Christian Heule extends with Rendementhypo
Swiss Christian Heule has extend his contract with the Belgian Rendementhypo Cycling Team for one more year. Next season the Swiss Champion will have his compatriot Simon Zahner as team mate.

Christian Heule
Photo © 2008 Bart Hazen

Georgia Gould to make European Cross Debut
Georgia Gould (Luna), the winner of the USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Calendar title, is going to compete in Europe for the first time in het career. Her next big goal are the World Championships in Hoogerheide (The Netherlands) in the end of January. To prepare this Gould will participate in the December World Cup races (Nommay and Zolder).

Normally Gould would end her season after the American Cyclocross Championships as she also competed in Mountainbike races during the summer. This year, despite having competed in the Olympics in Beijing and the full American Cyclocross season, Gould will go on until the Worlds at the end of January.

Georgia Gould
Photo © 2008 Dan Elavsky

Namen wants Cyclocross on Citadel
The Belgian city Namen (Namur) in the region Wallonne is looking to organize a cyclocross on top of the Citadel. The Citadel is well known from the men's Road Race the GP de Wallonie and from the stage finish in the Giro D'Italia a few years ago.

After winning the Belgian sportsman of the year election Sven Nys gave a pleading for more cyclocross events in Wallonne. Golazo Sport, the management of Sven Nys, and organizer of the Gazet van Antwerpen Trofee and the cyclocross of Tervuren have made already the first step. "We already made a request to organize the cyclocross on the Citadel", thus Christophe Impens of Golazo Sport in the Gazet van Antwerpen.

Thus far Wallonne only has one race the GP Dottignies and has one rider competing in the cyclocross, Quentin Bertholet (Fidea)!

World Cup leader Sven Nys will be the captain in Nommay
Photo © 2008 Bart Hazen

Belgian Selection for World Cup Cyclocross Nommay
Belgian National Selector Rudy de Bie has announced the teams for the World Cup Cyclocross in Nommay on Sunday December 21. The teams are:

Elite Men
Sven Nys
Bart Wellens
Kevin Pauwels
Bart Aernouts
Sven Vanthourenhout
Erwin Vervecken
Rob Peeters
Klaas Vantornout
Dieter Vanthourenhout

Sanne Cant will be the women's captain in Nommay
Photo © 2008 Bart Hazen

Elite Women
Sanne Cant
Veerle Ingels
Joyce Vanderbeken
Patsy Larno
Katrien Pauwels
Gertie Willems
Nancy Bober
Kim Van Renterghem


Dutch Selection for World Cup Cyclocross Nommay
Dutch National Selector Johan Lammerts has announced the teams for the World Cup Cyclocross in Nommay on Sunday December 21. The teams are:

Elite Men
Thijs Al
Thijs van Amerongen
Lars Boom
Wilant van Gils
Richard Groenendaal
Gerben de Knegt
Patrick van Leeuwen
Eddy van IJzendoorn

World Champion Lars Boom will be the captain in Nommay
Photo © 2008 Bart Hazen

Elite Women
Daphny van den Brand
Saskia Elemans
Abke Francissen
Arenda Grimberg
Reza Hormes
Mirjam Melchers
Sanne van Paassen
Marianne Vos

Daphny van den Brand will be the women's captain in Nommay
Photo © 2008 Bart Hazen

Marco Aurelio Fontana wins GP Città di Verbania
Italian Champion Marco Aurelio Fontana has won the GP Citta di Verbania (December 14). Fontana was 12 seconds faster than Fabio Ursi and 41 seconds than Emil Lindgren.

