Adam Craigs top ten reasons Slovenia rocked plus final results
9-19-07 // Events: Slovenia Kicked Ass - WC Final Results
The 2007 World Cup racing season came to a close on Sept. 15 and 16 in Maribor. Solvenia. And, instead of posting a re-hashed version of highlights, Team Giant’s cross-country racer Adam Craig gives us his own top ten list of the last 2007 World Cup race.
On side a note, Adam was also the highest ranked American this year getting 12th at Maribor and 15th overall.
Never mind that Adam Craig is the top-ranked US rider in the World Cup series, he saw a hedghog!
Ten Reasons Why World Cup Finals in Maribor, Slovenia, kicked ass:
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1. Um, we saw a Hedgehog. Enough said. (Adam was so proud of this accomplishment he even provided photographic proof).
2. Just before the hedgehog sighting we had paused for a few minutes in a deserted parking lot to polish our Rally Car flat tire speed-change techniques on our minivan.
3. Looks like this list is going to end up being a reverse chronological list. Preceding the tire-change we actually hung out after the XC race and watched the mountaincross race from the comfort of a bench in front of an RV. The RV was strategically placed where the racers had to exit stage left and catch the shuttle back to the top, giving us ample opportunity to pass off the “Gentleman Jack” (Daniels) I had won as part of the Single Speed World Championship spoils. You'd be surprised how many strangers took pulls before heading up for another run over massive gap jumps lit by floodlights. Sometimes being a sissy cross-country racer is really disappointing. Even more so when none of us had bucked up four hours earlier, sober, in broad daylight, and jumped the teeny step-up on the mountaincross course. Someday…
4. Oh, the XC race. Right. Cool track, woodsy and raw. Annoying to pre-ride due to lack of direction and flow but pretty entertaining to do the big ring challenge on whilst racing and conserving every ounce of momentum. Unfortunately, I waited till lap three, which is about one lap after Carl pulled the plug, still suffering from the black lung, to actually start racing and picking off guys who can't ride weird contrived trails. Worked up to 12th by the end with decreasing, instead of the typically increasing, lap times. I'll take it. Kelli somehow got in a huge pileup on the uphill start and went into the woods about last. She worked up to 38th. Good work.
5. The weather was perfect all week (unheard of for World Cup Finals).
6. There is a Mexican restaurant in Maribor, Just what you need in the middle of a big o-round the world racing push, some tortillas and salsa. It was even good. And I totally put the extra tortillas in my pocket for breakfast burritos.
7. We could actually make breakfast burritos because our sweet apartment perched atop Pohorje that had a workable kitchen. Although, the juxtaposition of the best knife set ever (infomercial quality) and the worst can-opener in the universe was a bit strange. We had to bludgen the cans open with butter knives all week. Almost resorted to the seagull with a clam technique.
8. Being perched atop the hill meant we started every ride going down. It was excellent, even if it meant riding XC bikes on classic old World Cup DH courses. We could also take the oldest gondola in all of Europe home at the end of the day or at night.
9. Mechanic Tom Neb is my hero. He came to Finals knowing that he had three cross country bandits and two gravity boys racing both mountaincross and DH. He kept their bikes going all weekend. He never missed a beat. We washed our bikes once and he pretty much took it from there, every bike working perfectly. Solid close to the season, Mr. Neb. Hats off to ya.
10. Tip of the weekend: If you're driving around in the middle of the night looking for the supposed town of Pohorje, you're going to have to be more specific. You see, Pohorje basically means mountain. Which is the name of the whole friggin region. Throw in the towel early and call for directions, it'll save your passengers lots of motion sickness as the rental gets u-turned once again and rallied back down the same switchbacks. Again, amazing roads though. We like Slovenia.
-Adam Craig
The World Cup in Maribor, Slovenia was the final event of the series for 2007. As such, each race resulted in both race and series winners. Here are the men's and women's results.
Marc Beaumont finished fifth in the DH and in the overall series
Kathy Sessler
Men
XC
1 Fredrik Kessiakoff, Cannondale-Vredestein
2 Christoph Sauser, Specialized
3 Manuel Fumic, Fumic.Brothers.International
4 José Antonio Hermida, Ramos Multivan Merida Biking Team
5 Roel Paulissen. Cannondale-Vredestein
XC Overall
1 Julien Absalon, Orbea
2 Jose Antonio Hermida Ramos, Multivan Merida Biking Team
3 Christoph Sauser, Specialized
4 Roel Paulissen, Cannondale-Vredestein
5 Fredrik Kessiakoff, Cannondale-Vredestein
4X
1 Romain Saladini
2 Michal Prokop
3 Dan Atherton, Animal Commencal
4 Karim Amour
4X Overall
1 Brian Lopes, GT
2 Michal Prokop
3 Jared Graves
4 Filip Polc., Gravity Group
5 Gee Atherton, Animal Commencal
DH
1 Samuel Hill, Iron Horse/Monster Energy
2 Gee Atherton, Animal Commencal
3 Julien Camellini
4 Fabien Pedemanaud
5 Marc Beaumont, Team MBUK Santacruz
DH Overall
1 Samuel Hill, Ironhorse / Monster Energy
2 Matti Lehikoinen, Team G-Cross Honda
3 Steve Peat, Santacruz Syndicate
4 Gee Atherton, Animal Commencal
5 Marc Beaumont, Team MBUK Santacruz
Women
XC
1 Ying Liu, Team China
2 Marie-Helene Premont, Rocky Mountain Haywood
3 Irina Kalentieva, Topeak
4 Sabine Spitz, Ghost International Racing
5 Ren Chengyuan, Team China
XC Overall
1 Irina Kalentyeva
2 Marie-Helene Premont, Rocky Mountain Haywood
3 Ren Chengyuan, Team China
4 Sabine Spitz, Ghost International Racing Team
5 Margarita Fullana, Spiuk-Tau Ceramica
DH
1 Rachel Atherton, Animal Commencal
2 Tracy Moseley, Kona Les Gets
3 Tracey Hannah
4 Floriane Pugin, Chatel Mountain Cycle
5 Helen Gaskell
DH Overall
1 Sabrina Jonnier, Iron Horse/Monster Energy
2 Tracy Moseley, Kona Les Gets
3 Tracey Hannah
4 Emmeline Ragot
5 Marielle Saner, Bikepark.Ch Tui
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