A patient Geoff Kabush used his experience to win the Santa Ynez Valley Classic, the second round of the 2007 National Mountain Bike Series. The Canadian, suffering from admittedly bad legs, spent the day riding in the draft of Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru-Gary Fisher) and Barry Wicks (Kona), before out sprinting the two Americans for the win.

“I took one pull today and it was in the last 50 meters of the race,” Kabush conceded after the win. “Something wasn’t right with me from the get go, and I just tried to hang on today as long as I could. Luckily I just let Wicks and JHK chase each other all day.”

Visibly dejected at the finish line, Wicks and Horgan-Kobelski slumped over their bikes shaking their heads. Both realized they had blown a chance to topple Kabush — two times the series champ and the winner of the opening NMBS round in Fountain Hills, Arizona — who was visibly having a sub-par day.

“I’m kicking myself, I should have used my brain more,” said Wicks, the 2006 Santa Ynez Classic cross-country champion. “I was feeling really good but I never attacked on the course, I always just dialed up the pace and tried to drop people. I wasn’t worried about Geoff at all and he saved it ‘till the very end.”

It became evident halfway through the first of two 13.1-mile laps that the day’s winner would come from the lead group of four, which contained Wicks, Horgan-Kobelski, Kabush and Max Plaxton (Rocky Mountain-Haywood). But with Horgan-Kobelski pushing the pace on the climbs and Wicks dialing it up on the flat sections, Kabush and Plaxton enjoyed a free ride.

The men completed two laps around the 13.1-mile course, which contained a handful of steep, lung-busting climbs and two speedy, winding descents, but no technical riding. A steady wind blowing from the west kept riders in groups, and helped quell attacks.

Horgan-Kobelski, looking for his first top cross-country victory of 2007, looked hell-bent on breaking away and put in numerous digs on his Gary Fisher 29er. His final break came inside the final kilometer, which succeeded in dropping Plaxton.

But Kabush slammed the door shut just before the finish, letting the American lead into the final left hand turn. Horgan-Kobelski tried in vain to sprint, but Kabush kept his bike in a big gear and easily brought home the win.

“It felt good to finally ride at the front of one of these things, but I thought Geoff was really hurting,” Horgan-Kobelski said. “Nine out of 10 times that we go to the line together in a sprint, I’m going to lose.”

Kabush’s Maxxis teammate Mattieu Toulouse grabbed the final spot on the podium, finishing a minute up on Kris Sneddon (Kona), Andy Schultz (Bear Naked-Cannondale) and Ryan Trebon (Kona).

Gould heads up a Luna sweep
Crossing the line just after Trebon was women’s winner, Georgia Gould of the Luna women’s mountain-bike team. Gould and the rest of the women’s field completed one full and one shortened laps around the course, bringing them to the finish line with the back half of the pro men’s field.

SWEEEEP! Luna does it again

Gould dialed up the pace on the opening lap, and held a two-minute advantage on teammate Shonny Vanlandingham at the summit of the first climb. Gould never looked back, powering to the win by nearly four minutes.

Indeed, despite enjoying a lead that bumped past five minutes at times, Gould said she never let up.

“You’re supposed to go hard the whole time — this is a mountain-bike race,” she said. “It’s not like I’m a road racer.”

Vanlandingham held on to second, while Luna’s Katerina Nash rebounded from an early crash that sent her into 30th position to ride into third place by the race’s midpoint. Nash’s effort gave Luna a 1-2-3 sweep for both the short track and cross-country races.

The victories have Kabush and Gould two for two at 2007 National Mountain Bike Series cross-country races. The series continues May 5-6 in Fontana, California. That venue will host the entire NMBS events schedule: cross-country, short track, Super D, downhill and mountain cross. 2007 Santa Ynez Classic NMBS
Cross country
Men
1. Geoff Kabush (Can), Maxxis
2. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, Subaru-Gary Fisher
3. Barry Wicks, Kona
4. Max Plaxton (Can), Rocky Mountain-Haywood
5. Mattieu Toulouse (Can), MaxxisWomen
1. Georgia Gould, Luna
2. Shonny Vanlandingham, Luna
3. Katerina Nash (Cz), Luna
4. Heather Irmiger, Subaru-Gary Fisher
5. Willow Koerber, Subaru-Gary Fisher