April 20, 2013 (Monterey, California) – Making her debut appearance at Sea Otter, Olympic and World Road champ, Marianne Vos (Ned) Rabobank, won the women’s Short Track race while Canada’s Geoff Kabush (Scott 3Rox Racing) raised the Maple Leaf high as he topped the men’s field for the victory on a new course which featured 20 min + three laps of racing.

Women’s Race
Despite the second year in a row of no rain and tornado of dust pulverizing their lungs, the field of Pro XC women was fast-paced with the world’s all-around best cyclist, Vos, returning to her first love and first trip to Sea Otter to prove she can indeed do it all in a deep field – and with brutal record-breaking temperatures surging past 31 degrees.

Vos, the 2012 World Road champion and wearing a kit of only her native Dutch colors, had difficulties at the first bottleneck just 50 meters after the first hairpin turn (see foto). Still, she kept herself in the front group, using her tactical skills and strength over a less technical new course.

Annie Last (Gbr) Trek Factory Racing led the initial charge but Vos Katerina Nash (Cze) Luna and Annika Langvad (Den) Team Davinic-Specialized didn’t let her get to far as the pack splintered into groups.

Strong Canadian contender and former World MTB Champ, Catharine Pendrel (Luna Pro Team), who has won here more than once, flatted only 4 minutes into the race and opted to stay near the bottleneck bunker to rally and root for her teammates to hit the pedals harder – a true champion!

Vos, in the lead group with Nash, Langvad and Last, saw the Brit drop back to join Georgia Gould (USA) Luna Pro Team chasing behind in a small chase group. Canucks Emily Batty (Trek Factory Racing) and Mical Dyck (Stan’s NoTubes) were further back trying to make up ground with Lea Davison (USA) Specialized Racing with them.

With two laps to go the Dutch champ made her move as Nash and Langvad could not contain her as Vos soloed in for the win with Nash taking second and Langvad third for a European podium with the Americans and Canadians shut out this time.

Batty earned Canada’s best result out-sprinting Davidson in her chase group for 8th. She will be one of a half-dozen top athletes, who has won the longer XC race on Sunday and is happy there are a few added climbs. “I prefer the climbs, I dig in,” Batty told Pedal.

Fellow Canuck Mical Dyck showed true grit by staying in the lead group for the first lap and then settled into the second chase group, eventually finishing 12th.

Other Canadians in the mix included Amanda Sin (Scott 3Rox Racing) in 22nd, Karlee Gendron (Trek Canada) in 23rd, Laura Bietola (Real Deal/ Gears Pl6) in 25th, Maghalie Rochette (Power Watts Nord) in 26th and Haley Smith (Norco Factory Team) in 28th.

Men’s Race
Kabush grabbed a big Short Track win for Canada and his Scott 3Rox Racing team at Sea Otter yesterday against plenty of talent with the likes of Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) Specialized, London 2012 Olympic gold medalist and former XC world champ and overall WCup series winner, among a half dozen notable competitors. But none could match Kabush’s enthusiasm or turbo take-off after finessing the last tight concrete slab corner en-route to his first win on this new course – almost entirely the same as last year’s cyclo-cross course here.

Last year, another Canuck, Max Plaxton held honors but his recent knee surgery put  his back-to-back dreams on hold and Kabush in the driver’s seat.

The 30km course featured a 20-minute contest with a fast pace the finished with an all-out drag race over the final three final laps. The talented field dodged dicey concrete bunkers leading up to the only (short) incline as Todd Wells (USA) Specialized Racing pushed the pace with Kabush content sit near the front.

Kulhavy, Emil Lindgren (Swe) Giant Pro Xlt, Christoph Sauser (Sui), Dan McConnell (Aus) Trek Factory Racing, Sid Taberlay (Aus) Kenda/H20 Overdrive/Bk and Adam Morka (Can) WFT Coaching were up there challenging as the lead pack was down to under 10 riders.

The fireworks were coming as Kabush began his move up thru the ranks to the front but then found himself in 5th on the last lap and regrouped to attack again before the final corner to the finish. His strategy paid off as he bolted to the line holding off a charging Lindgren for the win..

“I was sure I could make time at the gravel pit and chose a good line, and I knew that if I could get in front right before the last turn, I could sprint the rest,” Kabush told Pedal.

All the pro riders preferred this course to the classic course which was more technical but was such a cluster bottleneck at the beginning that it was too easy to be lapped. The course was not only much closer to the huge crowds of fans but much fewer crashes occurred.

There was strong Canadian presence beyond Kabush’s victory as Morka rode strong, and alone for much of the race, to finally bridge to the leaders and finish 12th, while Antoine Caron (Specialized Racing Canada) took 18th, Jeremy Martin with Rocky Mountain Bicycles was 20th, Andrew L’Esperance (Norco Factory Team) 28th, Peter Glassford (Trek Canada) 34th, Kris Sneddon (Kona) 38th, Cameron Jette (Scott 3Rox Racing) 39th, Quinn Moberg (Corsa Cycles) 41st, Evan Guthrie (Norco Factory Team) 48th, Cory Wallace (Kona) 58th, and Derek Zandstra (Scott 3Rox Racing) who did not finish.

Kabush will try to defend his last year’s uncontested victory at the longer XC course on Sunday, and if he can, he’ll pull off a rare short track and XC race duo victory – full results here.