1998 World Cup Mountain Biking
Conyers, Georgia
July 11-12, 1998

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Where's Hubi?

XC #7 goes to Italian and French riders in Georgia
Two was the magic number this weekend in Conyers as the second-to-last Grundig/UCI World Cup rolled into the American south for the weekend with Georgia on its mind. Two days of racing around the '96 Olympic course yielded a pair of hard-fought victories and late surges for overall points. Hubert Pallhuber (ITA, Diamondback) and Laurence Leboucher (FRA, Peugeot LaPoste) both won two-person duals for victory; each assisted by late race crashes and tires.

Pallhuber and Hoydahl

Tires you say? Well first it was the Alison Sydor (CAN, Volvo-Cannondale) and Leboucher battle where the Canadian points leader looked to again crush the field, feeling strong and confident. With Leboucher the only woman strong enough to match her powerful climbing, Sydor had to take risks on the descents, trying to shake the woman who won round five in England. She paid for it though, flatting not once but twice on the sharp rocks and crashing in a last-minute attempt to catch the flying Frenchwoman. A flat front tire did her in, and Leboucher staved attack long enough to win by two minutes.

The men battled over four-and-a-half laps for 51km in Sunday's race while cool and cloudy weather threatened to rain on the parade of 72 men. A group of ten went off the front hard, Pallhuber, Rune Hoydahl (NOR, Giant), Christoph Sauser (SUI, Diamondback), Christophe Dupouey (FRA, Sunn-Un) and Miguel Martinez (FRA, Sunn-Un) working at the lead, dropping anyone and everyone who tried to hang on, including Cadel Evans (AUS, Volvo-Cannondale) who was quickly dropped into a chase group that had no interest in helping him catch up.

By the second half it became a battle between Pallhuber and Hoydahl, Dupouey hanging until he flatted and Martinez chasing but losing ground with each lap. With Hoydahl chasing championship points and Hubi looking to get his first World Cup win after taking Worlds last year, the pair dueled for the finish under a hard rain which began in the final lap and ended at the same time as the race.

Hoydahl very well may have caught Pallhuber when the Italian took the final lead, but crashed on the rocks, due to his slick tires which failed him in the rain. Pallhuber also ran slicks but held onto his new ten second gap all through the final loop, riding to victory with Hoydahl just 12 seconds back and Martinez a full minute back.

Two days, two battles between two leaders... you get the idea. Volvo- Cannondale kept their leaders' jerseys with Evans 20 points ahead of Hoydahl and Sydor 12 points up on Leboucher. Next stop; WC finals in Bromont in early September.

Fiction and Fact: The Mountain Zone Almanac

Leboucher

If Hoydahl wins Bromont and Evans does worse than fifth, guess who’ll win the overall? We’ll give you a Giant hint.

Paola Pezzo won Olympic gold here in '96 and mentioned that she'd like to take some of that historic turf home. So the organizers cut out a chunk and gave it to her (see photo gallery).

Only Specialized, Ritchey and Diamondback drove their rigs here from Canada, as they now have to schlepp them back to Cali for Mammoth. DBR is happy they did, though.

Speaking of Diamondback, their new rider Katey Maher took 15th in her WC debut. And, don’t be surprised to see Leboucher wearing the big red D next season. Team manager KK wants that trade team championship.

Caroline Alexander (GBR, Ritchey) went home Friday due to illness. Kirk Molday (USA, Trek Volkswagen) pulled a muscle in Canmore and didn’t race either.

It rained so hard the last lap that a tunnel which racers used to cross under the road flooded, forcing a ride through knee-deep water at race’s end.

Will Sunn-Un exist next season? Probably not in its present glorious form — look for star riders to show up on new teams next season.

— Rich Neare for The Zone, waxing nostalgic at the Olympic venue