August 22, 2008 (Beijing, China) – The mountain bike and BMX courses are laid out just outside the velodrome, creating a fantastic training area for three of the four cycling disciplines. Following the Good Luck Beijing competition in 2007, the UCI asked the organizers to increase the difficulty of the MTB course and the women were slated to race on Friday at 3pm local time but thanks to all-day torrential rain on Thursday, much of the 4.6 km course became a mud bog and organizers postponed the women’s race to 10am local time on Saturday, Aug. 23 (10pm EST Aug. 22). The men’s race follows at 3pm local time (3am EST Aug. 23).

Canada’s Marie-Hélène Prémont, who won the silver medal in 2004 in Athens and is the World Cup leader is the race favourite. Following close on her wheel is teammate Catharine Pendrel, who recently won her first World Cup at Bromont, QC, and is ranked second in World Cup points. Pendrel placed sixth at the 2008 MTB Worlds.

But this is a highly competitive field. The top Europeans, for the most part, were not at the Canadian World Cups where Prémont and Pendrel dominated. Four Europeans and two Chinese riders come into the race with excellent credentials. Germany’s Sabine Spitz is as strong as ever. She took the bronze in Athens, and the silver at the MTB Worlds in 2007 and 2008. Russia’s Irina Kalentieva is a formidable rider, with silver at the 2006 MTB World Championships, gold in 2007 and bronze in 2008. And of course there’s the veteran 2004 Olympic gold medalist who can never be discounted, Gunn-Rita Dahle of Norway, won the MTB World Championships in 2004, 2005 and 2006. She missed 2007 and was seventh in 2008. Liu Ying of China ranked fourth in the world as of July 28, while her teammate Ren Chengyuan is ranked ninth. They’ve had a third and fourth placing in World Cups this year and will know the course perfectly, no matter what condition it’s in.

Men’s Preview
Without question, France’s Julien Absalon is the men’s favourite as he’s dominated the podium since the last Olympics when he won gold. He was also the MTB World Champion in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. He DNF’d in 2008, but as of July, 9 was first in the World Cup standings. But Absalon is beatable and he’s in a tough field as three Swiss riders go into these Games ranked in the top ten. At the 2008 MTB Worlds the Swiss swept the top three positions with Christoph Sauser winning his first MTB World Championship, with Florian Vogel taking the silver and Ralph Naf the bronze. In 2007 Naf and Vogel took silver and bronze, while Sauser placed sixth. Since 2004 there has been a posse of Swiss riders including Nino Schurter currently ranked 6th in the world challenging the Frenchman at every turn.

Now add a couple of Scandinavians to the mix and like Sweden’s Fredrik Kessiakoff, ranked fourth in the world as of July 28, and took the bronze at the 2006 World Championships. Danish rider Jakub Fuglsang is ranked seventh, Spanish cyclist Jose Antonio Hermida, had a DNF at this year’s Worlds but took the silver in Athens and was third at the World Championships in 2005. He’s presently ranked 10th in the standings.

Leading the charge for Canada is BC’s Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) ranked 12th with recent stellar performances at Mont Ste-Anne and Bromont giving him the right focus for Beijing. He is joined by Seamus McGrath (Fuji) ranked 37th who has been making steady making gains. McGrath was an impressive 9th in 2004 in Athens and hopes to improve on that effort.