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Matthes Had and Lost It

Crowds — not clouds — gathered Sunday morning for the cross-country events as sun and blue skies enveloped Breckenridge's venue and kept the tree-shaded course in decent shape after days of heavy rains. What the thousands of spectators witnessed was another powerful ride by Travis Brown (USA, Trek Volkswagen) and a new women's winner in Mary Grigson. With this the last event before Mt. Snow's finals, the points race is white-hot and had the fields moving in high gear at this brutally high altitude.

If the name Mary Grigson doesn't sound familiar, it's because the former Australian national champ hasn't been on the NCS course since '96, and this win is her first ever. She's sponsored by the Australian Institute of Sports, the same organization which also trained Cadel Evans. Today she made her name and face known, however, dominating a full lineup for two-and-a-half laps of muddy singletrack and fast fireroads.

Grigson Emerges and Takes It

The race began with Alla Epifanova (RUS, Volvo-Cannondale) bolting to an early lead and quickly putting 35 seconds on Grigson and Alison Dunlap (USA, GT). By mid-race it looked as if Epifanova was unstoppable, but the Russian was breathing hard on the climbs while Grigson - after three weeks of altitude training - calmly shadowed. In the second lap Epifanova crashed, allowing Grigson to catch up and then pass her in a well-timed surge.

With Grigson able to put 25 seconds on Epifanova, points leader Ruthie Matthes (USA, PowerBar) waged a secondary battle with Rene Marshman (USA, Moots/PowerBar) and Golden Brainard (USA, Catera/Pure Energy) for points. Jacques, who had led early this season, flatted out of contention for the second week in a row, leaving Matthes with Marshman and Brainard as her chasers in the standings. This trio was 2:40 off the third place ride of Dunlap who was steady and strong for the first time this NCS season.

By the end of the race Grigson was over a minute clear, and Matthes took the final pass on Marshman to cross the line in 4th. For the Aussie it was a sweet victory in the thin air of Colorado. "It's incredible!" she commented. "I got a kick at the top of a climb, and upped my cadence to 100. My road work is really paying off."

Epifanova blamed her crash and subsequent timid riding for her loss of first place today. "I went too slow and [Grigson] caught me. But I felt good early in the race; I was just too careful after crashing."

Dunlap was happy with third today as she prepares to defend her title in next week's Mercury Tour. "I had legs - finally! The last half lap I just wanted to stay ahead of Ruthie, and am happy with today's result."

Travis Brown's Rackin' 'em Up

Travis Brown (USA, Trek Volkswagen) won his season's first race a couple weeks ago in Mammoth, happily finding himself in a points race with defending champ Steve Larsen (USA, Schwinn-Toyota) and Tinker Juarez (USA, Volvo-Cannondale) - also consistent this season. With some epic battles at altitude, this season has featured classic American mountain bike racing. Today was no exception as Brown found his legs mid-race while Larsen toughed it out, clinging to the series lead against a speeding Juarez.

The 24-mile race went off like a bullet train with a four-man lead group immediately asserting themselves as the day's contenders. First Jimi Killen (USA) took a pull past Juarez to lead early, Larsen and Brown rounding out the quartet. Killen soon settled into 4th as Brown led into the long Peak 9 loop, Europeans Jerome Chiotti (FRA, GT) and Pavel Tcherkassov (RUS, Diamondback) also doing work with the leaders.

After Chiotti moved from sixth to assume the lead for a spell with Brown right on his wheel, a second duo of Juarez and Larsen followed several seconds back. After swapping leads several times, Brown finally asserted himself as the day's strongest rider with one lap to go and put 35 seconds on the fast-moving trio of Larsen/Juarez/Chiotti. With an amazing late-race surge by Australian Rob Woods (A.I.S.) going from 5th to 2nd, the lineup was set as Larsen realized he was neither going to win nor take second - and proceeded to drop Juarez to hold onto the points lead.

Larsen's Leading Points

"It was obvious it would be one of us who would win today," a happy Travis Brown commented after crossing the line just under a minute ahead of Woods. "I got about ten seconds on the last climb from town, and put on some pressure to increase it. I was definitely motivated to ride at the front today. It's the first national I've won with my dad and girlfriend watching. I'm so stoked!"

Woods took a surprise silver today, the Australian GT rider back after an Olympic ride with Evans in '96 and a hiatus in '97. "I started at the back of the field, and just took my time to work my way up."

Larsen, who's had to fight hard this season, was shaken by today's race. "I was going for the win, and you pay a price when you race at 10,000 feet. There's no hiding or faking it here, and I was racing for that jersey."

Larsen's effort paid off - he is now the points leader. The race will come right down to the wire in Mt. Snow, however, as Juarez and Brown have legitimate shots at an upset in the season-ending showdown. Stay tuned... The Zone will be there in full force with interviews and all the news.

— Ari Cheren, Mountain Zone Correspondent