Craig and Nash sweep the all-mountain championships in Downieville

By VeloNews.com
Published Jul. 13, 2009
Updated Jul. 13, 2009 at 4:45 PM UTC

Photos
Results

By Seth Lightcap

2009 Downieville, day 2: Adam Craig on First Divide.

Photo: Seth Lightcap

All the beers have been cheered and bloody scrapes Band-Aided for yet another installment of the Downieville Classic mountain bike race.

The second and final stage of the Northern California testpiece went down Sunday afternoon as competitors took off at one-minute intervals to attack a plummeting 17-mile Super-D style course that climbed a mere 1,000 feet while descending 5,333 feet into the streets of Downieville, a quaint mining town one hour north of Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Foothills.

Competition had never been stiffer in both men’s and women’s pro fields as the Classic’s all–mountain title has become one of the most coveted cycling crowns on dirt, attracting big dogs from every off-road cycling discipline.

2009 Downieville, day 2: Katerina Nash enroute to the all-mountain title.

Photo: Seth Lightcap

Beaming through the constellation of top riders, the brightest stars of the day were once again Giant’s Adam Craig and Luna’s Katerina Nash. Both rode brilliantly and defended their day 1 victories by pedaling their way to the top step of the day 2 podium and hence, the all-mountain throne.

Racing at Downieville for the first time, Craig started 33rd in the day’s stage and deftly passed five racers on the way to his second course record of the weekend. His time of 43:48.3 bested defending champion Ross Schnell’s 2008 course record by 45 seconds.

“Everybody I caught up to was super cool and let me pass right away,” said Craig about negotiating the friendly crowds en route to his new record. “Surprisingly I had a pretty clean track all the way down.“

Two others who got a clear shot at the course were Schnell (Trek) and Jason Moeschler (WTB-Santa Cruz). Although Schnell was the first rider on course, Moeschler found a “cleaner” line, thanks to Schnell.

“I nearly hit two animals,” said Schnell. “A coyote and a deer. I was so close to hitting the deer I could have touched it. Guess I cleared the course for Moeschler.”

2009 Downieville, day 2: Downieville served up a few tacos to unlucky riders.

Photo: Seth Lightcap

Steering clear of the wildlife paid off for Moeschler as he beat Schnell by nine seconds to take second place in the stage. Schnell settled for third in the stage.

Stacking Craig’s two course records left him four minutes up on Moeschler overall with a combined time of 2:35:52.

Though Moeschler’s day 2 performance was not enough to catch Craig, it was enough to wrestle the second spot overall from Sid Taberlay (SHO-AIR). Taberlay suffered from a slow leak in his back tire that plagued him the last quarter of the stage. He skidded on however, and finished fast enough to hold onto third overall.

2009 Downieville, day 2: The downhill course could have been dustier, but no one called it tacky.

Photo: Seth Lightcap

Canadian strong man Chris Sheppard (Santa Cruz) rode just off the back of the podium placers to take fourth overall. Schnell (Trek) ended up sixth overall having taken ninth on day one.

Nash throws down … Again.

Luna’s Katerina Nash continued her 2009 winning streak beating back 2007/2008 Downieville women’s champ Rachel Lloyd (Proman) to add another stage victory and an all-mountain title to her ever-expanding resume.

Nash’s stage 2 of 49:52.2 undercut the hard charging Lloyd by only two seconds, but combined with her decisive win on day one, she finished four minutes ahead of Lloyd overall.
“Going into the weekend I was excited to be racing close to home,” said Nash, who lives an hour away in Truckee. “I knew I had to do well both days because the women’s category was super competitive. Really happy with the results.”

“I kept it conservative descending yesterday, but not today,” Nash added comparing her stage strategies. “Today I pushed it.”

2009 Downieville, day 2: Ibis’ Olivier Guincetre took second in the Water Jump World Championships.

Photo: Seth Lightcap

Kelli Emmett (Giant) slipped in behind Lloyd, grabbing third on the stage and likewise third overall. Willow Koerber (Gary Fisher) held strong in fourth.

