Word on the streets is:
Brian Lopes heads back to World Cup racing!!!
With 25 World Cup wins to his name Lopes retired from WC 4x racing in 2008, but is making a return next week. Surprisingly he is racing XC world cups #2 & 3 in Dalby Forest UK & Offenburg Germany, but not really expecting much in the way of results in the XC races, but hopeful in a new discipline that the UCI is testing, called XC Eliminator. Much like 4x there will be a timed qualifier where 32 riders will make the show. Groups of 4 will race approximately 3 minute long heats, top 2 advancing to the next round, until the final four are matched up. “I’m looking forward to the challenge. Obviously I have plenty of experience racing 4x, but those races are gravity fed and usually no more than 1 minute long, so tripling that amount of time with some small climbs and plenty of flats will be tough. 3 minutes is a lot longer than you think when you’re going all out and I know how strong these XC guys are, so I’ll cross my fingers the courses suit me as much as they can and that I am feeling good.”
Follow the latest Lopes info at www.brianlopes.com or on twitter at brianlopes.
Brian Lopes heads back to World Cup racing!!!
With 25 World Cup wins to his name Lopes retired from WC 4x racing in 2008, but is making a return next week. Surprisingly he is racing XC world cups #2 & 3 in Dalby Forest UK & Offenburg Germany, but not really expecting much in the way of results in the XC races, but hopeful in a new discipline that the UCI is testing, called XC Eliminator. Much like 4x there will be a timed qualifier where 32 riders will make the show. Groups of 4 will race approximately 3 minute long heats, top 2 advancing to the next round, until the final four are matched up. “I’m looking forward to the challenge. Obviously I have plenty of experience racing 4x, but those races are gravity fed and usually no more than 1 minute long, so tripling that amount of time with some small climbs and plenty of flats will be tough. 3 minutes is a lot longer than you think when you’re going all out and I know how strong these XC guys are, so I’ll cross my fingers the courses suit me as much as they can and that I am feeling good.”
Follow the latest Lopes info at www.brianlopes.com or on twitter at brianlopes.
