the course

The Sea Otter Classic kicked off its first big mountain bike event today when top riders from around the world headed off in the first of a three-stage mountain bike race. Leaving the bustle of Laguna Seca's raceway for a silent and solo effort around Fort Ord, cross-country specialists hammered through a five-mile time trial on a three-day quest for an overall title.

Two Europeans got that season started in style, Laurence Leboucher (FRA, GT) and Bas Van Dooren (NED, Be One) setting the pace with wins in the time trials. As two of the sport's best XC racers, it was no surprise they were fastest around the scenic course – Leboucher being the '98 World Champion and Van Dooren a World Cup winner as well.

"Top American male was, as is often the case, Olympic-hopeful Steve Larsen (USA, L.L. Bean/Mongoose) – the only Yank to make the top-10...."

After a long winter of training, camps and occasional road races to tune their bodies for the season, an all-star field showed up for Friday's time trials.

Among the entrants were current World Champions Michael Rasmussen (DEN, Haro) and Marga Fullana (ESP, Subaru-Specialized). While Rasmussen came within nine seconds of Van Dooren's time for 2nd place (followed closely by current World Cup champion Cadel Evans (AUS, Volvo-Cannondale), Fullana only managed 7th – perhaps due to her fear of travel outside Europe.

It was Britain's Caroline Alexander (GBR, Ritchey-Yahoo!) who came closest in the women's event, but she and her cohorts were more than 30 seconds slower than Leboucher. America's best hope for XC hardware, Alison Dunlap (USA, GT) came in 3rd, almost exactly as fast as Alexander.

Bart Brentjens (NED, Sabaru-Specialized) made a good show of it on the men's side, the defending Olympic champion is without a doubt on a serious program for success this year after several lackluster seasons. Top American male was, as is often the case, Olympic-hopeful Steve Larsen (USA, L.L. Bean/Mongoose) – the only Yank to make the top-10.

All other top-10 men, except for newcomer Tom Larsen, recently signed to Giant's burgeoning team, are well-known in the upper ranks. The women's top-10 didn't yield any surprises either, except perhaps that Dahle – typically faster in the preseason – was 9th. But all the women had times within 1:07 of each other, a tight margin.

Racing continues Saturday with the dirt crit, which will better show who has been eating their Wheaties and doing those grueling intervals this season. Sunday will host the big XC race, followed by the crowning of the overall winner for the week.

— Ari Cheren, one, two, three, four, five – senses working overtime for MountainZone.com.