Lopes, Kintner take four-cross world titles

By Fred Dreier

His image projected three stories high on a massive television screen, American Brian Lopes stood atop the podium Friday evening, arms raised in triumph, having just won the men’s four-cross world championship in Fort William, Scotland. Techno music deafened the 10,000-strong crowd gathered at the base of Fort William’s fast, winding track to watch the nighttime event take place under bright lights. A display of fireworks exploded overhead, and a smoke machine churned out thick clouds of white.

The scene was a stark contrast to anything Lopes has seen in North America, where mountain-cross racing attracts small crowds and little fanfare. The Southern Californian, who turned 36 the day before the race, admitted the attention was why he keeps racing at the world’s top level.

“You could go to a race where there’s a lot of money on the line, but if no one is there to watch, it doesn’t have the same vibe,” Lopes said. “This is the world championships — as far as prize money there is none on the line, but with the big screen and the fans it adds to the excitement and makes it memorable.”

Lopes took the fourth world title of his career in an evening that saw his top rivals felled by crashes, mechanical disasters and poor tactical decisions. The American, who is the gated racing’s most-accomplished competitor, easily took his title ahead of France’s Romain Saladini after Dutchman Jur Meijer and Swiss Roger Rinderknecht collided and crashed out of the starting gate.

Indeed Lopes posted only the third-fastest time in qualifications, coming in behind Saladini and defending world champion Michal Prokop of the Czech Republic. Although Lopes has owned the World Cup competition in 2007, Prokop was the man to beat — he roundly trounced the American on the ‘07 Jeep King of the Mountains series.

But Prokop found himself caught out in the 1/8 finals by German Jannes Fischbach, and while trying to race his way ahead of the German, Prokop crashed and was eliminated. Lopes admitted Prokop’s bad choice bettered his chances.

“As soon as I heard that, it definitely made my bracket a little easier,” Lopes said. “At some point I would have met up with him.”

Lopes’ other perennial rival, Aussie Jared Graves, was untouchable through the early rounds, eliminating heavy hitters Joost Wichman of the Netherlands and Czech Kamil Tartarkovic. Graves owned a huge lead in the semi-finals heat and appeared to have stamped his ticket to the finals. But on the final turn the Aussie’s rear tire blew, wrapped around his drivetrain and bent his frame.

“I couldn’t believe it — I was finally starting to put it all together,” Graves said. “My bike was destroyed — I couldn’t even race the small finals.”

Lopes looked destined to follow Graves into the small finals during his semi-final round — the American unclipped his pedal in his sprint out of the gate and rode in fourth position. But the American didn’t panic, and instead laid down the most impressive performance of the night, first passing Czech Tomas Slavik at the midway point and finally sprinting around Spaniard Rafael Alvarez in the final corner.

“With the course being a little bit longer this year I had some room,” Lopes said. “It was pretty nerve racking, but it also gave some excitement to the race.”

Kintner Makes it Three
Lopes’ GT teammate Jill Kintner took top honors in the women’s four-cross championships, easily defeating Dutchwoman Anneke Beerten after American Melissa Buhl and Czech Horikova crashed out of the gate. Kintner won every round on the way to the championships, again showing her abilities in gated racing are a step ahead of that of her competition. The win marked Kintner’s third-straight world four-cross championship, and she took the win despite suffering a hyper-extended shoulder in practice.

“You never come into a race like this thinking you’re going to win it,” Kintner said.

While the women’s world four-cross championships featured only eight competitors in 2006 in Rotorua, New Zealand, four heats of women contested the final rounds in Fort William.

“The competition was a lot better [in Fort William], and in qualifying the top six women were only separated by a second-and-a-half,” Beerten said. “Our sport needs that.”

Beerten collected her second-consecutive silver medal, however the bronze marked a career-best finish for Buhl. The 2007 American champion in gated racing, Buhl was quick to remount her bike after the starting-line crash. Horikova, who posted the fastest time in qualifying, wasn’t so lucky and had to settle for fourth.

“I think my timing was a little off on the gate, and I was pedal-heavy on the right side,” Buhl said. “Before I knew it I was on the ground.”

Kintner took her world championship after three-straight weekends of traveling. The four-cross champion is a former BMX world champion, and is currently chasing UCI points on the BMX circuit in hopes of qualifying for America’s Olympic squad for 2008.

“My last race I got the hole-shot for ever round, I’m feeling good [with BMX],” Kintner said. “BMX and four-cross are two different sports, it’s difficult to compare the competition. I’m not as confident [with BMX] but getting there.”

2007 UCI World mountain-bike championships
Fort William, Scotland
September 7

Men
1. Brian Lopes (USA)
2. Romain Saladini (F)
3. Jurg Meijer (Nl)
4. Roger Rinderknecht (Swi)
5. Rafael Alvarez (Sp)
6. Tomas Slavik (CZ)
7. Scott Beaumont (GB)
8. Jared Graves (Aus)

Women
1. Jill Kintner (USA)
2. Anneke Beerten (Nl)
3. Melissa Buhl (USA)
4. Jana Horakova (CZ)
5. Mio Suemasa (Jpn)
6. Rachel Seydoux (Swi)
7. Joey Gough (GB)
8. Caroline Buchanan (Aus)

FILED UNDER: Mountain