H2O Overdrive Triple Crown-Bonelli Race XC Wrap Up
3/16/10 - With over 765 Pro Men, Women and Amatuer starts, the opening round of the H2O Overdrive Triple Crown All Mountain Series proved to be a huge success. Saturday started off with fireworks in the Men’s Cross Country race, as a select group of seven riders went off the Front. That group contained all the heavy hitters, Sho-Air/Specialized’s Max Plaxton and Sid Taberlay, Maxxis/Rocky Mountain’s Geoff Kabush, Gary Fisher/Subaru’s Sam Schultz and JHK, CFR rider Jeremiah Bishop and Specialized’s Factory rider Todd Wells.
These seven riders would set the tone of the H2O Overdrive cross country race. Subaru/Fisher’s JHK was the first to get popped late into lap one, but the scrappy veteran would fight all day getting back on to the freight train, only to get dropped when the front six made multiple accelerations.
Newly signed Cannondale Factory rider Jeremiah Bishop stretched his legs taking pulls at the front, but the former National Champ would soon surrender to the blistering pace set by Plaxton, Taberlay, Wells, Kabush and Schultz. Then on lap 3, Sho-Air/Specialized’s Max Plaxton went on a suicide mission and rode off the front with three laps to go, leaving North America’s top cross country riders in his dust. While the “Mountie” went off the front, the cat and mouse games began in the chase group between Wells, Kabush, Taberlay and Schultz.
These games continued, and allowed Bishop and JHK to join the group, as well as Trek’s Adam Morka. But that was short lived, as Todd Wells made an excerlation on the backside of the course, with only Kabush, Taberlay, Schultz able to respond. Then with one to go, both Taberlay and Kabush suffered from flat tires, as they came into the tech zone side by side NASCAR style. That allowed Wells and Schultz to get away. But in a display of sheer determination, Sho-Air/Specialized’s Sid Taberlay clawed his way back to the trio, taking Kabush along with him. Out front, Plaxton was on cruise control, having no idea of the drama unfolding behind him. On the final climb, Taberlay punched it into the forest section, dropping the trio of Kabush, Wells and Schultz and rode in for second alone. Kabush and Schultz sprinted for third with Sam getting the nod, while Wells captured fifth.
Women’s Pro XC:
In the Pro’s Women’s race that was going on behind the men’s battle, Kelli Emmett of Giant was locked in a personal battle with 2009 World XC Silver medalist, Specialized’s Lene Byberg. The two women were never separated by more than a wheel during the 5 lap race, with Emmet just getting away at the end to take a slim 3 second victory over Byberg. Third place went to Team Mata/Okole Stuff.com rider Pua Sawicki, followed by Rock N Road Cyclery’s Allison Mann and Gary Fisher/Subaru rider Heather Irmiger rounding out the top 5.
Kelli Emmett (Giant) on her way to winning the cross country race at the US Cup at Bonelli.
photo © Danny Munson
H2O Overdrive Triple Crown-Bonelli Race STXC Wrap Up
Sunday’s H2O Overdrive Triple Crown All Mountain Series started off with the Short Track Race. The 15 minute plus one lap race would prove to be a full throttle affair. In typical fashion of short track, attacks starting coming from lap one, with everyone trying to take a shot of going off the front. Race leader Sho-Air/Specialized Max Plaxton hit the deck hard on lap three and was trampled by Kona’s Ryan Trebon and others, who had no where to go but over Plaxton and his bike.
Plaxton would rejoin the group with a badly twisted up bike, but would claw his way back to the top five. Out front, Wells, JHK, Bishop, Schultz, Taberlay, Kabush were drilling the pace, Plaxton and others were in a chase group just a few meters off dangling. With one to go, the riders began to size each other up, looking to set up an opportunity to lead into the races final chicane into the finish.
Newly crowned Austrailian National Short Track Champion Sid Taberlay of the Sho-Air/Specialized team jumped out of the field with an eighth of a lap to go and made the move stick taking a big win over Todd Wells, JHK, Jeremiah Bishop and a banged up Max Plaxton. The stage was now set for a Sho-Air/Specialized shootout, as both Plaxton and Taberlay went into the Super D event with one win a piece. If Plaxton wanted the title, he was going to have to hang it out on his S-Works Epic and take the win, otherwise his team mate Taberlay had set himself up for a win.
Sid Taberlay (Sho-Air/Specialized) wins the Short Track race.
Women’s STXC:
The 10 minute, plus one lap women’s race, proved to be a high powered event as well. This time it was Subaru/Gary Fisher rider Heather Irmiger, fresh off her Hawaiian vacation getting the win over Specialized’s Lene Byberg, Giant’s Kelli Emmet, with Chloe Forsman and Pua Sawicki rounding out the top 5.
H2O Overdrive Triple Crown-Bonelli Race Super D Wrap Up
Sunday’s H2O Overdrive Triple Crown All Mountain Series finished off with the Super D Time Trial. The 2.1 mile course with 500 feet of decending would be a sub ten minute effort at threshold. The stage was set for a Team Sho-Air/Specialized sweep, as team mate and good friends Max Plaxton and Sid Taberlay were tied going into the final event of the weekend.
Plaxton was in the pressure cooker as he was in a must win situation after his 5th in the Short Track race just twenty minutes earlier. The Mountie was obviously banged up, running a shredded pair of bibs that displayed some serious road rash. Riders were let off in 20 second increments based on current standings on the weekend. Plaxton went off first with team mate Taberlay hot on his heels. Wells, Kabush, Schultz, JHK, Bishop, Morka and others were soon to follow. Then as if the drama wasn’t enough, Plaxton went down loosing the front end of his S-Works in a left hand corner heading towards the finish. But Plaxton wasn’t to be denied this weekend and took the Super D win, over Rocky Mountain’s Geoff Kabush, Trek regional rider Dana Weber, Subaru/Gary Fisher’s JHK and Sho-Air/Specialized’s Sid Taberlay.
The Super D win cemented Plaxton as the opening men’s champion of the H2O Overdrive Triple Crown at the Bonelli Park, with his team mate coming in for second. The top 5 overall would end up with Kabush taking 3rd, Todd Wells taking 4th and Sam Schultz taking 5th.
Women’s Super D
In the women’s race, Okole Stuff.com Pua Sawicki took a big win in the Super D over rivals Kelli Emmet, Lene Byberg, Rock N Road’s Allison Mann and Tokyo Joe’s Chloe Forsman.
