Grouse Mt. – World MTB Cup Race #4 – Germany’s Sabine Spitz (Merida) won
her first World Cup at Grouse Mt. With Alison Dunlap, (USA, Team LUNA MTB)
in second. But the home town crowds cheered like there was no tomorrow with
hoots and hollers to welcome Alison Sydor (Trek/Volkswagen) as she crossed
the line in 3rd place. After juggling between second and third throughout
the entire race, Sydor was passed by Alison Dunlap in the last lap. The
next closest finisher was Sydor’s team-mate Susan Haywood, over seven
minutes down. Her top finish this year, Sydor was pretty happy about her
win, “To race at home like this, to give your maximum, you know, there was
no point in the race where I got discouraged or slowed down, I went 100% of
what I could do today and I am happy with that.” Her placing moves her from
7th overall to 5th place in the standings. Sydor was one of the few riders
to have a clean ride with no trouble or mechanicals on the course.

There was no one happier however, than Germany’s Sabine Spitz, enjoying her
first World Cup win ever. After crossing the finish line, Spitz danced with
her bike and punched the air with her fist. When asked how she felt about
her win, Spitz was all smilesÅ “very goodÅ unbelievably good!” During the
awards ceremony organizers had a rough time finding the German national
anthem and after two tries, the crowd urged Sabine to go it solo. The mic
was shoved into her hand and Spitz sang in front of hundreds of spectators
who gave her a standing ovation for her efforts!

Alison Dunlap came around in the final lap to finish in 2nd place. While
wiping the dirt off her arms and legs, she commented on how she felt,
“Å exhausted, that’s a really, really hard race!”

Of the 49 riders that started the race, only 16 finished within one lap of
the winner. Most riders had technical difficulties or bad crashes. Barb
Blatter (Specialized) was one of the first to have a problem. Within 100
metres of the race, Blatter (6th overall before the race) went down hard,
and was eventually given medical attention. A few minutes later it was
Jimena Florit (16th overall going into the race) who had to pull out with a
flat tire (tubeless system) and a mechanical. It soon began to be a race of
whoever could survive the longest would win.

Passing the finish line and going into the second lap it was none other
than last week’s World Cup winner Annabella Stropparo (ITA, Be One XC). Not
far behind her were Canada’s own Alison Sydor and Marie-Hélène Prémont in
second and third place respectively. Sabine Spitz (GER, Merida Inter) was
in fourth. Halfway through the second lap Prémont was nowhere to be seen
and was reportedly out of the race with a double flat. After a 7th place
finish last week in Quebec’s World Cup #3, Premont moved into 11th overall
in the World Cup standings, her bad luck today was most disappointing.
Stropparo also flatted and placed 5th.

Canada’s Chrissy Redden (Subaru/Gary Fisher) was sitting in fourth and
fifth place for most of the race, although several crashes plagued her. A
puncture in the fourth lap slowed her down even more. A consistent push to
the end saw her move into 6th place as she crossed the finish line. After
Mont-Ste-Anne’s mechanical and a rough go for the first half of her season,
Redden is looking forward to a clean ride at Telluride. “I felt good but
this is so disappointing, a mechanical againÅ but there’s nothing you can
do, I tried to move forward as much as I could.”

Kiara Bisaro (Gears Racing) went into this race, sitting 15th overall, her
first year on the World Cup circuit. She was very nervous before the race,
however pre-race jitters from the pressure of defending her placing in
front of a hometown crowd seemed to be unnecessary. A solid ride saw Kiara
finish in 8th place.

Trish Sinclair, (Gears Racing) was Canada’s next top finisher, crossing the
line in 11th place, tying with a previous personal best. Still recovering
from an earlier injury, Sinclair was happy with her result and looking
forward to taking her first weekend off in nine weeks.

With an average speed of 14.59km/h the World Cup course at Grouse Mountain
was agreed to be the most fun, yet toughest course on the circuit. Because
of its multiple technical sections, climbing sections, and challenging
downhills the riders had a lot of difficulty on the course, most sporting a
bruised knee or a torn-off race plate.

Results:

1. Sabine Spitz (GER) Merida Inter; 1:58: 28

2. Alison Dunlap (USA) Luna Women’s MTB Team; +2.05

3. Alison Sydor (CAN) Trek-Volkswagen; +2:59

4. Susan Haywood (USA) Trek-Volkswagen; +7:09

5. Annabella Stropparo (ITA) Be-One XC; +9:32

6. Chrissy Redden (CAN) Gary Fisher-Subaru; +9:44
7. Ivana Kraft (GER) +10:03

8. Kiara Bisara (CAN) Gears Racing; +10:49

9. Willow Koerber (USA) + 12:05
10. Maroussia Rusca (SUI) Arrow; +

13:16

Other Canadians:

11. Trish Sinclair (Gears Racing) +14:13;

16. Eron Chorney +16:10;

18. Nicola Starko (-1 lap);

21. Wendy Simms (-1 lap);

22. Sandra Walter (-1 lap);

23. MA Yan Ping (-1 lap);

25. Claire Townsend (-2laps);

29. Selena Lawrie (Trek-Volkswagen local team) -2 laps;

32. Linda Robichaud (-2laps);

33. Madelaine Bouz (-3 laps);

36. Christina Piccone (-3laps);

37. Anne-Marie Jobin (-3 laps);

38. Marie-Helene Cote (-3 laps);

39. Michelle Scheiber (-3 laps);