Result
1 Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) Selle Italia Guerciotti Elite 59.18
2 Fabio Ursi (Ita) Centro Sportivo Esercito 0.12
3 Emil Lindgren (Swe) Felt International MTB Banelli 0.41
4 Cristian Cominelli (Ita) Gewiss Bianchi 0.47
5 Rafael Visinelli (Ita) Gruppo Sportivo Forestale 1.52

Marco Aurelio Fontana
Photo © 2008 Bart Hazen

6 Julien Taramarcaz (Swi) Selle Italia Guerciotti Elite 2.27
7 Alessandro Gambino (Ita) Gruppo Sportivo Esercito 2.36
8 Alessandro Calderan (Ita) U.C. Trevigiani 2.52
9 Mariusz Gil (Pol) 3.42
10 Andreas Kugler (Swi) Athleticum MTB Team 3.49


Mourey, Ferrier and Jouffroy winners of Challenge de la France in Quelneuc

Result Men
1 Françis Mourey (Française des Jeux)
2 Jonathan Lopez (V.C.La Pomme Marseille) 1.43
3 Julien Roussel (CR Normandie) 2.00
4 Nicolas Bazin (US Domont Cyclisme)
5 Aurélien Duval (U.V.Aube) 2.22
6 Steve Chainel (Auber 93)
7 Julien Belgy (Bouygues Télécom) 2.35
8 Arnaud Labbe (Bouygues Télécom) 2.46
9 David Pagnier (CR Picardie) 3.11
10 David Derepas (Groupe Gobert.com.ct) 3.23

Francis Mourey
Photo © 2008 Bart Hazen

Result Women
1 Christel Ferrier Bruneau (Béziers-Méditerranée Cyclo)
2 Maryline Salvetat (VSLL Castres) 0.15
3 Nadia Triquet Claude (CR Lorraine) 0.43
4 Caroline Mani (Vienne Futuroscope) 1.06
5 Pauline Ferrand Prevot (CR Champagne Ardenne) 2.53
6 Sandrine Baldassarre (CR Rhône Alpes) 3.03
7 Maureen Guichardot (Amicale Cycliste Bisontin) 3.47
8 Julie Bresset (CD Côtes d'Armor) 3.52
9 Camille Darcel (CD Côtes d'Armor) 4.36
10 Stéphanie Vaxillaire (CR Bourgogne) 5.00

Result U23
1 Arnaud Jouffroy (Vendée U Pays de la Loire)
2 Matthieu Boulo (CR Bretagne) 0.06
3 Clément Bourgoin (CR Rhône Alpes) 0.28
4 Thomas Girard (CR Rhône Alpes) 1.53
5 Guillaume Perrot (CR Rhône Alpes) 2.19

Arnaud Jouffroy
Photo © 2008 Bart Hazen

6 Romain Lejeune (CR Picardie) 2.25
7 Jules Chabanon (CR Champagne Ardenne) 2.29
8 Luc Lutsen (CR Bourgogne) 2.43
9 Yoann Corbihan (CR Bretagne) 2.45
10 Jean Philippe Maheau (CR Pays de la Loire)


Keiichi Tsujiura once again the best in Japanese Championship
Keiichi Tsujiura has won for the seventh consecutive year the Japanese National Championships. In the 14th edition of the event Tsujiura dominated the race from start to finish with a lead of over one minute on his closest competitors. Ayako Tooyoka wont he women's race.

Result Men
1 Keiichi Tsujiura (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 1.06.14
2 Masanori Kosaka (Jpn) Suwako Racing Team 1.02
3 Seigo Yamamoto (Jpn) Kai Racing Team 1.14
4 Yu Takenouchi (Jpn) Trek 1.25
5 Hikaru Kosaka (Jpn) Suwako Racing Team 2.48
6 Atsushi Maruyama (Jpn) Suwako Racing Team 3.17
7 Kazuya Nakayama (Jpn) Suwako Racing Team 4.33
8 Ryouhei Komori (Jpn) Daihatsu Bonnechance Iida 5.03
9 Shinya Ikemoto (Jpn) Wakokiki Tamura Club 5.41
10 Katsunori Irie (Jpn) Shimano Drinking 6.02

