MOUNTAIN BIKING NEWS ITEM

2008 National Mountain Bike Series - Round 4

TUESDAY, 1 JULY 2008

PARK CITY, Utah - The fourth round of the US National Mountain Bike Series, the Deer Valley National, presented by Subaru Gary Fisher, concluded yesterday at Deer Valley, Utah, with the glory shared between those returning from the world championships in Italy last weekend after a weeklong campaign in Europe, and those who stayed at home. Ryan Trebon, Geoff Kabush, and Katerina Nash starred in the Kenda Tires and Tubes cross country race, while Melissa Buhl, Joanna Petterson, Cameron Cole, and Justin Leov claimed victory in the Fox Racing Shox gravity races.

Kenda Tires and Tubes Cross Country - Men
Ryan Trebon (Kona), of Bend, OR, outclimbed a determined Jeremiah Bishop (Trek VW), of Harrisonburg, VA, who announced his return to form with a second-place result in Saturday's Cross Country. Bishop, like Trebon, did not compete at the cross country worlds - he turned down the offer of a place on the national team because he didn't think his form justified it. "The Cape Epic in South Africa at the start of the season turned out to be a lot harder than expected, then I went straight to Europe, but I got ill and had a bumpy world cup campaign. I was just not finding a rhythm, so I decided to stay home and train and get myself on track for the second half of the season, rather than go to worlds and ride below my best," said Bishop.

He and Trebon gradually made the four-lap race their own, but until the final three miles, it was anybody's guess which of the two would take it. "There must have been five or more lead changes, it was an exciting race," said Bishop. Ultimately, Trebon had the best legs and his late-race charge took him 43 seconds clear of Bishop.

Trebon rode a 29-inch wheeled bicycle to his win, making it the first time a '29er' has won a national series mountain bike cross country race.

Multiple NMBS champion, Geoff Kabush (Maxxis), of Canada, finished third, 1:28 back. "I'm coming off a month in Europe, and I'm a little sick," he said. "With the world championships done, I'm a little more peaked than Ryan (Trebon) and Jeremiah (Bishop), but I'm happy I rode a fairly solid race. Still, it's three years in a row that I've been off the pace at Deer Valley."

Fourth was Andy Schultz (Kenda/Titus), of Missoula, MT, at 3:11, and fith was Carl Decker (Giant), of Bend, OR, at 3:24. Decker was pleased with the way things turned out for him after a difficult start. "It's a tricky race because it begins with a big climb and then you go straight into singletrack after the top, so everybody's trying to get a good position on the climb and you go way harder than you want to. I pretty much blew myself up to get 12th position over the top of the climb, but then I had to ride a bit easy for the next hour until I recovered. But I kept my chin up and I hydrated plenty and I came back and started passing people, and had some left for the finish and made it up onto the podium."

Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru Gary Fisher), apparently still fatigued from his European exploits and travel, was a few riders off the front when he flatted - ultimately taking eighth at 6:52. Adam Craig (Giant) and Todd Wells (GT), skipped this race in order to recover from their travel and prepare for forthcoming races on the east coast, beginning with NMBS round five at Wyndham, New York, July 10th-13th.

Series Roundup
Kabush looks well on his way to claiming another National Mountain Bike Series title, with 699 points compared to 575 for second-placed Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski. Strong riding by Carl Decker on Saturday elevated him to third overall on 544, but we cannot forget Barry Wicks (Kona), in fifth with 466, who did not compete at Deer Valley and is allowed one throw-out round in the final reckoning.

Kenda Tires and Tubes Cross Country - Women
It was no surprise to see the world's top women's cross country team sweep the top three places at Deer Valley, but Katerina Nash (Luna Chix), of the Czech Republic, scored the first National Mountain Bike Series cross country win of her career, which so far has been studded with victories in the Short Track. "We didn't realize it at first, because she's won so many short track races and we're used to her winning, but then we started celebrating," said the Luna Chix team manger Waldek Stepnowski.

Stepnowski praised the spirit of Nash, who has kept her mind focused on winning races despite the disappointment of missing out on Olympic team selection following an ill-timed injury at the Fontana NMBS race earlier this year. Then at the world championships, while positioned inside the top ten, she hit a rock and bent her rear derailleur and finished the race in 12th place (Pendrel finished sixth, and Gould ninth). "Katarina responded to her disappointments with a lot of grace, she has kept a positive attitude, and she keeps on smiling... And then she comes out here and wins, what a pro! She's a great athlete, such a good role model. It's great to see she still has the appetite to try for the wins, she's showing the young riders how it's done," he said.

Nash went into the lead early in the race, ahead of her teammates Catherine Pendrel, of Canada, and Georgia Gould, of Bend, OR. But Gould overexerted herself on the first climb and lost contact with Pendrel and Nash. She regained them on the find descent and they started Lap Two as a trio, but Gould lost contact on the first climb. "I had a better second half than first half. Sometimes, it just takes a while to settle into your rhythm," said Gould, who moved up past Pendrel into second place in the final half of the last lap. "I am really delighted for Katherina, taking her first NMBS win, she totally deserved it!" said Gould, who finished 25 seconds down on the Czech national. Pendrel finished at 1:31.

Heather Irmiger (Subaru Gary Fisher), of Boulder, CO, placed fourth at 2:48, and Pua Sawicki (Ellsworth), of Miliani, HI, came in at 4:19 to round out the top five.

Series Roundup
With 663 points after four rounds, Katerina Nash now has a solid lead in the series... but that might not last. Georgia Gould, now fourth with 536 points, has the best three results from the four races so far, and with consistent riding, she still is favorite to win another series title. Heather Irmiger (Subaru Gary Fisher) moves up into second place with 566 points, but when the low result is thrown out, Catherine Pendrel - now third with 542 - and Gould should both leapfrog her. But this is mountain biking and much can happen, so predictions are unwise at this point in the series with two rounds remaining.

For more details on the results, visit www.mtbnationals.com.

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