Canadian Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) currently sits atop the UCI’s men’s cross-country rankings with 435 points, 15 points more than second-place ranked Roel Paulissen (Cannondale-Vredestein) of Belgium.

The Canadian enjoyed a 12th place finish at the World Cup cross-country opener, held April 21 in Houffalize, Belgium. Most of Kabush’s points have come from his early season undefeated streak in the Western Hemisphere UCI races. Kabush won the March 11 Pan American championships in Villa la Agostura, Argentina, the April 15 Sea Otter Classic and the opening three rounds of the National Mountain Bike Series.

Kabush admits his success of late has come from good timing and luck.

“It’s funny, people see that Georgia [Gould] and I have been winning all of the races but it’s been different. She’s been dominating and I’ve been somehow making it happen,” said Kabush. “I’ve been pretty lucky the last two races.”

The Canadian won the March 6 NMBS round in Fontana, California, despite being repeatedly dropped by Ryan Trebon (Kona), Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru-Gary Fisher) and Todd Wells (GT). The front group slowed near the end, allowing Kabush to catch on and launch his winning attack.

“Those guys keep letting me back in the race,” Kabush said. “I don’t know if it’s that they’re too anxious, but when I finally get up there I think they’re not thinking about what I’m going to do. I always am thinking about what I need to do to win the race and what the other guys are going to do.”

Like Kabush, Georgia Gould is undefeated in 2007 cross-country races held in the Western Hemisphere. Unlike the Canadian, Gould’s victories have been measured in minutes, not seconds.

Gould finished an impressive eighth at Houffalize, and currently trails China’s Ren Chengyuan in the UCI overall 484-460.

Mary McConneloug

Mary McConneloug (Seven-Kenda) has 449 UCI points, and finished second at the Pan American championships behind Gould, and has spent much of her early season competing in Europe. Her last result was an 11th place finish at Germany’s Bundesliga cup No. 3, a UCI Hors Category race. McConneloug faced off against reigning world champion Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesja (Multivan-Merida) as well as the Chinese trio of Chengyuan, Jing Jing Wang and Ying Liu, who finished second, fourth and fifth places, respectively.

The North American’s favorable standings in the UCI rankings are largely due to the abundance of early season UCI points available in North America. The UCI’s rankings should change after the May 26 World Cup race in Offenburg, Germany.

World Cup Gravity season kicks off in Spain
The 2007 UCI Mountain-bike gravity World Cup kicked off May 11-12 in the western Spanish coast town of Vigo. The weekend saw the world’s best gravity racers compete in Downhill and four-cross competition.

Heavy rains created muddy conditions in Vigo, and the condition of the sloppy track worsened during the finals. Brit Marc Beaumont (Mbuk-Santa Cruz) escaped with the win, the first World Cup victory of his career.

Beaumont was only the 77th fastest rider to qualify during the preliminary round. The 24-year old suffered a crash during qualification and suffered cuts to his knee and a bruised shoulder. That meant he took to the quickly decaying track in the finals before his faster competitors, including Beaumont’s countryman and teammate Steve Peat, who had set the fastest time in qualifying. But continued to soak the course as additional athletes came down, and Peat could only notch a fourth-place finish.

“I've dreamed about doing this since I was 15 years old,” Beaumont said. “After crashing yesterday I knew I needed a good result today to make up the points. I had a great run and yes I was lucky with the weather but that's racing and I just can't believe it.”

Winning the women’s downhill was reigning world champion Sabrina Jonnier (Monster-Ironhorse) of France. The Frenchwoman, who was beaten by Brit Tracey Moseley on the World Cup circuit in 2006, enjoyed a landslide victory in Vigo. Moseley’s second-place time was seven-seconds slower. Missing from the finals was Brit Rachel Atherton (Animal-Commençal), who crashed and broke her arm during a qualifying run.

An estimated 20,000 spectators turned out to watch the four-cross event. Taking the men’s four cross was Brit Gee Atherton (Animal-Commençal). Atherton lined up in the finals with heavy hitters Michal Prokop (Author), Brian Lopes (GT) and Joost Wichman (Gravity Group). Prokop, the reigning world and World Cup champ, jumped to an early lead but misjudged a jump and crashed, eventually finishing third. Lopes also crashed but finished second.

In the women’s four-cross, reigning world and World Cup champ American Jill Kintner (GT) qualified fastest, but couldn’t get by Dutchwoman Anneke Beerten (Bikepark.ch). Beerten surged out of the gate and held the frustrated American at bay. Only 10 women showed up to contest the World Cup round. 2007 UCI Gravity Mountain-bike World Cup
May 12-13, 2007
Vigo, Spain
Downhill
Men
1. Marc Beaumont (GB), Team Mbuk Santacruz, 2:37.02
2. David Vazquez Lopez, (Sp) Msc Bikes, at 1.04
3. Greg Minnaar (RSA), Team G-Cross Honda, at 1.59
4. Steve Peat (GB), Santa Cruz Syndicate, at 2.00
5. Samuel Hill (Aus), Iron Horse / Monster Energy, at 3.06
Women
1. Sabrina Jonnier (F), Iron Horse / Monster Energy, 2:52.07
2. Tracy Moseley (GB), Kona Les Gets, at 7.53
3. Emmeline Ragot (F), at 9.56
4. Celine Gros (F), at 13.54
5. Marielle Saner (Swi), Bikepark.Ch, at 14.00Four cross
Men
1. Gee Atherton (GB), Animal Commencal
2. Brian Lopes (USA), GT
3. Michal Prokop (Cz), Author
4. Joost Wichman (Nl) Gravity Group
5. Romain Saladini (F)
Women
1. Anneke Beerten (Nl), Bikepark.Ch Tui
2. Jill Kintner (USA), GT
3. Eva Castro Fernandez (Sp), Specialized
4. Melissa Buhl (USA), KHS
5. Anita Molcik (A), Team Hotec

Winter Park Series Announces Dates
Colorado’s Winter Park Resort will again host its annual Winter Park Cross-country Series. The resort sits 45-miles west of Denver, Colorado. For more information check www.epicsingletrack.comJune 9 - Hill Climb Kick-offJune 16 - Mountain CircuitJuly 7 - Cross Country Super LoopJuly 21 - Valley Point to PointAugust 4 - Cross CountryAugust 25 - Tipperary Creek Point to Point, King of the RockiesGrand Finale