Teva Mountain Games

Gould, Compton, Horgan-Kobelski, Basagoita, and Lawrenuk all claim victories at Mountain Games.

Race report and images by Eddie Clark

(June 5/6, 2010) VAIL, Colo.—Perfect weather, big checks and great competition drew the biggest list of names in mountain biking to Teva Games yet. Cyclists of all sorts flocked to Vail to spectate and participate in a wide variety of two wheeled events.

Endurance athletes had their choice of cross country mtn bike racing and/or an uphill road time trial the following day. While those with a thirst for adrenaline had a massive slopestyle course and a unique urban freeride course to compete on. Additionally, Vail was also host to some world class climbing and white water boating competitions as well as the crowd favorite water dog competitions that brought fans and competitors of all origins out to have a good time.

Saturdays cross country race boasted its biggest star studded field yet. Perhaps the reasonable temps and large purse drew riders seeking respite from the previous weekends Mellow Johnny’s Classic in Austin, TX which was dangerously hot. Regardless, the perfect weather matched a perfect course which included close to 1000 feet of elevation gain on mostly doubletrack and access road. After the climb, racers were treated to a sweet singletrack descent through mountain meadows and large aspen stands.

Chris Sheppard set a blistering pace at the start of the pro men’s race that proved to be his undoing, and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski was the only one to match his pace. “It was a brutal start with that pace on the climb, but the nice part was that I was all alone going into the descent”, said Horgan-Kobelski who rode in first place for the rest of the race.

Pro Women’s racing featured return winner Georgia Gould who once again rode away with the victory. It didn’t come easy though as Heather Irmiger and Katie Compton was glued to her wheel in the first lap. “It was a fun course, but I wouldn’t have minded being on a dully for today” noted a dust covered Gould. The downhills, although mostly singletrack, developed some significant braking bumps that relentlessly jarred those on hardtails.

Not one to settle for second place, Katie Compton suited up for the Fetzer road bike time trial on Sunday morning, and destroyed it by setting a course record for the women with a time of 31:35. Defending champ and record holder Ben Day of Fly V Australia’s road team set the road a blaze with a winning time of 26:43.

Saturdays’ mountain bike events also included the unique to Vail urban freeride dual competition. For this competition, racers competed on a man-made course that resembled something similar to a trials course, but it’s raced in a dual slalom format. Held smack in the middle of Vail Village, this was a very spectator friendly event where folks could watch the action from just meters away. A hotly contested final had Paul Basagoita besting former Czech BMX champ and MSC DS/4X heavy hitter Petr Hanak for the win in the final heat.

Freeriders and dirt jumpers spent a good part of Friday and Saturday learning the course and perfecting their tricks for the Native Slopestyle competition on Sunday. Evidently the word is out on the good time vibe and large cash purse as witnessed by the 41 competitors in this years competition. Adding and improving course features from year to year are also part of the recipe for success.

“I love coming here to compete and getting to ride with all my friends, this place is awesome!” said the newly crowned champion from Canada, Eric Lawrenuk.

Lawrenuks victory certainly was challenging and hard earned. Prior to the finals Lawrenuks rear derailler was ghost shifting, which was not acceptable given the need for pedaling to get on top of the large step-down feature 20 feet off the ground. “I tried to replace the bent derailler hanger, but then my derailler pretty much exploded when I got it off leaving me without a bike” said Lawrenuk. Ever the helping teammate, Cove’s Luke Fulton offered up his steed for Eric’s finals runs.

For complete results, please visit Teva Mountain Games

For additional photos, please visit Photo Cycle

Goergia Gould leads the pro women up a super steep climb while expert classes prepare to start.	Erin Huck, Kelli Emmett, and Becca Blay (l-r) run up the first steep pitch that bottlenecked forcing the latter three quarters of tight fields off their bikes. Emmett pressed on to finish a respectable fourth.	Amy Hermes took the women’s singlespeed victory with a smile and a lot of hard work.
Heather Irmiger rode a solid race for the third step on the podium.	Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski got his big wheels up to warp speed on the fire road descent.	Jay Henry worked his way through the field for third place.
Aaron Chase gives 110% to cleaning the freeride dual course, which netted him a third place.	Paul Basagoita (l) dominated the freeride dual racing.	It's just a matter of time before there are some rainbow stripes on this kit. Katie Compton set a new course record for the Women's road bike time trial.
Seriously fast.	Pro road time trial pits are the place to be for two-wheeled aficionados.	Canadian Logan Peat backflips for the judges on his way to a second place slopestyle run.
Not just any 'guy in the sky', Sam Dueck super-flips his Norco with amplitude and grace.	Paul Basagoita rode his way into a slopestyle second place.	Big back flips and whips are always crowd pleasers in the slopestyle.