Competitor Inspired Racecourse Awaits World Class
It’s not enough that the Jeep® King of the Mountain (www.jeepsports.com) Series pits the elite athletes in mountain bike racing against one another on a daredevil Y-cross racecourse that requires the very diverse skills of parallel giant slalom and mountain cross racing. For the 2006 season, the Mountain Biking World Professional Championships introduced yet another new challenge to maintain its position as the most prestigious event in the industry – competitor inspired racecourse design. The Jeep King of the Mountain Series features 16 of the world’s top riders competing head-to-head to capture the coveted title of World Professional Champion, as well as a record $100,000, cash purse and the keys to a new 2007 Jeep Compass. Each race of the 2006 season, spanning July through September, is televised to a national audience on CBS Sports, representing the most expansive coverage of professional mountain bike racing in recent history. The competitor inspired racecourse design was first unveiled during the initial race of the 2006 season in San Luis Obispo, Calif., when former World Champion, Mike King, of San Diego, called upon his extensive experience in the sport to create a racecourse that required equal parts instinct, patience and daring from its challengers, himself included. While athletes play a role on the design front in sports such as golf, where names such as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Pete Dye are equally renowned for their work on and off the course, until now the concept had not been pursued in mountain bike racing. Such is the trust, respect and genuine desire for the ultimate challenge by the competitors in this sport, that the very athlete that creates the Y-cross layout will himself or herself be racing down it for the richest prize payout in the industry. Heading into the grand finale of the Mountain Biking World Professional Championships, set for Sept. 3, in Beaver Creek, Colo., the reigns will be handed over to one of the most recognizable faces in the sport, Brian Lopes. The three-time World Champion, five-time World Cup Champion and nine-time National Champion will no doubt put an unforgettable personal stamp on the racecourse, providing his own take on elements such as banked turns, tabletops, step-down jumps and rollers. In the men’s bracket, Michal Prokop of the Czech Republic, the defending World Professional Champion, stands in first place. Trailing him and tied for second place are Lopes of San Clemente, Calif., and Eric Carter of Temecula, Calif., the 2005 and 2006 USA Cycling Mountain-Cross National Champion. Also in the hunt are Wade Bootes of Australia, the 2004 Jeep King of the Mountain World Professional Champion and runner-up in 2005, King, and Brian Schmith of Lancaster, Calif., a NORBA Nationals and World Cup medalist. In the women’s competition, fellow defending World Professional Champion Jill Kitner of Seattle, Wash., holds the top spot, followed by a two-way tie for second place between Melissa Buhl of Chandler, Ariz., ranked fifth in the world and the 2005 NORBA Downhill Champion, and Corona, Calif.’s Tara Llanes, the 2006 USA Cycling Downhill National Champion who currently ranks third in the UCI World Cup standings. Rounding out the standings are Katrina Miller of Australia, the 2004 JKOM World Professional Champion currently ranked second in the world, Fionn Griffiths of Great Britain, a three-time World Cup Champion and five-time UK National Champion, and Anneke Beerten of The Netherlands, the 2006 Sea Otter Classic runner-up and JKOM event titlists in 2005. www.jeepsports.comLatest news
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