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Canadians rule at World Cup finals

Green, Redden finish season on top with dramatic wins at home For Canadian cross country mountain bikers Roland Green and Chrissy Redden, Aug. 27 was a big day, to say the least.

Green, Redden finish season on top with dramatic wins at home

For Canadian cross country mountain bikers Roland Green and Chrissy Redden, Aug. 27 was a big day, to say the least.

Green of Victoria, 27, came from behind in the World Cup finals in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec, to win both the race and the Union Cycliste Internationale World Cup title.

Underdog Chrissy Redden of Ontario, 35, also came from behind to win the first World Cup race of her career.

Some 37,000 spectators turned out to the event, getting louder and prouder as the Canadian riders hammered into the lead.

Although Allison Sydor of Victoria has two World Cup titles under her belt for Canada, Green is the first male to win the title.

He had a convincing lead in the points standings when he opted to miss the sixth and seventh World Cup races of the season in Europe to train with teammate Ryder Hesjedal and win the Canadian nationals in Kamloops. Two Europeans pulled ahead in the overall rankings during Green?s absence. Miguel Martinez of France led the World Cup standings and Jose Hermida of Spain was in second as racing began at Mont-Sainte Anne.

"It was a hard decision to stay at home from the two European World Cups, but now it seems like the right one," Green told a UCI reporter.

Green, an accomplished road racer, concentrated on keeping the leader, 1999 world champion Michael Rasmussen of Denmark, in sight. He waited until the third lap to take the lead when Rasmussen struggled with drivetrain problems.

Martinez kept up with the lead pack, needing to finish in the top three to guarantee himself the championship. He started to fade after the fourth lap, however, and in the next three laps fell all the way back to 36 th place.

Green built upon his lead and coasted to the finish line where he dismounted and walked across the line with his bike hoisted in the air. Even then, his closest chaser was 40 seconds back.

"In the beginning of the race I didn?t feel that good, but I saw that Rasmussen was riding fast so my tactic was to stay up front with him," said Green. "I wanted to keep contact with Michael, and with Martinez up there also the pace actually slowed down a bit.

"In lap four my legs came around and then they felt great ? I didn?t even feel them on the last lap."

That rider 40 seconds back of Green happened to be Hesjedal, who dropped into fourth at one stage but recovered on the last lap by passing the other competitors, including Hermida, on his last time up the steep uphill section. Hermida finished 15 seconds back of Hesjedal to claim third, and second overall in the World Cup standings.

"It?s amazing," said Hesjedal. "I couldn?t ask for more, and I?ve been looking forward to it all year. I felt good on the big climb, and felt confident pushing the good gears, and I was relaxed on the descents."

Another Canadian, Seamus McGrath of Ontario, made the podium with a fifth place finish behind Thomas Hochstrasser of Switzerland.

The women?s race was just as exciting, with Redden taking the lead in the beginning and losing it to Swiss rider Barbara Blatter, the World Cup leader, and her British teammate Caroline Alexander. Alexander took the lead, and set a pace that left most of the field behind. At one point she was 20 seconds ahead of Blatter and 50 seconds ahead of Redden. Sydor was in fourth, more than a minute down.

Although it looked like a done deal, Blatter lost steam on the fifth lap and Redden closed the gap. Alexander was still 45 seconds ahead at that point, but as Redden and Blatter battled, their pace quickened enough to put the pair within 30 seconds of the leader at the start of the sixth and final lap.

"We were attacking, which allowed us to move toward Caroline," said Redden. "I didn?t think it was do-able to catch her, but then I thought, wow, I can do it."

Redden left Blatter behind and set her sights on Alexander. She caught a break when Alexander lost her chain on the climb, and pulled to within 20 seconds of the lead. Redden gained more time going into the technical sections, which she excels in, and pulled ahead on the second climb. She kept attacking until she crossed the finish line.

"It was special to win here in Canada," said Redden. "People were cheering and running with me. Now I?m looking forward to the worlds."

Sydor finished the race in fourth, and Lesley Tomlinson of North Vancouver added a fourth Canadian to the top 10 with a 10th place finish.

Canadians took five of 10 podium spots in the World Cup finals, the nation?s best ever showing.

The World Mountain Bike Championships in Vail, Colorado, run from Sept. 8 to 16. Five Whistler athletes will attend the race: pro elite cross country racer Chad Miles; pro elite downhiller Sylvie Allen; junior expert downhiller Jeff Beatty. and junior expert cross country racers Will Routley and Tyler West.

Green, Redden, Miles and others are expected to compete in the Cheakamus Challenge, Sept. 22.

Complete results for Mont-Sainte-Anne are available at the UCI Web site at www.uci.ch.