Result Women
1 Ayako Toyooka (Jpn) Team Ayako Toyooka 44.15
2 Michiko Shimura (Jpn) Lavenir Azumino 0.44
3 Masumi Sakai (Jpn) Testach Racing 1.14
4 Ikumi Tajika (Jpn) God Hill 5.27
5 Yukari Nakamura (Jpn) Nakagawa as.k' design 6.52
6 Tomoka Iwata (Jpn) Kitakuwata High School 8.33
7 Waka Takeda (Jpn) Arai Muraca 8.55


Kona's Trebon Kills It In Kansas
If Wizard Of Oz characters the Tinman, Lion and Scarecrow are still looking for brains, courage and heart then Kona's bike wiz Ryan Trebon is their man for donations. Bringing his tornado of riding skills into Kansas City last weekend for the 2008 Cyclocross Nationals, the lanky "Tree Farm" was no Toto on the course.

Claiming his second Cyclocross Nationals Title in three years, Trebon, who was feeling a bit under the weather heading into the weekends races, endured pressure from a star-studded field and plowed through the sub-zero temperatures and heavy wind to claim the top spot on the podium and in the sport.

"I wasn't really sure if my legs were going to respond today. They did, but they weren't going over easy," says Trebon. "It was hard out there. It was like doing a circuit race on the road - it was just so much climbing."

Displaying superior climbing skills, Trebon flew up the initial hill on the first lap taking charge of the lead pack - which included teammate Barry Wicks. Encouraging others to step up their games, Trebon didn't put down the hammer until a few racers decided to mount attacks on the ensuing laps. With numerous lead changes occurring heading into the final lap, Trebon used those legs he wasn't sure about and created a gap after the last climb that proved to be the deciding factor. Trebon dominated the race - which featured 62 riders - and won with a time of 1 hour, 4 seconds.

Kona-FSA Factory CX Team (AKA Orange Crush) member Wicks captured the 13th spot in the race, while Erik Tonkin nabbed 16th.

This week, the champ Trebon is headed over to Europe to race in a handful of World Cup events in a build up to the World Championships in late-January. Kona's Wendy Simms will also join Trebon in Europe to race.

Ryan Trebon
Photo © 2008 Dan Elavsky

Trebon and Gould wrap-up USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Calendar titles
The USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships marked the final race on the USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Calendar on December 14 in Kansas City. With his national title in the elite men's race Ryan Trebon (Bend, Ore./Kona) also took the series title in commanding fashion. Jeremy Powers (Hadley, Mass.) finished second in the season-long standings with 479 points while his Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale teammate Tim Johnson (Middleton, Mass.) was third. Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo./Spike) won her fifth consecutive elite women's title on Sunday, which moved her into fourth place in the domestic standings. Georgia Gould (Fort Collins, Colo./Luna), with her second-place-finish at the national championships, earned the USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Calendar overall crown with 289 total points. Laura Van Gilder (Cresco, Pa./C3-Sollay) came in second in the standings with 234 points, while Rachel Lloyd (Fairfax, Calif./Giant Berry Farms) was third.

After all 40 contests on the USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Calendar, the final standings are as follows:

Men's Standings
1. Ryan Trebon (Bend, Ore.) 620
2. Jeremy Powers (Hadley, Mass.) 479
3. Tim Johnson (Middleton, Mass.) 461
4. Jamey Driscoll (Jericho, Vt.) 460
5. Todd Wells (Durango. Colo.) 437

Women's Standings
1. Georgia Gould (Fort Collins, Colo.) 289
2. Laura Van Gilder (Cresco, Pa.) 234
3. Rachel Lloyd (Fairfax, Calif.) 206
4. Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo.) 200
5. Maureen Bruno-Roy (Arlington, Mass.) 193

For complete 2008 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Calendar standings, visit the Cyclo-cross National Calendar page of the USA Cycling website or click here for men's standings and here for women's standings.

