I want this bike... 16.5 lbs... now that is Flash!
From http://www.canadiancyclist.com/
After a break of over a month, action resumes in Canada this weekend at the Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano, with back-to-back weekends of racing for all three disciplines. This weekend, the World Cup returns to one of the true classic venues of the sport - Mont Ste Anne, Quebec. Home to the 2008 women's cross-country World Cup champion Marie-Helene Premont (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain), Mont Ste Anne has been on the circuit since the beginning of the World Cup in 1991, and next year will host the world championships for the second time.
cross-country is Queen at Mont Ste Anne, as local favourite Premont looks to score another victory on her home track in front of family and friends. Premont started the season slowly, and is only ninth in the overall standings, but here she is the overwhelming favourite, and has been building all season to win.
She will go up against World Cup leader and world champion Marga Fullana (Massi), as well as round one winner Elisabeth Osl (Central Ghost). Another name to watch will be fellow Canadian Catharine Pendrel (Luna), who is world number one ranked, and recently stripped Premont of her national title after six years. One high profile absence is Olympic champion Sabine Spitz (Central Ghost) who is still fighting a bug that has been plaguing her all season.
The men's race, while lacking the local excitement, will provide a fitting finale to the weekend, as World Cup leader and Olympic champion Julien Absalon (Orbea) tries for his fourth consecutive victory. Absalon has an almost unassailable lead in the overall standings, but a number of riders have been showing good form of late, including Ralph Näf (Multivan Merida), who recently won the European championships, and his team mate Jose Hermida who took silver and won round one of the World Cup. Others to watch include German Wolfram Kurschat (Topeak-Ergon), who is second in the standings, and world champion Christoph Sauser (Specialized), who is looking for his first win of the year. One absence for the men is Mathias Fluckinger (Trek World Racing).
Another star to watch is the course itself. After walking most of the circuit we've come to the conclusion that it is a magnificent revamp of a classic course and very different from recent years. We recognized elements from the 1998 World Championships. The changes start with something that hasn't been experienced here in ages - no start loop. The first lap will be perhaps 200m shorter as the first two sections of technical trail are dropped in favour of an access road climb to string out the pack.
From here it goes into a section of wicked twisty, turny, up and down singletrack, with out of the saddle short climbs to sap energy. For the first time in ages we saw groups of pros stopped in the forest trying to figure out how to ride some portions. It's old school in many ways and quite technical, and is sure to be a spectator favourite.
The course then loops back on itself and brings the racers back down close to the start/finish. After this, it traverses the ski hill leading into the traditional gravel road climb to the high point of the course. Then things change radically. The old downhill section is gone, replaced by a quite frightening berm filled descent into a rock garden right under the ski gondola. It's steep enough that there are hay bales and foam pads on the downhill side of this section. According to Pendrel it's not as bad as it looks. “The first time scares you, but then it becomes a lot easier. I think it's actually easier than the old downhill because there's no roots.” Even with the changes, Pendrel expects the course to only be 2 or 3 minutes longer.
Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) commented “I really like the extra climbing this year.”
Course length is touch over 5.7km. Although not finalized, expect 5 or 6 laps for the men and 4 for the women. The final distance will be set tomorrow, and it all depends upon the weather. Rain is expected tomorrow and it could create lots of problems.
cross-country is Queen at Mont Ste Anne, as local favourite Premont looks to score another victory on her home track in front of family and friends. Premont started the season slowly, and is only ninth in the overall standings, but here she is the overwhelming favourite, and has been building all season to win.
She will go up against World Cup leader and world champion Marga Fullana (Massi), as well as round one winner Elisabeth Osl (Central Ghost). Another name to watch will be fellow Canadian Catharine Pendrel (Luna), who is world number one ranked, and recently stripped Premont of her national title after six years. One high profile absence is Olympic champion Sabine Spitz (Central Ghost) who is still fighting a bug that has been plaguing her all season.
The men's race, while lacking the local excitement, will provide a fitting finale to the weekend, as World Cup leader and Olympic champion Julien Absalon (Orbea) tries for his fourth consecutive victory. Absalon has an almost unassailable lead in the overall standings, but a number of riders have been showing good form of late, including Ralph Näf (Multivan Merida), who recently won the European championships, and his team mate Jose Hermida who took silver and won round one of the World Cup. Others to watch include German Wolfram Kurschat (Topeak-Ergon), who is second in the standings, and world champion Christoph Sauser (Specialized), who is looking for his first win of the year. One absence for the men is Mathias Fluckinger (Trek World Racing).
Another star to watch is the course itself. After walking most of the circuit we've come to the conclusion that it is a magnificent revamp of a classic course and very different from recent years. We recognized elements from the 1998 World Championships. The changes start with something that hasn't been experienced here in ages - no start loop. The first lap will be perhaps 200m shorter as the first two sections of technical trail are dropped in favour of an access road climb to string out the pack.
From here it goes into a section of wicked twisty, turny, up and down singletrack, with out of the saddle short climbs to sap energy. For the first time in ages we saw groups of pros stopped in the forest trying to figure out how to ride some portions. It's old school in many ways and quite technical, and is sure to be a spectator favourite.
The course then loops back on itself and brings the racers back down close to the start/finish. After this, it traverses the ski hill leading into the traditional gravel road climb to the high point of the course. Then things change radically. The old downhill section is gone, replaced by a quite frightening berm filled descent into a rock garden right under the ski gondola. It's steep enough that there are hay bales and foam pads on the downhill side of this section. According to Pendrel it's not as bad as it looks. “The first time scares you, but then it becomes a lot easier. I think it's actually easier than the old downhill because there's no roots.” Even with the changes, Pendrel expects the course to only be 2 or 3 minutes longer.
Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) commented “I really like the extra climbing this year.”
Course length is touch over 5.7km. Although not finalized, expect 5 or 6 laps for the men and 4 for the women. The final distance will be set tomorrow, and it all depends upon the weather. Rain is expected tomorrow and it could create lots of problems.
i think that is the scalpal - the flash is a HT. unless you are getting a little soft and think you need a full squish.
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