At just 22, Canadian cross-country rider Max Plaxton (Rocky Mountain-Haywood) already owns palmarès worthy of envy. He is twice the Pan-American U-23 champion (2006 and ‘07) and owns a bronze medal from the 2006 world championships U-23 cross-country race.

Now, with countrymen Geoff Kabush and Seamus McGrath entering their 30s, Plaxton is undeniably the future of Canadian cross-country racing.

“Young Max,” as his peers call him, took another step toward the big time by winning his first NMBBS race — Saturday’s short-track cross-country at the National Mountain Bike Series’s Santa Ynez Valley Classic.

“Well it feels great,” Plaxton said. “The last few years I’ve won some Canada Cups and this is a lot bigger than that.”

Plaxton proved his strong fitness at shorter efforts with podium finishes in the short track and time trial at the April 18-22 Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California.

Still, most eyes were on Plaxton’s countrymen Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) at the Santa Ynez Classic. With 14-career short-track victories, including one at the 2007 NMBS opener in Fountain, Hills, Arizona, the sideburned Kabush is the discipline’s winningest racer.

Looking to topple Kabush was the Kona duo of Barry Wicks and Ryan Trebon and the Subaru-Gary Fisher squad of Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski and Sam Schultz.

Team tactics and gusting winds turned the race into a chess match after a large group of nine asserted itself at the front. Present in the group were Kabush, Plaxton, Wicks and Trebon, Horgan-Kobelski and Schultz, as well as Alan Obye (Jamis), Ross Schnell (Trek-Volkswagen) and Brent Miller (Kenda/X-Fusion).

With the teammate-less riders sitting on, national short-track champ Wicks played the first card midway through the 20-minute race, and attacked through the mile-long course’s start-finish area. The effort dropped Obye, Miller and Schnell, but as the group came together with three laps remaining, Plaxton took a solo flyer.

Hesitation within the group made Plaxton’s move a winning one. Trebon turned on the afterburners and slowly reeled the Canadian in, towing Horgan-Kobelski along. But the lanky cyclo-cross national champion ran out of real estate and finished second. Horgan-Kobelski, Wicks and Schultz rounded out the podium.

“I just waited too long,” Trebon admitted.

Nash, Plaxton score wins at Santa Ynez short-track

Afterward, sixth-place finisher Kabush praised his countryman.

“It’s too cool to see Max fired up and winning,” he said. “We need more Canadian guys doing well at the races.”

Plaxton’s victory came after the Luna mountain-bike team lit up the women’s short-track race, with Katerina Nash, Georgia Gould and Shonny Vanlandingham finishing 1-2-3.

With reigning national short-track champ Susan Haywood (Trek-Volkswagen) in Maryland to race the UCI C-2 Greenbrier Challenge on April 30, the Luna squad faced off against Willow Koerber and Heather Irmiger of Subaru-Gary Fisher. Koerber grabbed the hole shot off the line, and with her teammate on her wheel led around the first lap.

But Irmiger went down on the lap’s only descent — the crash separated the Luna three and Koerber from the chase group. Koerber marked attacks for half of the race, but when she too slid out in a corner, taking down Gould, Nash assumed a sizable advantage.

Gould, hot off an impressive eight-place finish at the World Cup opener in Houffalize, Beligium, wasn’t ready to let her teammate go so easily. The Luna rider flexed her legs with three laps remaining, powering away from Koerber, speeding past Vanlandingham and grabbing Nash’s wheel — all in less than half a lap.

“I really wasn’t surprised to see Georgia, she’s been so strong this year,” Nash admitted.

The two rode comfortably at the front of the women’s field, and looked primed for a Luna vs. Luna sprint finish. But Gould lost control in the final turn, and Nash soloed in for an easy win.

“It’s good for me — I’m not such a good sprinter this year and I think Georgia would have beaten me,” Nash said.

Vanlandingham and Koerber secured the third and fourth spot finishes, and Kiwi Jennifer Smith (Trek-Volkswagen) out-kicked Zephanie Blasi (Kenda/X-Fusion) for the final spot on the podium.

The 2007 Santa Ynez Classic NMBS concludes Sunday with the men’s and women’s cross-country.2007 Santa Ynez Classic NMBS
Short Track
Men
1. Max Plaxton (Can), Rocky Mountain-Haywood
2. Ryan Trebon, Kona
3. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, Subaru-Gary Fisher
4. Barry Wicks, Kona
5. Sam Schultz, Subaru-Gary FisherWomen
1. Katerina Nash (Cz), Luna
2. Georgia Gould, Luna
3. Shonny Vanlandingham, Luna
4. Willow Koerber, Subaru-Gary Fisher
5. Jennifer Smith (NZ), Trek-Volkswagen