April 17, 2005 (Monterey, Cali.) — Sunday was Canada Day at the Sea Otter Classic, with Canadian men and women winning both the final stages and the overall titles in the Mountain Bike Stage Race. The 15th annual Sea Otter Classic concluded with the premier event – the 36 mile cross-country race. Geoff Kabush took the men’s title, and three-time world champion Alison Sydor the women’s .

The Sea Otter cross-country is the final stage of the four stage event, with the riders facing two laps of an up and down off-road trek through the Fort Ord Recreation Area. This year, the race was made even more difficult by winds gusting up to 30 miles an hour, punishing the riders as they rode through dust on rutted single track trails.

The windy conditions kept the the top women together, since no one wanted to brave the wind on their own. A lead group of 10 riders formed at the front of the race, including all the top contenders – Sydor, defending champion Alison Dunlap (Colorado Springs, CO), her professional Luna team mate Katarina Hanusova (Czech Republic), Wendy Simms (Canada), Sue Haywood (Davis, WV) and Kelli Emmett (Colorado, CO). Haywood and Hanusova would get knocked out contention by flat tires, but the overall standings came down to the final sprint – if Dunlap won and Sydor finished outside the top three, then time bonuses would vault Dunlap into the top spot. Sydor left nothing to chance, easily sprinting away from the rest of the group in the final two hundred yards to win the stage and the overall title. Dunlap finished fourth on the stage and second overall, while Simms’ second place on the stage moved her up to third in the overall standings.

Bart Brentjens of Holland began the day with a solid 50 second lead over Australian Trent Lowe, and was one minute and four seconds ahead of Kabush. Lowe crashed in the first lap of the race taking him out of contention. Kabush had a formidable job to erase this deficit, and he began almost immediately, attacking on the first climb.

Only Liam Killeen (Great Britain) was able to match his surge, and the pair quickly dropped the remainder of the field. By the halfway point in the first lap, the duo’s lead over Brentjens and a chase group was over a minute, and Kabush was the leader ‘on the road’. The pair stayed together until the end, with Kabush out sprinting Killeen for the stage victory. Killeen’s Specialized team mate Sid Taberley (Australia) soloed in for third place, and Brentjens rolled in sixth, over three and a half minutes down, after losing an eye contact lens on the first lap and crashing on the second. Killeen moved into second in the overall standings, while Brentjens dropped to third.

Quotes:

Women

1st Overall Alison Sydor
“It was so windy today and, in a way, that made it easier to defend the jersey. Basically, all I had to do was stay with Dunlap, and if she won I had to finish at least third. I got attacked a million times, but I was able to respond. I just made sure that I rode defensively, tactically, and carefully today.”

2nd Overall Alison Dunlap
“I spent the whole race trying to get rid of her (Sydor), so I had nothing left for the sprint. It was funny dynamics today; a little bit like a road race. Nobody was inclined to work, or attack because it was so windy.”

3rd Overall Wendy Simms
“Alison Dunlap kept making moves and Alison Sydor would respond immediately, and the rest of us would creep back up to them. So many times I thought I would be dropped, but at the finish I just followed Alison (Sydor’s ) wheel and I felt strong then in the sprint.”


Men

1st Overall Geoff Kabush
“I knew it was going to be tough to get rid of Brentjens. I took the lead after the first climb and strung it out. I think someone made a mistake behind and a gap opened up. I think me and Liam had a bit more power, so I said to him ‘Let’s go’. I was worried he (Killeen) was going to attack on the last climb; he was hurting me on the climbs.”

2nd Overall Liam Killeen
“Today was so windy that it benefited us being together. I was pretty confident that he (Kabush) was the guy to follow, he was so strong all weekend. We just kept it smooth, shared the workload and put in a solid tempo. Looking back now I should have pushed it more on the last couple of climbs.”

3rd Overall Bart Brentjens
“I had a bad start, and wasn’t with the first ten riders at the top of the first climb. Then they (Kabush and Killeen) went away while I was struggling a bit to get up. Then I lost my contact, which made it harder on the downhills, and crashed on the second lap. The speed was just too high for me, just too fast.”