SCPS #12 – Series finale: SantaCross & ECO sportfest '08
The SoCalCross Prestige Series comes to a close Sunday, 12/21 with Santa Cross & Eco-Sportfest '08: XC run and CX racing at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, CA.

Presented by Landmark Insurance and hosted by Team CICLE and SoCalCross, the day will begin with the 5k ‘Cross Country Run at 8:00AM. The 'cross 5k course is a mix of pavement, dirt, and grass with a couple of race obstacles in between. Runners will do two laps of the 2.5k course which will include the scenic Pierce College cross country trails treating the runners to a spectacular view of the San Fernando Valley. Cyclocross racing begins at 9:30am with the Juniors followed at 10:15am with the CX4 Men – Beginners. Do the 5k run AND the cyclocross race for only $5 more! A FREE CX Clinic starts at 9AM. Demo bikes available in all sizes from Jamis and Specialized. Junior sized bikes from Redline provided by the SCNCA! With our focus on youth fitness all events are FREE to all Juniors 18 and under! The GoGreen Racer Kids Fun Run and Bicycle Race will treat the young ones to be a part of the racing action and is free to all participants. EcoSportFest ‘08 will also feature sponsor booths from SoCalCross 'Green’ sponsors including Energy Efficiency Solar will power the day’s festivities. Look for The Green Lunch Truck to roll in with lots of organic goodies!

Prestige Series Overall series prizes will be awarded including champion jerseys by Voler to top ‘crossers (in each CX category) and the top iron crossers (doing both the XC and CX races). Podium prizes/awards to top 3 in each ‘cross category! The top 3 CX teams will be awarded team trophies made from old bike parts donated throughout the season. SoCalCross Photo of the Week Winner will be awarded - Grand Prize Drawing for... two night stay at Warner Springs Ranch!

$250 cash prizes will be awarded to the top 3 overall male and top 3 overall female in points for the ECO-SPORTFEST 5K (all 5 events). Category champions for the 5k will be awarded (Best 3 of 5 events.) Finally, the GoGreenRacer Podium for the top 5 racers doing their part to reduce their impact on the planet.

Grand Prize Drawings will be held for: a YUBA Transport Bike, Ellsworth Roots CX Frame, Fuji CX frame, Shimano Dura-Ace/Hutchinson Tubeless Wheelset, Alpha Q Carbon CX20 Carbon Fork, SRAM Rival Crankset, Michelin Jerseys, SDG Saddle/Seatpost... and goodies from Clif Bar, Planet Bike, Stone Brewery, Fluid Recovery Drink and Kool N Fit Sport!

The Prestige Series will also be hosting a toy drive for the Boys and Girls Club of Los Angeles, so bring an extra toy, your holiday cheer and burn a few extra calories before holiday feasts begin.

Bring some pot-luck style holiday treats, your picnic blanket, team tent and chairs and hang out in the expo and listen to some classic holiday rock ‘n roll from Snotty Scotty and the Hankies who will play their classic rock rendition of: Run, Run Rudolph and other rock n roll holiday tunes.

The day will end with the first annual Santa Cross Team Costume Relay race – teams of 4 riders. The lucky team will win $50 from Lightning Velo and special prizes from our sponsors!

Race flyer is posted at www.SoCalCross.org - go to schedule page. Course map is on its way! Volunteers to close out the season are much appreciated! Contact: Dot@SoCalCross.org Thank you all for being a part of SoCalCross!!!

The Prestige Series will strive to educate racers and spectators by promoting reduction of car use and transportation bicycling. Each event in the Series will be solar powered by Energy Efficiency Solar. Proceeds from Eco-Sportfest '08 will benefit CICLE www.CICLE.org promoting transportation bicycling.

Congratulations to our Go Green Racer Weekly winner: Lisa Crowe - Team CICLE (Week 13)
Weekly winners will receive a Go Green Racer jersey by Voler and Sock Guy GoGreen Socks!
Voting continues every week during the CX season and closes each Thursday at 9:00pm Pacific.

