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Gillespie, Emmett win Intermountain Cup Opener

Published: Mar. 4, 2008
Gillespie gets a good start to '08.
Gillespie gets a good start to '08.
Photo: Eric Rasmussen

Bart Gillespie (Monavie-Cannondale) and Kelli Emmett (Giant) won the opening round of Utah’s 2008 Intermountain Cup, the Red Rock Desert Rampage, held in St. George on March 1.

Gillespie, overall winner of the 2007 series and the seventh-place finisher at the 2007 USA Cycling national cross-country championships in Mount Snow, Vermont, dominated the men’s race, beating second-place finisher Cale Redpath (3D Racing) by nearly seven minutes.

The 33-year-old Gillespie is employed by the Salt Lake City Veterans Rehabilitation Administration, where he works with injured soldiers who have lost limbs in combat. He also teaches physical therapy to second-year medical students at the University of Utah.

Durango, Colorado residents Travis Brown (Trek-FRS), Adam Snyder (3D Racing) and Troy Wells (Tokyo Joe’s) also made the trip to St. George, in the Red Rock desert roughly 100 miles northeast of Las Vegas. Wells, brother of Todd Wells, rode in second place for most of the race until a flat tire relegated him to third.

Emmett, 30, took the women’s pro race ahead of Utah native Kathy Sherwin (Sobe-Cannondale). Emmett, a native of Colorado, Springs, Colorado, finished 26th at the 2007 UCI world mountain-bike championships in Fort William, Scotland.

The Intermountain Cup series includes 12 events and runs through August 9. For more information, visit www.intermountaincup.com/race/.