July 13, 2003 (Grouse Mountain, Vancouver, BC) – The fourth round of the UCI World MTB Cup series is about to get underway in just under two hours. Although Vancouver was expected to have rain and cool weather this weekend, it's been nothing but hot, dry and dusty.

The weekend's events get started at 4:15 pm when the qualifiers for the 4X begin. With 60 men and 17 women to compete for the win, it should be an afternoon of excitement for all. Canadian Brian Lunn (Jordie Lunn's dad) led the crew that developed the 4X course up at Grouse. The debut course is tight with lots of challenging turns and bumps. The dust from yesterday's runs was frustrating for the riders, but rumour has it that the course will be hosed down before today's competition. This writer's concern was room for spectators on the course as there's barely enough room for the riders to run up the side of the course. We'll see today what adjustments the race organization makes and how it will affect spectator viewing.

Canada's own Jordie Lunn, (Team BeOne) Brian's son, will be on hand to challenge the international riders. Lunn, 36th overall, recently signed onto BeOne's race team and is also sitting 13th overall in the men's DH series, which gets started on Saturday.

In the men's field Canada has 11 riders in the race, alongside the top riders in the world. Eric Carter (Mongoose/Hyundai) is here in Vancouver, sitting in first place overall. Czech rider Michal Prokop and France's Cedric Gracia (Siemens/Cannondale) are also here, sitting second and third in the overall standings.

In the women's event only 17 riders are registered to race. Canada has seven women registered to compete, including Michelle Dumaresq, Claire Buchar, Danika Schroeter and Katrina Strand. Series leader Katrina Miller (AUS, Jamis) is here as is France's Sabrina Jonnier (Intense/Fox). Missy Giove, taking a break from the World Cup earlier this year, is also in Vancouver to give the girls a run for their money.