Congratulations to all who traveled to Cyclocross Nationals this past week in Kansas City including our new National CX Champions… Alexis Ryan (Team CICLE) Junior Women 15-16 and now 3-time CX National Champion, Coryn Rivera (Team Redline) Junior Women 17-18.

More SoCalCrossers found success on the podium! Congrats to: Masters Women 55-59: Carol Ruckle... Silver Medalist! Masters Men 45-49: Mark Noble... Silver Medalist! 60-64 Men: John Rubcic... Bronze medalist! 65-69 Men: R. Lee Wilmore... Bronze Medalist... last year's national champ!!! Junior Women 17-18: Kendall Ryan.... 4th Place Podium! Masters Men 35-39: John Bailey... 5th Place Podium! Masters Men 50-54: Bobby Langin Sr... 5th Place Podium!

For those of you hungry for more cross action after the holidays, cyclocross continues in January 2009 Cross Fever Series. Come to one come to all… whatever it takes to cure your 'Cross Fever! The series kicks off Sunday, Jan 4th with Hart Park Cyclocross and the classic Euro cross course in Bakersfield CA! The Hart Park venue has been hosting cross for 18 years with its grass downhills, wide open track and challenging run ups. Brought to you by Action Sports, the Kern Wheelmen and Kern County Parks and Rec." On Sunday Jan 11th, Nimble Creative Events hosts, "Talley VineCross: The grit of CX set against the beautiful vine-laden countryside. Details at www.cencalcycling.com". Velo Allegro looks to host its first ever CX race at Ed Dorado Park in Long Beach, Sunday Jan 18th. Fun for the entire family - taking place in the park area of the famed Eldo Crit, the course will sweep through the beautiful lakeside park. On Jan 25th, it will be the Last Chance to Cross - Cross Fever finale in OC or LA… then 2/1 Sunday is the CX World Championship Party… large screen viewing of the 2009 WORLD CYCLOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - Hoogerheide, Netherlands, taking place January 31-February 1, 2009

More details on the upcoming events can be found at: www.SoCalCross.org

“Two” Much Talent in BikeReg.com MABRAcross Series
Looking at the final standings of the 2008 BikeReg.com MABRAcross Series, one might thing that the MABRA organizers had offered a two-for-one coupon. Nearly every champion doubled-up in some fashion, proving that the BikeReg.com MABRAcross has “two” much talent.

Not content with merely doubling up, Wes Schempf and his C3-Sollay.com pulled off a double-double in Mid Atlantic Elite Men’s racing this year. Schempf led the team to a 1-2 finish in the Elite Men’s season standings, with teammate Michael Gallagher backing him up. In the Elite 35+ Masters Category, team director Kris Auer racked up another championship for the C3-Sollay.com team. C3-Sollay missed out on another double-double (a quadruple-double?) as last year’s champion, Mark Gwadz of DCMTB/City Bikes, took second place from Auer’s teammate, Chris Nystrom. In the process, Gwadz nearly beat Auer for the championship. Both Auer and Gwadz also took credit for organizing two of the east’s largest cyclocross races this year, with Auer promoting the MAC Charm City Cyclocross and Gwadz promoting the BikeReg.com MABRAcross DCCX in Washington DC, just a few hundred meters from where President Abraham Lincoln drafted the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862.

Not to be out done, West Virginia’s Betsy Shogren led a triple-double of her own. Shogren won her second consecutive (and third overall) BikeReg.com Elite Women’s Title. Meanwhile, her husband and SoBe Cannondale teammate, Gunnar Shogren won the Elite 45+ Masters Category. It was his second BikeReg.com MABRAcross title, having won the inaugural Elite Men’s title in 2005.