Photo Gallery

Results

Men’s day 2 results | Click for: Men’s overall (all-mountain) results | Women’s results | Women’s overall results

1. Adam Craig in 43:48.3 Ketchum ID
2. Jason Moeschler in 44:09.7 San Luis Obispo CA
3. Ross Schnell in 44:20.6 CA
4. Nathan Riddle in 45:51.1 Soquel CA
5. Brian Lopes in 45:59.6 Petaluma CA
6. Nate Byrom in 46:01.4 Asheville NC
7. Chris Sheppard in 46:04.4 Sebastopol CA
8. Henry O’Donnell in 46:20.7 San Luis Obispo CA
9. Tim Olson in 47:03.6 Boise ID
10. Glenn Fant in 47:22.0 Novato CA
11. Mark Jordan in 47:37.1 Santa Paula CA
12. Thomas Frischknecht in 47:57.5 Downieville CA
13. Timmy Evens in 48:00.8 Truckee CA
14. Matthew Slaven in 48:18.3 Auburn CA
15. Dain Zaffke in 48:33.4 Penn Valley CA
16. Shawn Wilson in 48:40.3 Aptos CA
17. Ross mcmahon in 48:41.6 laguna beach CA
18. Mike Vine in 48:41.7 santa barbara CA
19. Jeff Kendall-Weed in 48:53.6 Grand Junction CO
20. Joe Lawill in 48:58.5 San Luis Obispo CA
21. Kenny Burt in 49:15.1 Goleta CA
22. Sam Koerber in 49:23.9 Santa Cruz CA
23. kevin Smallman in 49:35.3 La Selva Bch CA
24. Shane Bresnyan in 49:37.6 Mill Valley CA
25. Sid Taberlay in 50:02.9 campbell CA
26. nicholas weighall in 50:05.0 rough and ready CA
27. matt Wittler in 50:12.1 Santa Cruz CA
28. Eric Highlander in 50:19.4 Campbell CA
29. Alex Gardner in 50:22.2 Chico CA
30. Ryan Soderberg in 50:22.4 North Vancouver BC
31. Mike kent in 50:32.7 Santa Rosa CA
32. daniel baggs in 50:37.1 Fairfax CA
33. corey ward in 50:52.0 Ketchum ID
34. Jim Hewett in 50:54.7 Durango CA
35. Alex Work in 50:55.3 Mill Valley CA
36. Joel baty in 51:04.9 Santa Paula CA
37. Doss Barnes in 51:07.0 Santa Cruz CA
38. Dillon Clapp in 51:11.0 Laguna Beach CA
39. Andreas Hestler in 51:11.8 Seattle WA
40. Christopher Brown in 51:59.2 Los Gatos CA
41. Jesse Miller-Smith in 52:19.1 Dillon CA
42. Daniel Cortina in 52:43.6 Boulder Creek CA
43. Nitish Nag in 53:00.1 South Pasadena CA
44. Ryan Tarver in 53:10.2 Mill Creek CA
45. T.J. Henshall in 53:24.7 Ashland OR
46. Anastasio Flores Jr in 54:15.9 Novato CA
47. Taylor Chapman in 56:44.2 San Luis Obispo CA
48. Jason First in 57:05.3 Union City CA
49. Nathaniel Lewis in 58:27.3 Portland OR
50. Adam Nuyens in 58:34.8 Flagstaff AZ
51. Joe Parkin in 1:01:53.8 CA
52. Scott Papola in 1:10:42.6 Freedom CA
53. John Hauer in 1:15:30.0 Santa Cruz CA
54. Moses Mexia in 1:19:45.8 SanLeandro CA
55. Myles Rockwell in 1:31:35.8 truckee CA

Men’s all-mountain results | Click for: Men’s day 2 results | Women’s day 2 results | Women’s all-mountain results

