May 22, 2004 (Colorado Springs, CO) – The opening round of the 2004 UCI
Mountain Bike World Cup takes place Sunday in Madrid, Spain and offers the
first major international test for men’s and women’s U.S. Olympic hopefuls.
Contesting the men’s event are Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Boulder, Colo.),
Jeremiah Bishop (Harrisonburg, Va.), Todd Wells (Durango, Colo.), Adam
Craig (Bangor, Maine) and Michael Broderick (Chilmark, Mass.) while Alison
Dunlap (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Sue Haywood (Davis, W. Va.), and Mary
McConneloug (Fairfax, Calif.) are set to compete in the women’s race.

The opening world cup offers significant UCI points – 150 alone to the
winner – which is potentially a primary selection criterion with regards to
Olympic selection. Currently, the U.S. has two men’s start positions in the
mountain bike event for the Olympic Games and one slot for the women’s .
Under USA Cycling’s Olympic selection procedures, the highest ranked rider
in the UCI standings on July 12 will receive an automatic nomination for
the women’s spot. The men’s nominations will go first to the highest ranked
rider in the UCI standings on July 12 provided that he is ranked in the
top-30 overall, and the second nomination will go to the highest ranked
rider in the overall world cup standings as of July 12 provided that he is
ranked in the top-25 and not otherwise qualified through overall UCI
ranking.

Currently, Horgan-Kobelski and McConneloug are the highest ranked U.S.
athletes in the respective men’s and women’s UCI standings.

The Competition

Not only will the U.S. women have to contend with each other in Madrid, a
strong field of top international competitors will also toe the line as
many other countries also use world cup competition for Olympic selection.
In the women’s race, Gunn-Rita Dahle (NOR), who won every world cup race in
2003 and is currently ranked number one in the world, leads the list of
ones to watch. Also, reigning world champion, Sabine Spitz (GER) and
Canadian Alison Sydor are likely threats to the Americans and their podium
aspirations.

A deep field in the men’s race will present a challenge to Americans as the
Canadian foursome of Ryder Hesjedal, Roland Green, Geoff Kabush and Seamus
McGrath are four worthy candidates for the two available spots on the
Canadian Olympic team. Also, reigning world champion, Filip Meirhaeghe
(BEL) and perennial favorites, marathon world champion Thomas Frischknect
(SUI), and top-ranked Bart Brentjens (NED) are heavy favorites. Frenchman
Julien Absalon and Belgian Roel Paulissen are currently ranked second and
third in the international rankings and should also be in the mix.

The action kicks off at 10am local time with the women’s race and continues
at 1pm with the men’s event.

The Course

Held in Casa de Campo city park, the opening round of the world cup
presents a unique course conducive to a spectator-friendly venue. There are
no mountain ranges near the center of Madrid, therefore the climbing on
this course will be made up of numerous short sharp climbs as opposed to
anything of great length. The course will naturally be fast, but includes
technical challenge. It’s a 7 km course with an 800m start loop and an
1,800m second start loop.

The start loop begins with an exit directly out of the race village and
across a road. It’s a short but interesting start loop that will bring the
riders back to the start for the start of their second loop. The second
start loop is 1,800 meters made up of three short climbs; the riders will
go back to the start line by the same course as the first start loop.

Casa de Campo course is a technical one, with plenty of short climbs and
descents which makes the course challenging with little time to rest.

In 1994, the women’s race finished with a final sprint between Juli Furtado
and Caroline Alexandre. Spectators saw an exciting final men’s race with
John Tomac, Tinker Juarez and Thomas Frischknecht fighting for the victory
until the last 100m.