In the Men’s open 55+ Category, Nunzio Dibiasi of Yellow Breeches Racing took his second consecutive title. On the other end of the age spectrum, Steven Black of NCVC/Inova Health Systems won the Junior U18 division, doubling up on the MABRA Senior Cat. 3 Road Race Championship he won in September. Black won the title by the slimmest of margins as he and Charles Lortz (LSV/Kelly Benefits Strategies) finished the season tied on points, forcing the title to be decided by the finish positions at the final race.

In the developmental classes, Black’s NCVC/Inova Health System’s teammate Justin Mauch won the U16 division and Paul Rades of Artemis won the novice Cat. 4 division to give NCVC/Inova a double in the Junior divisions. In Cat. 3/4 Master’s racing, Chris Huhn of Evolution Cycling won the 35+ division in a close battle with Joe Lillibridge of Kelly Benefits/LSV; while Paul Wahner of DrWahner.com started strong and held on to win the 45+ division. The Open Category 3 & 4 classes were won by Ian Mathias (Hunt Valley Bicycles/Marathon Roofing) and Lindsay Bayer (PVC). In this year of “double or nothing”, it seems appropriate that the runner-up to Lindsay Bayer and her flyin’ 29er was another Lindsey – Lindsey Hillesheim of Squadra Coppi/International Motors Saab. Sometimes you just can’t get “two” much of a good thing.

Full final season results for the 2008 BikeReg.com MABRAcross Series can be found on the MABRA website at http://www.mabra.org.

2008 BikeReg.com MABRAcross Series Champions:
Elite Men: Wes Schempf, C3-Sollay.com
Elite Women: Betsy Shogren, SoBe-Cannondale
Elite Masters 35+: Kris Auer, C3-Sollay.com
Elite Masters 45+: Gunnar Shogren, SoBe-Cannondale
Open Masters 55+: Nunzio Dibiasi, Yellow Breeches Racing
Junior U18: Steven Black, NCVC-Inova Health Systems
Junior U16: Justin Mauch, NCVC, Inova Health Systems
Category 3-4 Men: Ian Mathias, Hunt Valley Bicycles/Marathon Roofing
Category 3-4 Women: Lindsay Bayer, PVC
Category 3-4 Masters 35+: Chris Huhn, Evolution Cycling
Category 3-4 Masters 45+: Paul Wahner, DrWahner.com
Category 4 Men: Paul Rades, Artemis


Odham, Suarez and Zlamalik winners in races in the UK, Spain and Czech Republic
Paul Oldham, Isaac Suarez and Martin Zlamalik have won respectively the race in Whitwell, Valencia and Plzen in the past weekend. The results:

UK National Trophy Series 5 - Whitwell
1 Paul Oldham (GBr) Hope Factory Racing 1.02.15
2 Ian Field (GBr) Hargroves Cycles/Trant/Next 0.05
3 Jody Crawforth (GBr) Arctic - Premier RT 0.28
4 Stuart Wearmouth (GBr) Picarrso - Pulman RT 1.35
5 Ian Bibby (GBr) Science in Sport/Trek 1.55

13th Ciclocross Ciudad de Valencia
1 Isaac Suárez (Spa) Cantabria Infinita-BH 1.01.30
2 Unai Yus (Spa) Aidazu Lankide
3 Oscar Vazquez (Spa) Aquagest C.C. 0.13
4 Constantino Zaballa Gutierrez (Spa) Povoa Cycling Club 0.30
5 Mauro González (Spa) Aquagest C.C.

Toi Toi Cup, Plzen
1 Martin Zlámalík (Cze) Prodoli Racing Team 57.09
2 Kamil Ausbuher (Cze) EXE Jeans 0.15
3 David Kásek (Cze) Cyklo Team Budvar Tábor 0.22
4 Martin Bína (Cze) Cyklo Team Budvar Tábor 0.37
5 Ondrej Bambula (Cze) Cyklo Team Budvar Tábor 1.18

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