April 19, 2008 (Houffalize, Belgium) — The start lists are stacked for the 2008 World Cup MTB XC season opener, with 130 women and 273 men expected to be on the line with eight Canadian women, and seven Canadian men. In this Olympic year, hundreds of the world’s top mountain bikers are scrambling to qualify for the rare spots before the June cut-off, which will allow them to represent their respective countries at the planet’s most prestigious sporting event.

This 7km course is one of the most popular among riders, and is the perfect way to kick off the season. It’s a rolling circuit with 310m of altitude gain per lap, featuring wide climbs, which the organizers have expanded and graded in anticipation of the massive fields. April has been quite a wet month in Europe, leaving rivers swollen and the ground quite wet. Some sections of the course have streams flowing down them and rooty sections have a tendency to be slick. However, other portions of the course are well-drained and dry, making for a loop with a good mix of surfaces and obstacles.

Temperatures have been chilly — barely cracking double digits — with a persistent wind. No precipitation fell on Friday, but it’s been showering and drizzling today, making the course greasy and traction quite minimal on some of climbs and descents. There is a slight chance of showers on Sunday, with a high of 12 degrees.

All the favourites (and more) are here. In the women’s race, Canada’s Marie-Hélène Prémont (Can) Rocky Mountain is the favourite Canuck podium contender. She arrived yesterday and came off a muddy pre-ride today sporting a big grin, saying “I’m good!” Catharine Pendrel (Can) Luna Women’s MTB Team, also in good spirits, enjoys the course. Kiara Bisaro (Can) Opus, Wendy Simms (Can) Kona, Mical Dyck (Can) Trek-VW, Amanda Sin (Can) Scott-3 Rox and Sandra Walter (Can) X.O-Felt Women’s MTB Team will also be riders to look out for tomorrow.

The Chinese National Team ladies are on hand, of course, and they’re looking to put their stamp on the race as they did last year, when Ren Chengyuan (Chn) took the victory and her two team mates also placed within the top 10. Norwegian star Gunn-Rita Dahle (Multivan-Merida) will be making her World Cup comeback, after sitting out most of 2007 due to illness.

Men’s Preview
On the men’s side, 2007 World and World Cup Champion Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea will try to reclaim Houffalize after Jose Antonio Hermida (Spa) Multivan-Merida took the win here last year. Hermida, of course, will do his best not to let that happen. Canadians will look to Geoff Kabush (Can) Maxxis for the ride of the day. The National Champ has graced the World Cup podium more than once, but has yet to do so on European soil. Seamus McGrath (Can) Fuji, Max Plaxton (Can) Rocky Mountain, Ricky Federau (Can) Wenting’s Cycle/ATAC, Derek Zandstra (Can) Scott-3 Rox and Kris Sneddon (Can) Kona will all be givin’er to make Canada proud.

Other men’s contenders include Switzerland’s Ralph Naef (Sui) Multivan-Merida, Florian Vogel (Sui) Swisspower MTB Team, Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Full Dynamix and Roel Paulissen (Bel) Cannondale-Vredestein”¦ and many many more.

The women will start at 10:30am local time / 4:30am EDT and complete one 5km start loop (with the infamous 1km, 16% climb) plus four full laps, while the men will start at 2:00pm local time / 8:00am EDT, rocketing through 1 start loop and five full laps.

Stay tuned to Pedalmag.com for live race updates and photos.