Thomas 44th at Wolrd Cup, Willingen

[jonny.zee]

http://www.uci.ch/modello.asp?1stlevelid=CC&level1=1&level2=0&idnews=3538

Does anyone know what happened to Steve Peat?

[Qn'r]

Injured Shoulder a couple weeks ago...I'd assume that's what kept him out.
http://www.stevepeat.com/detail.asp?articleId=203&type=latest

Props to Thomas!!!

[xy9ine]

not bad for a "freerider", on a "freeride" bicycle. good to see some (any) canadian representation on the wc dh circuit. looks like the only other north amercian in the top 50 is straight - another freeride type guy dabbling in dh. kinda sad to see racing dying on this continent. Whats with all the speedy brits & auzzies, though? they don't even have real mountains.

[dirty deeds]

2005 WILLINGEN WORLD CUP DH & FOURCROSS

Like the cross-country, the Willingen downhill course was less than worthy of World Cup competition. It was under one mile of nothing more than a few jumps and lots of gravel and grass. Then the rain hit just prior to the men's start. Now you could replace the bottom, grass part of the course with a mud bog down to the finish.

And it only got worse. The rain damaged the fourcross start gate's electronics. When the officials announced that they were going to use a verbal countdown, the riders freaked. Almost all of the 4X riders boycotted the event, except for 8 women. Jill Kintner was one of the riders who didn't compete, and that decision could cost her the championship.

Just like 2003's l'Alpe d'Huez and Kaprun events, Willingen will go down in history as one of the world's worse World Cups.

RACE NOTES
*Ex World and current NORBA Champ Greg Minnaar ended up winning the second World Cup of 2005 on a parts bike. Only five days before the race thieves broke into the factory box van and stole a bevy full of $200,000 RN01s. In those five days the Honda mechanics worked like mad to construct a bike from spare parts. It paid off with a 3 second win.

*Fast qualifier Mick Hannah (Haro) crashed so violently in the main that he was unable to find his bike in the surrounding forest.

*Round one winner Steve Peat (Orange) was a no-show with an injury and is expected to be out 6 more weeks.

*The amazing Anne-Caroline Chausson has been riding for a month since breaking her shoulder at the Les Gets World Championships last year. So instead of winning by 10 seconds, she won by 5.

[wallyjames]

"Whats with all the speedy brits & auzzies, though? they don't even have real mountains."

Ya got it in one. No real mtns, then why not race on the small hills instead? BC guys are all out hitting big jumps or riding Whistler or their local shuttle favourites. Same reason why so many top Canadian team ski racers come from Ontario - what else is there to do on those little molehills?

Actually the answer is a bit more complex. There are mountains in Australia, even half a dozen big ski resorts, so there is lifted riding in summer, and it's a 6 month riding season even at altitude. On top of that the biggest cities are close to those same mtns - less than 6 hr drive. Plus they have more funding for sports than Canadian athletes have ever dreamt of - money like what East Germany used to spend in the cold war era. The Australian Institute of Sport is a large university dedicated to sports, and most top up-and-coming athletes end up with scholarships there. The institute has a high altitude centre at one of the ski hills too. There isn't the obsession with pro sports that we see in North America, sure they love their rugby, cricket and Aussie Rules, but swimmers and tennis players have rock star status too. The climate means you can ride all year - only the highest mountains on the continent get snow.

Need I go on? Australia wins more Olympic medals per head of population than any nation on earth. They are sports crazy, and they love to win at anything. Their roadies are winning stages and overall races at some of the top Euro tours and World Championships. It's not that surprising they are winning MTB too.