August 26/01 8:56 am - Mont Ste Anne World Cup: Dual Story

Posted by Editoress on 08/26/01
 

Mont Ste Anne World Cup - Dual
by Greg Flaaten

Old rivals Eric Carter (USA Mongoose Hyundai) and Mike King (USA Haro Lee Dungarees) met yet again in tonight's World Cup Dual final at Mt. Ste. Anne. The pair clawed their way through a crash filled event which produced little change in the overall series ranking. Brian Lopes (USA GT Fox) retains his overall series lead and secures possesion of the UCI World Cup title. "This was some of the best racing we've ever had," noted Carter of tonight's racing. "There were a lot of tactics; moreso than I've ever seen." He (King) has been my main rival since back when we were kids. Carter took the start over King in the final heat, railed the first berm and never needed to look back. The victory for Carter gave him just enough points in the World Cup dual series to squeak past Mickael Deldycke (FRA Schwinn) for second place overall in the series with a margin of only two points. The Women's event saw Leigh Donovan (USA Schwinn) meet up with Tara Llanes (USA Yeti Pearl Izumi) in the final heat. With first and second places overall sewn up for Donovan and Katrina Miller (AUS Jamis), only the third overall position was left to be contested. .

Donovan made no mistakes in the final against Llanes. Her lead was massive, enabling her to let go of the bars and celebrate with a double fist pump as she crossed the line. For the retiring Donavon, this event serves as her last World Cup race, save for the World Championships in Vail Colorado in September.

"This is the last Dual of the World Cup for the rest of my life," reflected Donovon. "Retiring is something I've been thinking about for the last few years. It makes it a lot easier to do when you're winning. The Downhill wasn't too good to me today."

With Jonnier and Llanes fighting for a series medal, Jonnier appeared to be prepared for the fight with an apparent victory over Missy Giove in the quarter final. A tehcnical DQ for Jonnier left the door wide open for Llanes, however, as she cruised through to the final, wrapping up third place overall in the series.