Adam Craig in 2:35:52
Jason Moeschler in 2:39:30
Sid Taberlay in 2:42:49
Chris Sheppard in 2:44:03
Sam Koerber in 2:48:39
Ross Schnell in 2:49:08
Thomas Frischknecht in 2:50:03
Nate Byrom in 2:51:09
Tim Olson in 2:51:12
Mike Vine in 2:53:21
Mark Jordan in 2:55:49
Henry O’donnell in 2:56:09
Jim Hewett in 3:00:26
Nathan Riddle in 3:00:43
Andreas Hestler in 3:00:47
Shawn Wilson in 3:01:23
Kevin Smallman in 3:01:28
Glenn Fant in 3:01:53
Joel Baty in 3:02:33
Timmy Evens in 3:02:51
Kenny Burt in 3:03:15
Jesse Miller-Smith in 3:04:37
Ryan Soderberg in 3:05:05
Alex Gardner in 3:05:21
Daniel Baggs in 3:06:09
Alex Work in 3:06:21
Matt Wittler in 3:06:37
Christopher Brown in 3:06:46
Jeff Kendall-Weed in 3:06:49
Matthew Slaven in 3:08:37
Shane Bresnyan in 3:08:37
Jason First in 3:09:54
Brian Lopes in 3:10:05
Ross Mcmahon in 3:12:28
Nicholas Weighall in 3:12:33
Corey Ward in 3:14:16
Joe Lawill in 3:15:33
Daniel Cortina in 3:16:42
Doss Barnes in 3:17:17
Eric Highlander in 3:19:34
Dillon Clapp in 3:20:28
Nitish Nag in 3:21:17
Mike Kent in 3:22:38
Adam Nuyens in 3:29:23
Nathaniel Lewis in 3:29:32
Ryan Tarver in 3:29:57
Anastasio Flores Jr in 3:30:42
Dain Zaffke in 3:33:56
Moses Mexia in 3:39:54
T.j. Henshall in 3:40:12
Scott Papola in 3:45:43
Taylor Chapman in 3:46:43
Myles Rockwell in 3:48:31
Joe Parkin in 4:29:06
John Hauer in 4:33:37
Brian Astell
Mike Thompson

Women’s day 2 results | Click for: Men’s day 2 results | Click for: Men’s overall (all-mountain) results | Women’s overall results

1. Katerina Nash in 49:52.2 Oxnard CA
2. Rachel Lloyd in 49:54.1 Goleta CA
3. Kelli Emmett in 52:19.0 San jose CA
4. Willow Koerber in 52:56.5 Murrieta CA
5. Maureen Kunz in 56:14.4 Colorado Springs CA
6. Allison Mann in 56:33.4 Nevada City CA
7. Sharon Hill in 57:10.0 Berkeley CA
8. Lizzy English in 57:29.1 Aptos CA
9. Kathy Pruitt in 58:31.0 Ben Lomond CA
10. Dani Dance in 59:49.4 Morgan Hill CA
11. Corina Bigham in 1:00:09.2 Reno NV
12. Jamie Stamps in 1:00:33.3 Portland OR
13. Karin Hanzi in 1:01:36.4 Asheville CA
14. Erin Moeschler in 1:02:21.6 Truckee CA
15. Tiffany Allmandinger in 1:18:39.8 San Bruno CA

Women’s all mountain results | Click for: Women’s day 2 results | Men’s day 2 results | Click for: Men’s overall (all-mountain) results

1. Katerina Nash in 3:04:06
4. Rachel Lloyd in 3:08:10
3. Kelli Emmett in 3:09:58
2. Willow Koerber in 3:10:30
5. Lizzy English in 3:27:15
6. Allison Mann in 3:31:47
7. Maureen Kunz in 3:34:50
8. Sharon Hill in 3:44:06
9. Corina Bigham in 3:47:52
10. Jamie Stamps in 3:53:18
13. Kathy Pruitt in 4:02:22
14. Erin Moeschler in 4:07:14
11. Tiffany Allmandinger in 4:13:07
15. Karin Hanzi in 4:16:45
16. Dani Dance in 4:18:33
12. Cecilia Potts

FILED UNDER: Mountain / News / Race Report / Race Result