my World Cup downhill "oot and aboot" in the land of maple syrup, Celine Dion and snooty-sounding Quebecois!

Not so fast sister!
I thought that if I got on the ball I would be able to race the next two World Cups that were being held in Canada starting July 26. As it turns out, per UCI rules, I needed to have accumulated and submitted the points prior to July 8, 2008. There was nothing that could be done to squeak me in to either the Mont-Sainte-Anne or Bromont events. This discovery led to a swarm of new questions about the UCI points themselves. Where do they live? When can I see them? Do they know I exist? I decided to look into the matter a bit further to clear up some common misconceptions.

Points are elusive and are easily scared away. (Not a misconception.)
I am an American racer. American racers starting with no UCI points and participating solely in US downhill events during 2008 had one, yes, ONE chance to nab any UCI points by the July 8th deadline. This situation is not unusual. Normally there is only one opportunity to score UCI points on US soil all season long, and that's at the National Championships. This season, riders could utilize the National Championships, as well as the Snowmass Blast the Mass race and the Angel Fire Chile Challenge to score points. However, only the Chile Challenge happened before the July 8th deadline for the Canadian events.

Also, the Chile Challenge was only a C2 event, meaning that if you started with no UCI points, you had to place no worse than 2nd in order to gain the 20 UCI points required to participate in a World Cup race. So, if you didn't start out the season with the points needed to race at the North American World Cups, your chances of getting those points are slim to none. If you started the season with a few points, your stats are more favorable, but not by much. (Your points are specific to your discipline, so mountaincross points won't get you into a downhill event and vice versa.) Another last-ditch effort to snag your points would be to either petition USAC for elgibility or get chosen by them to represent the USA at the World Championships and then race your buns off to qualify well.

Why the early deadline?
If the registration deadline fell after the Snowmass race, (which was a C1 ranking and awarded a heap more points than Angel Fire), it would give riders who scored 1-19 points at Angel Fire or had a few points that carried over from 2007 another chance to score the points needed to hit the magic 20.

I contacted USA Cycling to find out more about my precious points. Mr. Marc Gullickson explained to me that for riders who are not on a UCI registered trade team, it is necessary to register for World Cup events through the USAC, not directly through UCI. USAC can't set their registration deadline on the same day as the UCI deadline because all of the rider information needs to be uploaded. USAC gives themselves a week to do this. That's why the USAC World Cup registration deadline is actually a week before the UCI posted deadline. USAC, however did specifically ask the UCI for leniency on the point deadline rule for the two Canadian World Cup events to which the UCI flatly said, “No.”

Well, boo! However, I understand that they have deadlines for a reason and if they bend them for every Harry Hardknocks and Sally Sobstory, it would probably result in (even more) chaos.

What do I do with all of these glorious points if I can’t use them this year?
I was thinking of making them into a necklace or maybe a belt until I found out that they carry over! Woohoo! UCI points are on a rolling calendar which means points earned are kept until the date that they were earned the following year. Yes, come 2009, riders who have accumulated UCI points in 2008 will carry those points into the 2009 season! You can add to your old points to get to your 20. Just make sure you use them before they expire.

A glimmer of hope!
For once in professional gravity racing, it pays to be a girl. UCI points are awarded equally whether you're a guy or a girl. And National Championship races award far more points than the other UCI races. So simply showing up and racing the National Championships will greatly increase your chances of scoring 20 or more points in one shot--and it will increase the competitiveness of the National Championships as well. That's a win-win situation.

American guys and girls who ride as privateers have the same obstacles to overcome to even be able to take a swing at a World Cup. There just aren't that many races to attend to get the points, but there are far more guys struggling to get their points than there are girls in the same situation. Last year Decline Magazine created Team America to give a few more guys the opportunity to race on the World Cup circuit, and they're all doing pretty well out there. Cody Warren is ranked 67th in the series right now, and Cole Bangert is 105th. That's not to say they wouldn't have come up with their UCI points on their own (both are National Champions, so both probably had plenty to work with), but the point is that once riders are given the opportunity to race at the World Cup level, their riding skills increase dramatically, and the competitiveness of US riders skyrockets at home and on the circuit. So it makes sense that giving more riders more opportunities to race at the World Cup level benefits everyone.

