April 17, 2005 (Monterey, Calif.) – Canadians Alison Sydor (CAN, Rocky Mountain-Business Objects) and Geoff Kabush (CAN, Maxxis) made the podium again yesterday with second- and third-place finishes, respectively, in the Short Track, the third stage of the Sea Otter Classic’s the mountain bike edition.

Sydor had to play it smart, as three strong Luna Women’s Team riders, who all placed in the top five, took advantage of their numbers. Luna’s Katarina Hanusova (CZE, Luna Women’s Team) grabbed victory in an intense race that lasted just under 20 minutes. Sydor’s consistent results have increased her general classification lead to 21 seconds.

Canadians Wendy Simms (CAN, Frontrunners-Brodie) and Kiara Bisaro (CAN, Gears Racing) also powered into top 10 spots, with sixth and 10th, respectively.

Kabush could almost smell victory when he launched a solid attack at three laps to go. He held the solo breakaway until the last lap, when Trent Lowe (AUS, Subaru-Gary Fisher) attacked the chase group and flew by Kabush. Kabush tried to keep his hold on second place, but general classification leader Bart Brentjens edged him out at the line (NED, Giant).

Going into the last stage, Kabush still holds on to third place in the overall, 54 seconds back from Brentjens.

Results

Men, 7 laps
1. Trent Lowe (AUS, Subaru-Gary Fisher) 15:502.
2. Bart Brentjens (NED, Giant) at 0:053.
3. Geoff Kabush (CAN, Maxxis) s.t.
4. Liam Killeen (GBR, Specialized) s.t
5. Todd Wells (USA, G.T.) s.t.
6. Jean-Christophe Peraud (FRA, Lapierre) s.t.
7. Florian Vogel (SUI, SwissPower) 0:14
8. Thomas Frischknecht (SUI, SwissPower) s.t.
9. Ryan Trebon (USA, Kona-Les Gets) s.t.
10. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA, Subaru-Gary Fisher) 0:20

Other Canadians:
16. Mathieu Toulouse (CAN, Maxxis) 0:45
17. Roland Green (CAN, Kona-LesGets) s.t.
19. Chris Sheppard (CAN, Haro) s.t.
22. Andreas Hestler (CAN, Rocky Mountain-Business Objects) 0:49
23. Kris Sneddon (CAN, Kona-Les Gets) s.t.
24. Ricky Federau (CAN, Gears Racing) 0:55
30. Seamus McGrath (CAN, Haro) 1:08

Women, 7 laps
1. Katerina Hanusova (CZE, Luna Women’s Team) 19:14
2. Alison Sydor (CAN, Rocky Mountain-Business Objects) at 0:03
3. Susan Haywood (USA, Trek-VW) 0:05
4. Alison Dunlap (USA, Luna Women’s Team) 0:11
5. Shonny Vanlandingham (USA, Luna Women’s Team) s.t.
6. Wendy Simms (CAN, Frontrunners-Brodie) s.t.
7. Mary Mcconneloug (USA, Kenda-Seven Cycles) 0:25
8. Kelli Emmett (USA, Ford Cycling) s.t.
9. Dara Marks Marino (USA, Ford Cycling) s.t.
10. Kiara Bisaro (CAN, Gears Racing) s.t.

Other Canadians:
12. Lyne Bessette (Louis Garneau-Sports Expert) 0:39
13. Patricia Sinclair (Scott USA) 0:42
18. Mical Dyck (Terrascape Racing) 0:58
20. Melanie McQuaid (Orbca) 1:1229. Danelle Kabush (Timex) 1:51