August 13, 2004 – USA Cycling announced today the automatic qualifiers for the 2004 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships to be held in Les Gets, France Sept. 8-12. Highlighting the roster are the nation’s three Olympic athletes, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Boulder, Colo.), Todd Wells (Durango, Colo.) and Mary McConneloug (Fairfax, Calif.).Ranked number one in the world as a nation, the U.S. is sending one of it’s strongest women’s contingents in recent years led by U.S. Olympic team member McConneloug who qualified to participate in the world championships through her two top-10 finishes in 2004 World Cup competition. McConneloug’s silver medal at the World Cup in Calgary equaled the best performance by an American cross country rider this season. She also notched a seventh-place finish at the Mont Ste. Anne World Cup.

Alison Dunlap (Colorado Springs, Colo.), who placed second at the World Cup in Houffalize, Belgium, also joins the team and looks to put the final stamp on her return to world-class competition after missing most of the 2003 season to injury, effectively derailing her Olympic plans.

Willow Koerber (Horseshoe, N.C.) was the only other American woman to score a podium finish in a World Cup this year with a career best third place finish in Mont Ste-Anne, Quebec and will again return to the World Championships as a member of the U.S. team.

Shonny Vanlandingham (Durango, Colo.) and Kelli Emmett (Colorado Springs, Colo.) were also named to the team based on their World Cup results this year. Vanlandingham scored a ninth place finish in Calgary and Emmet placed 10th in Mont Ste-Anne.

Continental Champion Sue Haywood (Davis, W. Va.) completes the women’s cross country team as the winner of the Pan American Championships in Ecuador this April.

Joining Continental Champion Horgan-Kobelski and Wells, who placed 10th at the World Cup in Calgary are three talented and familiar faces to the North American mountain bike scene. Adam Craig (Bangor, Maine) earns a spot thanks to his ninth place finish at the World Cup in Mont Ste. Anne and Jeremiah Bishop (Harrisonburg, Va.), who placed 9th in Calgary will both make the trip to Les Gets. Travis Brown (Durango, Colo.) received an automatic nomination as the top American in the 2004 NORBA National Mountain Bike Series rankings. Brown is currently ranked second overall behind Canadian Geoff Kabush.

In the gravity disciplines, Eric Carter (Temecula, Calif.) and Colin Bailey (Big Bear, Calif.) earned automatic nominations. Carter is the top-ranked American in the NORBA series and Bailey’s fifth place finish at the Calgary World Cup secured him a spot.
Kathy Pruitt (Durango, Colo.), thanks to her silver medal performance
in Calgary, earned the only women’s automatic nomination to the
downhill team.

Tara Llanes (Newport Beach, Calif.), Jill Kintner (San Jose, Calif.),
Marla Streb (Los Osos, Calif.), and Lisa Sher (Capistrano Beach,
Calif.) claimed automatic nominations for the women’s 4-cross event.

In the men’s 4-cross, Brian Schmith (Lancaster, Pa.), Carter, Chris
Powell (Atherton, Calif.), Robin Baloochi (Fallbrook, Calif.) Brian
Lopes (Murrietta, Calif.), and Mike King (San Diego, Calif.) earned
automatic nominations.

Complete Automatic Nominations for 2004 UCI MTB World Championships
Les Gets, France
Sept. 8-12

Junior Men’s XC
1. Mitchell Peterson
2. Alex Hodge
3. Sam Jerekovic

Junior Women’s XC
1. Hilary Wright
2. Chloe Forsman

Junior Men’s Downhill
1. Henry O’Donnel
2. Duncan Riffle
3. Cameron Zink
4. Luke Strobel
5. Garrick Anderson

Junior Women’s Downhill
*No automatic qualifiers

U23 XC
1. Nick Waite
2. John Devine

Elite Women XC
1. Alison Dunlap
2. Mary McConneloug
3. Willow Koerber
4. Kelli Emmett
5. Shonny Vanlandingham
6. Sue Haywood

Elite Men XC
1. Adam Craig
2. Jeremiah Bishop
3. Todd Wells
4. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski
5. Travis Brown

Elite Men Downhill
1. Colin Bailey
2. Eric Carter

Elite Women Downhill
1. Kathy Pruitt

Elite Men 4-Cross
1. Brian Schmith
2. Eric Carter
3. Chris Powell
4. Robin Baloochi
5. Brian Lopes
6. Mike King

Elite Women’s 4-Cross
1. Tara Llanes
2. Jill Kintner
3. Marla Streb
4. Lisa Sher