4X

It was very much a Mike King benefit – he won every round on his way to the final, with the short, fast course suiting him down to the ground. Series leader Eric Carter was looking good too, cruising through the early rounds but only making second place in his semi-final and then being beaten by King in the final. His second place was enough to keep him out front in the series standings, though – King’s in third place behind Michal Prokop.

In the women’s event, the almost unstoppable Katrina Miller won again. She’s only been beaten once this season, by Tracy Moseley – Tracy didn’t compete in the 4X at Grouse, though. Needless to say, Miller’s way out in front in the standings, 95 points clear of second-placed Sabrina Jonnier.

XC

Christoph Sauser’s title defence took a bit of a blow with a sixth placing on a muddy course. Top dog this weekend was Roel Paulissen, ahead of the Motorex/Bianchi duo of Jose Antonio Hermida and Julien Absalon. That third place scored Absalon enough points to move into top spot in the standings, 65 points ahead of Sauser. British interests were a bit of a way down the standing, with Liam Killeen in 18th and old hand Nick Craig 20th.

In the women’s race, Alison Sydor was racing on home turf but Gunn-Rita Dahle wasn’t to be intimidated, and scored her fourth consecutive victory. That takes her series points tally to a nice, round 1,000 – a huge 325 clear of Sabine Spitz. Sydor managed second on the day, moving her up to sixth in the overall standings. Susan Haywood (US) was third, with Canada’s Marie-Helene Premont fourth.