April 13, 2007 — Yesterday’s MTB TT was a success for Canada, especially the men’s event, where Canucks swept the top three positions with Geoff Kabush (CAN, Maxxis), Max Plaxton (CAN, Rocky Mountain-Haywood) and Seamus McGrath (CAN, Rocky Mountain-Haywood) taking 1-2-3.

In the women’s event, Luna Women’s Team’s Katerina Nash (CZE, Luna Women’s Team) and Georgia Gould (USA, Luna Women’s Team) grabbed the top two spots, with Willow Koerber (USA, Subaru-Gary Fisher) taking the bronze medal. Canada’s Wendy Simms (CAN, Kona-LesGets) earned the top Canadian ranking, with 5th spot. Canada’s Mical Dyck (AB, Terrascape) said she could feel Friday’s Super D (which she won) in her legs today, but she still finished a solid seventh. “It was good, it was tough,” she said of the 2.5-kilometre, five-minute all-out effort.

Kabush Ambush

A perfect day to be outside recreational riding – or burning up under the hot Cali sun on singletrack – again, the irrepressible Kabush dug in and won the TT by five and eight seconds over a Canadian trifecta – Plaxton and McGrath – first and second, respectively.

Kabush has been on a not-so-bumpy roll when it comes to California hills, and as is his nature, downplayed his pre-results after finishing in three minutes and twenty-six seconds.

Pedal found Geoff Kabush and Mat Toulouse (CAN, Maxxis) stretching and hanging out right after finishing:

A nice dry course with a slight tailwind and sunshine, how did you feel today?

Geoff Kabush: Feels like I had a good run, I raced with superlight Max Lites’ 310 which is a little sketch but I was able to hold my line, so it pays off to use that in a short effort like this to pick up a few seconds”¦ but the last part was pretty rough. So…we’ll see if I can hold my lead….”

Did the course have any surprises for you (we asked Mat Toulouse as he seemed to be doing bike yoga)?

Mat Toulouse: Yea, in fact a little bit of a pilot’s mistake: I power slid into one of the corners and my chained dropped, so I had to get off and run a bit….

Cyclo-crossing a bit?

MT: Yea, unfortunately with such a short course of three minutes losing those seconds means everything… (laughs), but hey, there is always tomorrow!”

Well said, as the short course looked very much like last year’s , and as each rider is spaced 30 seconds apart, you don’t get a lot of one-on-one with the riders nor do they have anywhere to make up time.

Look for more Canadian domination this weekend-especially if the rain comes in Saturday for the promised mud-fest.

Women

1. Katerina Nash (CZE, Luna Women’s Team) 4:12
2. Georgia Gould (USA, Luna Women’s Team) 4:12
3. Willow Koerber (USA, Subaru-Gary Fisher) 4:16
4. Sue Haywood (USA, Trek-VW) 4:17
5. Wendy Simms (CAN, Kona-LesGets) 4:18
6. Alison Sydor (CAN, Rocky Mountain-Haywood) 4:18
7. Mical Dyck (CAN, Terrascape Racing) 4:19
8. Heather Irminger (USA, Subaru-Gary Fisher) 4:20
9. Zephanie Blasi (USA, Kenda) 4:21
10. Lene Byberg (SWE, Specialized) 4:24
15. Kiara Bisaro (CAN, Opus) 4:28
17. Melanie McQuaid (CAN, BMC/Natures Path) 4:29

Men

1. Geoff Kabush (CAN, Maxxis) 3:26
2. Max Plaxton (CAN, Rocky Mountain-Haywood) 3:31
3. Seamus McGrath (CAN, Rocky Mountain-Haywood) 3:34
4. Jean Christophe Peraud (FRA, Orbea) 3:34
5. Burry Stander (RSA) 3:35
6. Liam Killeen (GBR, Specialized) 3:36
7. Christoph Sauser (SUI, Specialized) 3:36
8. Ruben Ruzasa (CAN) 3:36
9. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA, Subaru-Gary Fisher) 3:37
10. Ryan Trebon (USA, Kona-LesGets) 3:37
12. Kris Sneddon (CAN, Kona-LesGets) 3:39
29. Mathieu Toulous (CAN, Maxxis) 3:49
46. Matthew Hadely (CAN, Rocky Mountain-Haywood) 3:56