Photo Gallery: '08 Bromont World Cup 4X

The UCI finally wised up and realized that (a) a 7:30 4X final on a track without lights is pushing it, and (b) the forecast for heavy rain in the evening would likely turn the races into a bit of a gong show, so they actually moved up the race start time by one hour. Simply amazing.

But since they announced it at the finish line during the men's DH final, and I was out on the track, come 6:15 I got caught with my pants down, so to speak, stuffing food down my neck and downloading cards. Doh! After sprinted to the bottom of the track, I caught a shuttle up to the top, and got to it.

It was a pretty small field, honestly: 32 men and 8 women. So even had the race run as originally scheduled, I think it'd gone ok. But I was still glad to see the race moved up, as were the racers.

Melissa Buhl wasn't here, so that left the door open for some lucky winner to claim a podium spot, and that winner would be KHS's Australian talent, Caroline Buchanan. She'd finish 4th in the final behind Mio Suemasa, Anita Molcik, and a back-on-form Anneke Beerten, who pretty much thrashed the rest of the field.

In the men's race, World Champ Rafa Alvarez was born under a lucky star. I mean it's 4X, right? So anything can happen. But two "gifts" at the same event, one in the semi and one in the final, is rare. Were I Rafa, I'd be buying lottery tickets or hopping a flight to Vegas….

In the semi, an opening bobble had Rafa waaaaaaay off the back. Pretty much out of contention. And Filip Polk was having the ride of his life, until his chain skipped and he ate a big mouthful of berm. That crash tied up JD Swanguen, too, relegating both he and Filip to the small final, and at the same time allowing Rafa to advance. Then in the final, Guido and Johannes Fishbach tangled, allowing Rafa to again benefit, this time with a first place. More importantly, their tangle opened the door for Cedric Gracia to take second place. In the small final, Joost Wichman took the win to claim the last podium step.