Mary McConneloug came in second in Calgary and earned 130 UCI points, the best World Cup result she has ever achieved. This win must be considered a victory in the race for second in the wake the 2004 World Cup Champion, Norwegian Gunn Rita Dahle.
Susan Haywood, despite a strong start to the race, suffered several first lap crashes that sent her down as low as 19th. After a series of first lap crashes, Susan Haywood was unable to recover and finished in 15th place. She also gained 75 UCI points.
The U.S. women’s Olympic MTB team has been affected by crashes. Evidently, Alison Dunlap’s terrible crash at Snowshoe last winter almost ended her Olympic bid. This slip and several other factors reduced our Olympic team to one woman, bringing us down from three.
UCI points July 12th
Mary McConneloug1411
Susan Haywood1370
(Includes 2003 Sandpoint and ID short track mystery points which the UCI hasn’t yet acknowledged.
McConneloug leads McConneloug by 41 points going into the Marathon World Championships next weekend. To overcome this deficit, Haywood must score an impressive result in Austria.
The UCI’s unique start procedure makes things even more exciting, especially for men. This is the starting order:
1) Current World Marathon (MX), Champions Maja Wloszczowska & Thomas Frischknecht
2) Current World XC Champions Sabine Spitz & Filip Meirhaeghe.
Three (3) Current Olympic MTB Champions Paola Perzzo and Miguel Martinez.
4) Former World XC Champion Gunn-Rita Dahle.
5) Bart Brentjens, a former Olympic MTB Champion.
7) Based on current UCI rankings, the top 50 National team riders. Here McConneloug and Haywood will be found, as well as Jeremiah Bishop, Michael Broderick, and Jeremiah Bishop.
8) 51st or higher in the World Marathon Series
9) All others in order of their arrival at the start area. God save the men who are in this category. The event will feature separate starts for men and women. They all began last year mixed together to form a cluster.
It does not appear that Alison Dunlap or Alison Sydor will be there. Both champions chose to return home for a time, something neither of them have seen very much of this year. Dunlap’s inability to complete her fourth trans-Atlantic trip in four months is difficult to blame.
Everyone wants to know the latest developments in the U.S. men’s Olympic race. Last week’s official UCI rankings show that Jeremy Horgan Kobelski is the first automatic nominee based upon UCI ranking, while Todd Wells is the second nominee based on World Cup rankings. Congratulations!
Jeremiah Bishop was planning to compete in the Marathon World Championships. He is a good runner over long distances, so it’s possible that the Shenandoah 100 winner will be there. If the UCI rankings are correct, even with 200 UCI points won, it would not be possible for him to catch JHK.
All the Marathon World champions, good luck!
Matt Marcus
