Heading into the grand finale of the Jeep King of the Mountain 2007 Mountain Biking World Professional Championships at Beaver Creek Resort in Colorado, one athlete thought capturing the season-long crown was all but improbable, while another was so anxious to hit the track that she couldn't sleep all night.
At the end of the day, doubt and nerves were cast aside as the Czech Republic's Michal Prokop and Anneke Beerten of the Netherlands’s brought home the coveted crowns as 2007 Mountain Biking World Professional Champions.
Entering the final race of the 2007 season, the men’s and women’s standings had never been so tight in the five-year history of the Jeep King of the Mountain summer mountain bike series. Five pairs of athletes were tied and seven athletes had a legitimate chance of earning the top prize and driving off the mountain in a new 2008 Jeep Liberty. The action matched the high expectations, as thousands of race fans converged at the race corral to see which contender would fare best on a highly technical Y-cross racecourse developed by 2007 National Series Champion and 2006 U.S. National Champion, Eric Carter of Temecula, Calif.
Prokop, the two-time defending Jeep King of the Mountain World Professional Champion, had won the first race of the season in Park City, Utah, before heading to China to compete in the UCI World Cup BMX Championships during the second race of the season. Arriving in Beaver Creek, the Czech BMX and Mountain Biking National Champion knew there was much ground to be covered, and wasted no time trying to reestablish his dominance. He began the day by sweeping past Temecula’s Rich Houseman, a 2006 NORBA Champion who was tied for the overall lead, before overcoming Open Qualifier Cody Warren of Alpine, a former U.S. National Champion and multiple NORBA titlist, in the semi-finals. Warren had given Prokop a huge gift earlier in the day by ousting co-leader Brian Lopes of Laguna Beach, Calif., a three-time World Champion, nine-time National Champion and now six-time World Cup Champion in the first round. On the other side of the bracket, Australia’s Jared Graves, a 2006 World Cup titlist and two-time NORBA Champion, earned a first round bye with news that race course designer and competitor Carter would not race due to an injury suffered in the seeding runs. In the semi-finals, he met up with his coach and fellow Aussie, Wade Bootes, the 2004 Jeep King of the Mountain World Professional Champion and 2006 Australian National Champion. The battle among these friends was epic, with Bootes winning the first run before Graves stormed back to win the second race and advance based on the time differential. That set up a Championship Heat pitting Prokop against Graves. Prokop captured the first race, but came up short in the second heat. Based on the time differential, he earned the title and a three-peat as World Professional Champion. Bootes held on for third place by taking out Warren in the Consolation Heat.
"I honestly didn't think I would be able to win this competition today, but I tried my best and it turned out well for me," said Prokop. "I just tried to be as fast as possible out there, and was careful to watch my turns and cover my inside. Maybe I got lucky with Lopes going down early, but I’m thrilled to win again."
Beerten, who had captured the title at the previous Jeep King of the Mountain race in San Luis Obispo, Calif., was forced to start the day with a tough match-up against co-leader Melissa Buhl of Chandler, Ariz., based on the seeding runs. The world’s second-ranked racer with two World Cup wins in 2007, was able to get past her rival and advance to the semi-finals, where she swept Fionn Griffiths of the U.K., a five-time British National Champion, to reach the finals.
Meanwhile, Jill Kintner, the world’s number-one ranked mountain bike racer and two-time defending Jeep King of the Mountain World Professional Champion, was taking care of business on the other side of the bracket. She dispatched Open Qualifier Lisa Myklak, of Boulder, Colo., a podium finisher at this year’s NORBA Nationals and U.S. National Championships, in the first round, setting up a face off against Tara Llanes of Los Alamitos, Calif., the 2006 USA Cycling Downhill National Champion and two-time national four-cross champion, in the semi-finals. The result was a hard-fought, physical race that saw Llanes go down with an injury that wrapped up her day prematurely, sending her to the hospital and Kintner to the Championship Heat. Kintner, battling for her second title of the season, swept past Beerten for the win, but the Netherland’s phenom earned the necessary points to win the overall season crown. Griffiths earned third place in the Consolation Heat.
"I really liked this course a lot, but it was hot out there and became slippery in some spots," said Beerten. "It was near impossible to have a perfect run, but I knew I had to be smooth and also aggressive if I wanted to win that Jeep. Thankfully it all came together for me."
Men's Results
1. Michal Prokop – Czech Republic
2. Jared Graves – Australia
3. Wade Bootes – Australia
4. Cody Warren – Alpine, Calif.
5. Brian Lopes – Laguna Beach, Calif.
6. Chris Del Bosco – Vail, Colo.
7. Rich Houseman – Temecula, Calif.
8. Eric Carter – Temecula, Calif.
Women's Results
1. Jill Kintner – Seattle, Wash.
2. Anneke Beerten – The Netherlands
3. Fionn Griffiths – UK
4. Tara Llanes – Los Alamitos, Calif.
5. Lisa Myklak – Boulder, Colo.
6. Joanna Petterson – Kauai, Hawaii
7. Melissa Buhl – Chandler, Ariz.
8. Neven Steinmetz – Boulder, Colo.
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