9-7-07 // Online Exclusive: Kintner & Lopes 4X World Champs

Brain Lopes in second during the semis just barely making it to the final round. Morgan Meredith

Jill Kintner and Brian Lopes met in finish coral of the Fort William four-cross race and embraced. Huge smiles stretched across their faces and flashbulbs fired from every direction lighting up the dark night sky as tens of thousands fans looked on Friday night.

Lopes had just won the four-cross finals, capturing his fourth world championship title and Kintner, who had captured the women’s title only minutes earlier, was one of the first to run out and congratulate him.

This was the second time the U.S. has swept the four-cross world championships. Kintner and Lopes both won in 2005. Lopes also won in 2002, and captured the 2001 dual-slalom world title. This is Kintner’s third-straight title.

“To win my fourth here in Scotland, especially with my thirty-sixth birthday yesterday is pretty special,” Lopes said.

Neither win came easy. Lopes bested a field of 45, but needed a miraculous come-from-behind victory in the semi-finals to advance. Right out of the gate, on his second pedal stroke, he pulled his foot out of the pedal and immediately fell back to fourth place. But he passed into third position halfway down the course and a massive sprint on the finishing stretch left him in second, advancing him to the finals.

Last year’s world champion, Michael Prokop, had crashed in the second round leaving the door open for Lopes. But he still faced tough competition. Saladini had qualified with the fastest time on Thursday and Roger Rinderknecht, who finished second to Prokop last year. The final competitor, Jurg Meijer from The Netherlands, snuck into the finals when Jared Graves blew a tire in the final corner of the semis and slid to a stop off the course.

Lopes, however, would leave no doubt in this run. With his foot firmly attached to pedal, massive portable lights shining down on the course, a helicopter hovering overhead, and all the action shown on a massive television at the finish, Lopes stomped out of the gate, took an early lead and never looked back.

Kintner’s route to victory might have been even more difficult than Lopes’. She badly hyper-extended her elbow in qualifying and was worried that she might not even be able to compete. Despite the bum elbow, Kintner cruised easily into the finals, where she met Anneke Beerten, fellow American Melissa Buhl and Jana Horakova. Buhl and Horakova tangled elbows at the start and both riders crashed to the ground. By the time either could recover, Kintner had already taken the lead and Beerten could only hold on for second.

Fireworks lit up the night sky during the awards ceremony, but the crowds quickly dispersed. Racing begins early tomorrow with the men’s’ and women’s junior DH getting started at 10 a.m., with the men’s and women’s elite XC starting at 12:30.

Lopes wins!!! Morgan Meredith

Jill and Brian savor the podium and the rainbow stripes together again. Morgan Meredith