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Disappointing weekend for Canadians at Calgary World Cup

Whistler rider Claire Buchar 11th in downhill, four-cross

Rain and cold played havoc with the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup at Canada Olympic Park last weekend in the first of three years that the venue will host the event. The COP races were previously held at Grouse Mountain before being moved by the event producers.

Courses that were dry and dusty quickly turned to mud, causing problems for both the cross-country and downhill riders.

When all was said and done, it was a disappointing weekend for Canadians with cross-country athlete Marie-Helene Premont the top finisher, fourth in the women’s cross country.

The action got underway on Friday with the four-cross (4X). The win went to Michal Prokop of the Czech Republic, followed by Roger Rinderknecht of Switzerland, Eric Carter of the U.S. and Wade Bootes of Australia. The top Canadian was Dustin Adams in 23 rd .

In the women’s 4X it was Sabrina Jonnier of France, followed by Jill Kinter and Tara Llanes of the U.S., and Celine Gros of France.

Whistler’s Claire Buchar reached the quarter-finals where she finished 11 th .

The action continued on Saturday with the men’s and women’s cross-country races.

The sun was shining at the start, but the course was still wet from a heavy downpour that continued until half an hour before the start of the women’s competition.

For a lot of riders the day came down to making the right tire choice – slick tires if you thought the course was going to dry up and bumpy tires if you thought it would stay wet. Bumpy was the way to go.

At the end of the race it was Norway’s Gunn-Rita Dahle – the most dominant woman in the history of the sport with a record 10 consecutive World Cup gold medals – who finished at the front of the pack. North Vancouver’s Alison Sydor was in first place after the climb, and then backed off a little which allowed Dahle to take over the lead. Sydor then got entangled with Germany’s Yvonne Kraft and they both crashed well off the course. Sydor and Kraft already have some bad blood after a shoving match in Madrid earlier this season.

"(Kraft) squeezed by me at a bad moment and then promptly crashed," Sydor told Canadian Cyclist. "I crashed into her and we fell off the trail, all tangled up, and went down over the bank. It took a little bit of time to get untangled and I lost about 12 spots. Riders should show some respect for others when they are racing.

Sydor managed to work her way back up to eighth, but never saw the lead group again. Luckily one Canadian managed to stay with the leader, as Premont of Quebec worked her way through the group to finish in fourth behind Dahle, Mary McConneloug of the U.S. and Annabella Stropparo of Italy.

Kiara Bisaro of Courtenay was 14 th and Chrissy Redden 16 th . Other Canadians in the top-30 were Trish Sinclair in 21 st , Sarah Noble in 22 nd , Madelaine Bate in 25 th , Martina Feldmann in 28 th and Danelle Kabush in 29 th .

The conditions were a little drier for the men at their start, at least until a storm blew in on the fourth lap, bringing wind, hail and misery. The temperature dropped from around 24 degrees Celsius to nine degrees during the race, and only 32 of 92 starters made it to the finish line.

The winner, Filip Meirhaege, was shivering so badly when he completed the course that he was taken to the hospital and treated for the early stages of hypothermia.

Switzerland’s Christoph Sauser was second, followed by Jose Antonio Hermida of Spain.

The conditions, as bad as they were, didn’t put a damper on Ontario’s Seamus McGrath, who finished seventh overall. The result all but locks up McGrath’s selection to the Olympic team, which will be announced on July 12 prior to the Tim Hortons MTB National championships.

Other Canadians in the top-30 included Max Plaxton in 14 th , Chris Sheppard in 18 th , Mathieu Toulouse in 20 th , Geoff Kabush in 21 st , Ricky Federau in 24 th and Andreas Hestler in 30 th .

Two-time world champion Roland Green was a DNF for the fourth time in five World Cup appearances for undetermined reasons.

In the downhill on Sunday, the course was extremely short – at just 1.3 km – and flat, but the muddy conditions definitely pushed the difficulty level up a notch.

It was raining during the women’s race, which actually made things faster. Once the rain let up for the men’s race the course got a lot stickier.

Celine Gros of France won the race with a time of two minutes, 39.55 seconds, followed by her French teammate Sabrina Jonnier in 2:40.92.

Tracy Moseley of Great Britain was third in 2:43:11.

Danika Schroeter was the top Canadian racer in seventh with a time of 2:52.40 and Claire Buchar was 11 th once again in 2:57.88.

"I’m just stoked," said Buchar. "These are the best results I’ve had so far on the World Cup." Two weeks before Calgary she finished in the top-20 at the World Cup at Mont Ste Anne on a longer and more challenging course.

Buchar in only in her fourth season of competitive racing and in that time she has worked her way up through the local and provincial series to become a force nationally. She represented Canada in the past two World Championships, although she was sick the first time and coming off a serious injury last season.

During that time Buchar says she has been steadily improving, working on her riding skills and technique. That means hitting the gym in the winter and spending the summers doing lap after lap in the bike park.

"I just think it takes year to build up to this point. I’m finally starting to see some good results, and I’m definitely not going to stop now, I’m going to keep working to get to the top," said Buchar.

"I know I can do, I know know I’m one of those girls now – not just in the downhill but in the four-cross as well. I need to improve in both, but I’m a lot closer than I was."

Although the Calgary course was short and shallow, Buchar says it was far from easy. You had to pedal hard through most sections, which tested your endurance. At the same time the mud clumped up on your tires, making it harder to find traction and control your bike.

All the courses on the World Cup tour are different, which is why she says it is a benefit to be able to train in the Whistler Mountain Bike Park. "Living here and being able to train in the park is definitely a good thing. Now that Garbanzo is open, we can train on longer runs, on a lot more technical stuff," she said.

Although her results at the past two World Cup contests will help with her selection to the national team this year, she hopes to do well in the nationals next weekend. Her participation in that race in mandatory under the Canadian Cycling Association rules, even if she’s injured and can only push her bike across the line.

"It should be a good race, we all know the course by now," she said.

Getting to the worlds will be more difficult than qualifying at this stage, and she will probably need a fundraiser to get to Germany in September. She is currently sponsored by Balfa, Sombrio, Michelin, Evolution and Whistler-Blakcomb, but still needs to come up with some of her own travel and living expenses.

Rounding out the top-30 on Sunday were Debra Mackillop in 17th, Darcy Turenne in 22nd, Junelle Cassidy in 25 th and Stephanie Nychka in 26 th .

The men’s downhill was a strange race. Not only because of the conditions, but because one of the top racers, Mike Jones, was fined 1250 Swiss Francs (about $1,350) for neglecting to wear the Canadian champion jersey he won in Whistler almost a year ago.

To protest the absurdity of the officials’ ruling a British rider by the name of Chris Ball rode the course in his underwear with his number duck taped to his back. He was later disqualified for "removal of clothing".

David Vasquez Lopez of Spain took the win in 2:24.78. Markolf Berchtold of Brazil was second in 2:25.91, and Steve Peat of Great Britain was third in 2:26.72. The points also gave Peat an insurmountable lead in the World Cup downhill standings.

Derrick Chambers was the top Canadian in 13 th with a time of 2:29.24. Michael Jones was 21 st and Jordie Lunn 29 th .

The Calgary events wrapped up the regular World Cup season until the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Germany in September.

The next big event for the Canadian riders is the Tim Hortons Mountain Bike National Championships at Mont Ste Anne starting on July 17.