4-10-07 // Online Exclusive: Giant Steps

Adam skipped kayaking adventure this winter so he could prepare for the Olympics Alan L. Davis

So your main focus right now is the 2008 Olympics?

Yeah. [The qualifying process] is going to be a lot easier this time, we’re not going to have to run around doing as much UCI stuff, but still we need to make sure we have three starting positions by staying in that top-five nations ranking, which we should be able to do if we’re all racing like we can at World Cups. But it’s funny, you can chase UCI points by going to every C2 race in the universe and get 20 or 10 points every weekend, or you can train and go to a World Cup and get fifth place and get 200 points. So I’m going to try and be focused on World Cups proper.

There aren’t many Americans racing the European World Cups. What kind of support will you have over there?

Kelli and I are both doing all the World Cups, and we’ll have Tom [Trotter, Giant lead mechanic] wrenching, and [former downhill pro] Elke [Brutsaert] is going to come work on bodies and help us out with her language skills. It’s going to be a really good setup, a good environment for us to succeed.

Do you connect with the Giant Europe team for those races?

With a 4th in TT and a 5th in XC last week in Arizona, Kelli Emmett is starting her season off right. Alan L. Davis

We did in the past, but it’s a different setup now. It was good having that team over there, but from my perspective, this is better. Before, it was just me, one person, showing up, getting my own vehicle, taking care of getting to the race and not having great support at the race. It’s going to be nice to go with people I know and trust.

Are there any particular races where you really want to kill it?

Houffalize [Belgium] is in two weeks and I’d love to do well there, but I’m realistic about April World Cup racing. I’m really fired up about the fact that there’s back-to-back World Cups in Quebec [in June and July]. That and into Mount Snow nationals is kind of my first block of being super-duper fit and ready to give ’er. And then Worlds, obviously, which is in Scotland where I’ve raced well historically. But it would be really cool to win Mont-Sainte-Anne. I’m not saying I’m going to, but I’m going to try my hardest.

And you’ll race a few NORBAs when the schedule allows?

I don’t want to sound disrespectful to our national racing series—I love racing NORBAs, they’re great courses, fun people to race with, good people around, a good thing to do—but I seem to race up at World Cups, and down at NORBAs, which is kind of annoying.

Yeah, why do you think that is?

You don’t have to think at World Cups. You just take whatever you’ve got that day, and you lay it out there. At NORBAs, you’re like, “Kabush is going to be at 80 percent ’til lap three-and-a-half, and then we’re going to have to wind up, and Bishop’s going to be doing this.” You just know what’s going to happen, and I guess that doesn’t stimulate me that much. For some reason it just hasn’t clicked with me, but I need to win another one of those things at some point.