You may have scored some points already this year, and they'll carry over to the '09 season. Visit uci.ch to check your numbers.

I digress...
The World Cup courses and more UCI rules will weed out riders who don't belong at the gnarliest courses on the planet. (See the July 3 post, “Petition to Reverse the UCI Women’s Downhill Qualifying Rule”) If more riders have more opportunities to score points and use them, the number of women racing at World Cups will increase, and it will only make sense that the number of riders who move from qualifying to the final run will need to increase--maybe even to 40! As I mentioned before, giving more girls the opportunities to race and ride the World Cup courses increases overall skill levels and the competitiveness of the whole women's field. That's how the sport will grow.

Sit and whine or get up and do something!
Get up and do something, silly. Part of the reason that I was disappointed this season is that I had a hard time finding information about how and when to sign up for the World Cups. If you have questions that weren't answered here, and are wondering how to sign up for World Cups in the future, check out the USA Cycling documents on their website.

If you want more opportunities to earn points, start contacting the promoters of all the big events that you think should offer opportunities for UCI points. The Mountain States Cup series and Bigfoot Production hosted Snowmass and Angel Fire this year, so hopefully we'll see more events next season. Although the USAC encourages promoters to offer UCI points, there i$ more to it than ju$t applying for UCI points $tatu$. In many cases the extra UCI fees and rule restrictions discourage the promoters from even considering it.

What options are left for racing a World Cup in '08?
I could still go to Australia or Austria and race a World Cup there, however (cue the violin music) with the waning value of the dollar, price of airfare, time off of work, etc. it isn't realistic. As much as I’d love to live for the moment and go, I think my time is best spent learning what I need to do to get ready for next season. For the rest of the year I’ll be buttering up my husband for that honeymoon we still need to take--I hear Mont-Sainte-Anne, Val Di Sol and Maribor are just lovely!

Petition to Reverse the UCI Women's Downhill Qualifying Rule

Sign the petition, pass it on: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/worldcupwomensdhqualification/?e

The UCI recently enacted a ruling that only the women who place in the top 20 in their downhill Qualifying run at a World Cup race can advance to the Final race run. Previously the top 30 women were allowed to compete for a World Cup downhill result. According to World Cup professional downhill riders Joanna Petterson and Jaymie Mart, the reason for the UCI’s rule change was due to faster male riders complaining of slower female riders on the track during practice sessions.

This is a quote from a letter sent by Jaymie to the UCI: “It appears this complaint was originally put forwards to a rider’s forum at meeting in Slovenia in September 2007 and stems from a concern of slower female riders impeding practice of the faster males…”

Reducing the number of women who move from the Qualifying run to the Final run essentially has no effect on the reduction of the number of women on course during practice because there is normally no practice between to the two events on race day.

Another point that Joanna and Jaymie make is that the riders ranked within the last season’s top-10 standings are protected from being disqualified during Qualifying. That means that a top-10 rider can place 23^rd in her Qualifying run and still compete in the final. However, the women with quicker Qualifying times, who place 21^st and 22^nd, are unable to compete in the final.

Now, this top-10 qualifying rule has its drawbacks and merits, but it is not what is being debated. What is disturbing is that, in general, out of all of the women in the world, only 10 additional women outside of the 2007 top 10 are able to compete in a World Cup final.

Jaymie writes, “Percentage wise, in the women’s category, 50% of the riders inside the top 20 are protected riders where as 25% of the men (20 out of a possible 80) are protected. …Minimizing the available positions in a World Cup final evidently does not have the required effect on course and will sadly result in a diminished women’s field at a time when admittedly, numbers of female racers are continuing to dwindle. This category of riders requires support, not restriction.”

In case you’re thinking that there are dangerously slow women attending World Cup races, let’s consider a few points. First, World Cup downhill tracks are tough, and most riders in the world—male or female—would have difficulty riding these courses adeptly. If a rider truly struggles, being the professional rider that he or she is, that rider should recognize that he or she is in over his or her head and should choose not to continue to practice, and certainly not to attempt to race.

