July 22, 2007 – Cedric Gracia (FRA) Commencal Oakley took the win against a small field of 11 men and in less than optimal conditions, to say the least. “Record rainfall” were the magic words in Whistler yesterday, with 34mm on the ground since the morning, and more forecasted throughout the day.

Gracia is coming back from a leg injury that kept him out of the last two world cup DH rounds but he looked strong while on course.

“I had good gates. I feel pretty strong on my legs. I am a little sketchy in corners after one month of doing nothing. It is difficult. Even my breath, it was difficult. I was very tired at the end. In the corners I sucked, but whatever. It was very slippery in the last runs.” Gracia continued to explain how bad the course had gotten over the course of the day. “It rained non stop, I was thinking it would be easier. It was one line and that was ok, but outside of that it was super slippery. It was really fun though.”

Brian Lopes flatted in the 3rd corner going into the large pro stepdown and had to roll to the finish in his first heat. Gracia went wire to wire in both heats, taking the win in the soupy mud.

Andrew Neethling (RSA) Mongoose fell from second to 3rd in one of the last corners as he slipped a pedal going over a jump. Canadian rider JS Therrien managed to take 4th place, after following Cedric down the course all afternoon dialing in lines.

For the women, Jill Kintner (USA) GT blew away the women’s field of eight competitors for another easy win, miles ahead of the closest rider. The American rider has been taking on all comers of late, and no one can seem to catch her. Kintner was not available for comment following the event, but between heats said that “the course is getting so slippery with the rain.”

Kintner leaves here Monday for the 2007 BMX World Championships in Victoria to try and qualify for the Beijing 2008 Olympics. The 2007 BMX Worlds is also the reason that many MTB 4x specialists, such as Jared Graves (AUS) Yeti, are not here. Defending world champ Michal Prokop is here but unfortunately the airlines lost his bike.

Pro Men Final

1. Cedric Gracia (Fra) Commencal Oakley
2. Michal Marosi (Cze) Gravity Group
3. Andrew Neethling (Rsa) Mongoose
4. JS Therrien (Can) Dincus

Pro Women Final:

1. Jill Kintner (USA) GT
2. Fionn Griffiths (Gbr) Norco
3. Joanna Peterson (Rsa)
4. Lynne Aitchison