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MOUNTAIN-BIKE SEASON PREVIEW

President George W. Bush has ridden it, but most North Americans mountain-bike pros have not. Although not fully complete, a cross-country course outside Beijing will host the world’s best at the 2008 Olympics. The battle for one of a very few spots on the American and Canadian Olympic teams has just begun. That battle — and the players involved — are detailed here.

From Alabama’s Bump and Grind to the British Columbia Bike Race, from New Hampshire’s Root 66 series to Arizona’s 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo, there are countless options for pro and amateur racing in North America. Here we present 10 mountain events you really shouldn’t miss.

It’s the world’s biggest, burliest, nastiest race. It gets huge television coverage. Many pros use it for boot-camp early season training. And you’ve never heard of it. The Absa Cape Epic hauls racers in teams of two across eight stages of brutal South African geography. Thousands enter, hundreds do not fi nish.

Scores of match-ups will keep the gravity scene exciting this season. Here, we profi le eight to keep your eyes on.

Last season the World Cup fell victim to its own popularity, with 200-plus riders storming the men’s competition at two events. Waves of riders cut the courses, many Olympic-caliber riders were bogged down in traffic, and confusion abounded. This year, the UCI has set down rules to change all that.

OTHER FEATURES

2006 Tour de France winner Floyd Landis is touring the country. He’s signing autographs and shaking hands. But his mission isn’t all fun and games — he’s out to raise money to defend his Tour title against doping charges in a May 14 arbitration hearing.

With everyone’s sights on the 2008 Olympics, track riders are changing their training and even their disciplines for a shot at the podium. Individual pursuit star Sarah Hammer leads the American charge; at the 2007 world’s, she netted her second world title.

Like many racers, former world champion Oscar Freire has had his share of crashes, illnesses and other disappointments. All those things were erased from his mind in San Remo when he beat Tom Boonen, Alessandro Petacchi, Robbie McEwen and the rest of the world’s best sprinters to the line.

Andy Bajadali scored a big victory for his small Jelly Belly team when he upset two-time race winner Scott Moninger of BMC for the 2007 Redlands Bicycle Classic title. In the pro women’s race, Amber Neben again rode without a strong team and again took the victory.

Missouri’s big sprinter has started to make his way in the world of pro racing.

Out of the shadow of Ivan Basso stepped Carlos Sastre, CSC’s man for the future.

• ROAD RAGIN’: Rock Racing comes out with the volume turned up to 11
• WORLD BEAT: Astana’s Klöden takes a savage Tierrno-Adriatico
• JUST IN: Fresh mountain gear for the new season
• TECH REPORT: Lennard Zinn rides Lew’s new 850-gram wheelset
• PROSHOP: Geoff Kabush’s custom Litespeed
• TRAINING: How to conserve energy in the pack
• TRAINING: Lose weight without compromising your fitness
• ANOTHER DAY WITH JHK: Keeping the motivation high after 16 seasons of racing
• AT THE BACK with Ben Delaney

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