May 30, 2004 — Canadian mountain bikers following the European leg of the
World Cup circuit are working hard to keep up their world-class reputation,
but illness, injury and bad luck have been making it difficult. This is
especially true for the men, as the top Canadian result was Roland Green’s
(Trek Volkswagen) 29th Place.

Belgian Roel Paulissen (Siemens Mobile Cannondale) gave the crowd what they
wanted when he won on home soil. Christoph Sauser (Siemens Mobile
Cannondale) was nipping his tail, only eight seconds behind. The young
Julien Absalon (Bianchi Agos) was 3:55 back from the lead, but was fast
enough to grab third Place.

Bad luck in last week’s race, saw Green break his rear derailleur, forcing
him to pull out. More bad luck led to an injury during training for Ricky
Federau (Gears Racing) before last weekend’s event. Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru Gary Fisher) is said to still be recovering from an illness he had last week, and now Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) is sick as well.

In the women’s race, Marie-Helene Premont (Oryx) and Kiara Bisaro (Gears
Racing) made a strong showing for Canada, placing sixth and seventh,
respectively. Alison Sydor (Rocky Mountain Business Objects) made it three
Canadians in the top 10 with her ninth-place finish.

The World Cup series so far, however, belongs to Norway’s Gunn-Rita Dahle
(Merida Multivan), who won last weekend’s season-opener and then proceeded
to win #2 yesterday, over three minutes ahead of second place, Alison
Dunlap (Luna Women’s MTB Team). Italy’s Annabella Stropparo was not far
behind and took third.

Elite Men

1. Roel Paulissen (Siemens Mobile Cannondale) 2:03:07

2. Christoph Sauser (Siemens Mobile Cannondale) at 0:08

3. Julien Absalon (Bianchi Agos) 3:55

4. Filip Meirhaeghe (Specialized) 4:17

5. Miguel Martinez (Commencal Oxbow) 4:22

Canadians

29. Roland Green (Trek Volkswagen) 11:35

40. Mathieu Toulouse (Gears Racing) 13:00

47. Ricky Federau (Gears Racing) 14:02

48. Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru Gary Fisher) 14:13

59. Seamus McGrath (Haro Adidas) 16:04

63. Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) 16:30

Elite Women

1. Gunn-Rita Dahle (Merida Multivan) 2:08:50

2. Alison Dunlap (Luna Women’s MTB Team) at 3:12

3. Annabella Stropparo (Ita) 3:17

4. Barbara Blatter (Specialized) 3:47

5. Marga Fullana (Orbea) 4:13

Canadians

6. Marie-Helene Premont (Oryx) 4:16

7. Kiara Bisaro (Gears Racing) 4:24

9. Alison Sydor (Rocky Mountain Business Objects) 4:50

21. Sarah Noble (Rocky Mountain Business Objects) 11:16

27. Melanie McQuaid (Ford Racing) 13:20

DNF. Chrissy Redden (Subaru Gary Fisher)

DNF. Trish Sinclair (Gears Racing)