Second, if there are real issues with men and women riding at such varying speeds as prove dangerous during practice, why doesn’t the UCI split practice times? Guys can charge, girls can rip, and lift lines remain reasonable. If reducing the number of women who qualify for the Final race has no practical effect on the practice situation, this option seems like a smarter alternative.

Third, anyone attending a World Cup event must first qualify to ride the venue at all in one of two ways: 1. Accrue 20 UCI points in your designated discipline (Downhill races only count toward downhill points, 4x only counts toward 4x, etc). 2. Be a member of a UCI trade team.

There are very few women in the world who have accumulated the necessary amount of UCI points to race a World Cup. Few events provide those points, and the events that do supply points, like National Championships and UCI-rated races only allot a few points per place. The number of women who don’t have their 20 points and are part of a UCI trade team are even fewer. UCI trade teams normally only pull women who have proven themselves at the World Cup level already. Jaymie points out in her letter that the trade team option often allows for inexperienced men to cause an even greater threat on course than the women who have accrued their UCI points.

It’s obvious that the new rule is illogical. Luckily, we can get the UCI pointed back in the right direction by urging them to repeal the new 20-woman Qualifying limit and reinstate the 30-woman standard. Click here and sign the petition, and pass the link on to your friends. Not only will more women get the experience of racing for a World Cup result, but also the pool of talented female downhill racers will continue to grow and thrive.

Click here to read Neven Steinmetz’s blog post about this issue.

Sign the petition, pass it on: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/worldcupwomensdhqualification/?e

Canadian World Championships Team Announced

The Claire Buchar heads the Canadian World Championships Team, which was announced June 5, 2008. Canada is sending just downhillers, and no mountaincross contenders. The World Championships take place in Val di Sole, Italy on June 17-22, 2008.

Downhill
Claire Buchar
Micayla Gatto
Danice Uyesugi
Kim Huard
Marie-Eve Marcotte

Junior Women Downhill
Miranda Miller

Mountain States Cup Revamps 2008 Schedule

Some major changes have occurred on the USA Cycling National Mountain Bike and the Mountain States Cup calendars over the past few weeks. Due to a gondola-building project at Keystone, CO and scheduling conflicts with the MSC event in Telluride, CO, Big Foot Productions, the promoters of the Mountain States Cup have made the following adjustments.
-The first major change is the elimination of the Full Tilt in Telluride event, which was originally slated for August 1-3, 2008. Apparently there has been some effort to reschedule the event, but it currently won't be part of the MSC or USAC schedules.
-The MSC has also eliminated the Keystone Climax event, which was to be held on August 15-16, 2008. This race was supposed to be the third race offering UCI gravity points in the US this summer.
-Big Foot noted the popularity of the G3-formatted Keystone event and added a G3 event in Snowmass, CO on August 8-10, 2008 to make up for Keystone's disappearance. Unfortunately this race won't be UCI-sanctioned. Anyone looking for points will have to do so at the Angel Fire Chile Challenge or the Blast the Mass event.
-The final scheduling revamp for the summer moves the Sol Vista Sol Survivor event from early June to early August (1-3, in to make up for the Telluride conflict). The cool thing about this move is that riders will easily be able to attend both the Sol Vista event and the Crankworx Colorado races.--they're just a few miles apart.

To view the entire new Mountain States Cup schedule, visit http://www.racemsc.com/.

USA Cycling Adds Mountaincross National Championship

Yesterday USA Cycling announced that it would add another event to the Angel Fire Chile Challenge event taking place in New Mexico at the end of May. A one-day mountaincross National Championship will be held for American Pros only. This race is slated in addition to the already scheduled UCI/NMBS/MSC mountaincross race open international riders as well.

On the upside, Pro riders get one more chance to earn some National Championship-level UCI points. On the downside, only Pros get to compete for a National Championship jersey in mountaincross this year. There will still be Dual Slalom National Championship in Vermont later this summer.

Click here to read the USA Cycling announcement.