April 18, 2005 “” Canadians Alison Sydor (CAN, Rocky Mountain-Business Objects) and Geoff Kabush (CAN, Maxxis) pulled off double victories yesterday, when they won the men’s and women’s cross-country races, giving them the overall general classification titles in addition to the stage wins.

Kabush was in full attack mode from the start. He knew it was the only way to make up the required time on GC leader Bart Brentjens (NED, Giant). A dose of bad luck for Brentjens (bad start, lost contact lens, crash) didn’t hurt Kabush’s chances either.

Kabush’s ruthless pace from the get-go quickly split up the field until it was only the Canadian and Great Britain’s Liam Killeen (GBR, Specialized) out front. Kabush and Killeen worked together to keep the chasers at bay. In the end, Kabush edged out Killeen for the win. Sid Taberley (AUS, Specialized) finished third, over 2:30 back.

Canadians Roland Green (CAN, Kona-Les Gets) and Mathieu Toulouse (CAN, Maxxis) made it into the top 10 with ninth and 10th-place finishes, respectively.

Kabush only needed one minute to jump from third to first in the GC, but by the end of the last stage, he had put over 3.5 minutes into Brentjens to handily take the overall win.

Canadian women dominated the cross-country race, with three in the top four spots. Sydor added the cross-country and overall wins to her résumé, despite constant attempts to keep her under control. Alison Dunlap (USA, Luna Women’s Team) and Kelli Emmett (USA, Ford Cycling) attacked several times, but the high winds on the open course made a breakaway virtually impossible.

Wendy Simms (CAN, Frontrunners-Brodie) rocketed to an impressive second place finish, giving her third in the GC. Dunlap finished third, sandwiched between a bunch of Canadian women.

Results (provisional)

Men XC, 36 miles
1. Geoff Kabush (CAN, Maxxis) 2:17:23
2. Liam Killeen (GBR, Specialized) at 0:01
3. Sid Taberley (AUS, Specialized) 2:34
4. Florian Vogel (SUI, SwissPower) 3:35
5. Todd Wells (USA, G.T.) s.t.
6. Bart Brentjens (NED, Specialized) 3:37
7. Adam Craig (USA, Giant) 4:14
8. Barry Wicks (USA, Kona-Les Gets) 6:21
9. Roland Green (CAN, Kona-Les Gets) 6:22
10. Mathieu Toulouse (CAN, Maxxis) 6:48

Final General Classification
1. Geoff Kabush (CAN, Maxxis) 3:34:03
2. Liam Killeen (GBR, Specialized) at 0:21
3. Bart Brentjens (NED, Specialized) 3:01
4. Sid Taberley (AUS, Specialized) 3:22
5. Florian Vogel (SUI, SwissPower) 4:12
6. Todd Wells (USA, G.T.) 4:42
7. Adam Craig (USA, Giant) 5:24
8. Roland Green (CAN, Kona-Les Gets) 8:51

Women XC, 36 miles
1. Alison Sydor (CAN, Rocky Mountain-Business Objects) 3:03:54
2. Wendy Simms (CAN, Frontrunners-Brodie) s.t.
3. Alison Dunlap (USA, Luna Women”šs Team) s.t.
4. Kiara Bisaro (CAN, Gears Racing) s.t.

Final general classification
1. Alison Sydor (CAN, Rocky Mountain-Business Objects)
2. Alison Dunlap (USA, Luna Women”šs Team)
3. Wendy Simms (CAN, Frontrunners-Brodie)