KONA LES GETS RIDERS WIN THREE MORE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP JERSEYS & TRACY MOSELEY WINS CRANKWORX GARBANZO DH
Kona Les Get Riders successfully defended National Championships Titles in
Canada, France and the United States over the weekend. This makes a total of
four national Championship Jerseys for the Kona Les Gets Team for the 2007
season.
French Downhill National Championships: Sunday’s final was tough for all the
riders and was like running the gauntlet since the track had deteriorated
and the wind had picked up.
Fabien had regained his confidence after battling a bit in the training and
having a crash that worsened his foot injury. He was ready to take the start
and
flew out of the gate. It was apparent he meant business and he attacked with
a bit too much zeal and was over jumping and blowing through turns, he was
pushing hard for the top section and was already 2 sec up at the split.
Shortly after the split he over shot a turn, lost traction and went down,
but in true Fabien style he stayed firmly attached to the bars and managed a
quick recovery.
He hit the last few turns with amazing speed like he was on rails. He
crossed the line 0.7sec up and took the win! He was really pleased to retain
the title.
“This is the first time since I injured my foot last season that I felt
comfortable to attach 100% and also have the correct race mind set. This a
big step for me getting back to the top. I’m really pleased to retain the
French title,” remarked Barel.
USA National Championships: Ryan Trebon, Barry Wicks and Erik Tonkin set out
of a week-end of tough racing in Vermont as they prepared to defend their
jerseys. The rain stopped by the time the pro men XC was set to begin and
turned the mud to sticky molasses like consistency.
Trebon’s form was good and he was reasonably confident going into cross
country race. But today was a day beset by bad luck for Trebon, who lost his
line in the first mile of the race and flatted his front tire after
colliding with a rock. He rode the flat to pit area, got a new wheel and
was able bridge back up to 6th place before he flatted again, bent his rear
derailleur and crashed. The crash cracked his handlebar which eventually
broke and the eventual withdrawal from the race.
Barry Wicks had a tough day finishing in 6th place. “The course didn’t
really suit me well but we all have to ride the same thing so it’s no
excuse. I just didn’t have the legs today. When I pinned it to the red zone
the hard technical sections and sticky mud made me feel like an amateur,”
said Wicks. Tonkin on the other hand continued to solidify his stature as
the workingman’s hero and added another career ride to his season finishing
in 8th place.
The Short track for Trebon went much better and he won the Short Track
National Championship . “I promised my MP (Kona Team manager) I wouldn’t
come home without something. Since I pooched the Cross Country I came out
swinging for the short track,” said Trebon.
Trebon shot out the front as usual with only Wicks and Craig able to hang
with the pace. But shortly after doing so he dropped his chain and fell back
a number of places. As has been the case so many times Wicks was the
consummate teammate and marked Craig until Trebon caught back up. “Ryan
caught us on the start/finish straight and I knew he was going to come by.
It seemed like he was going twice as fast. The effort to mark Craig was too
much for my tire legs from the day before and when Ryan blasted by I cracked
bad,” said Wicks. Erik Tonkin was just not satisfied with one career best
National Championship finish and rallied his way around the course to finish
in 9th place. Wicks would finish 11th.
Canadian National Championships: Neal Kindree successfully defended his U-23
National title at Mt. Washington B. C. in some nasty muddy conditions. “It
was a hard race today. It was ridiculous how muddy it was today and I’m not
really that good in that kind of stuff. I’d make up time on the climbs and
just try to limit my time losses on the descent and not crash,” said
Kindree.
Kindree and Raphael Gagne dueled for much of the first three laps trading
places throughout the course. Neal kicked hard on a big climb on the final
lap and was able to break free from Gagne and extend his lead to over two
minutes by the end of the race.
Wendy Simms has been looking to find her form for much of the season and
things seem to be coming around albeit a bit late for the mountain bike
season. The race on her home turf and with conditions that generally suit
her strong techncial skills. But the heavey hitters for the world cup
circuit were in full force and grabbed the three top podium spots with Simms
holding on for 5th. Simms had a solid ride. “I was happy enough with my
ride. My form hasn’t been great since I got sick early in the season and
it’s been a balancing act trying to get it back this late in the season. I
just want to finish out the season strong,” said Simms.
Kona Les Get rider Kris Sneddon competed in the Elite Men’s Cross country
and had a good outing. He was shooing to hit a podium spot and looked to be
on his way to do so but faded in the late stages of the race. He finished
5th on the day.
Crankworx-Garbonzo Downhill: Tracy Moseley won the Garbanzo DH race
yesterday on the opening weekend of Cranworx. All riders battled appalling
conditions and were slammed with a downhill marathon featuring wet, slimy
roots and rocks and a river of water running down the trail in many places. Riders also faced several 'north shore' style bridges that were incredibly
slippery along with near vertical rock slabs in the top portion of this
madness. Many riders fell multiple times during this 3,000 vertical foot
monster of a course and in most cases the mountain prevailed.
In some sections riders were seen to be tumbling and sliding down the trail
losing all semblance of traction and their own bikes in some cases. It was
war ! And it resembled a Monty Python skit at times with riders cursing,
crashing and tumbling straight down the mountain and sometimes into each
other. The rain held off for most of the day but the week of bad weather
prior to the race did the damage. It was wet!
Tracy Moseley of Kona/Les Gets showed incredible strength during her run and
reported that she used seven goggle 'tear-offs' on the race course...a
personal record. Moseley said afterwards she came to Whistler early to
escape the wet weather that the UK is having at this time. But here on the
'Wet Coast' of Canada she found even worse conditions from which where she
left.
Till next time...
Marko
All Photos John Gibson
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