;)
;)
;)
;)
Craig, Emmett Win U.S. Super D Titles!
July 9, 2012
Giant riders dominated the Super D competition at the 2012 U.S. National Mountain Bike Championships in Sun Valley, Idaho, collecting four medals including wins by Adam Craig (Rabobank-Giant) and Kelli Emmett (Giant Factory Off-Road Team).
Craig, riding a Giant prototype bike that he is helping develop, faced a field of more than 60 riders in Sunday's pro men’s race. The 6-mile course at Sun Valley dropped over 2000 vertical feet and included one long climb.
In the end of the pro men's race, the result was nearly identical to last year: Craig edged out his friend and fellow Bend, Oregon, resident Carl Decker of the Giant Factory Off-Road Team by the slimmest of margins, just 1.32 seconds. The Giant duo was well ahead of the third-place finisher, who was more than 13 seconds back.
“It always feels good,” said Craig after winning his seventh Super D national title. “We had a strong field today, the strongest national championship field I’ve seen, I think.”
It was Craig’s second win this year on a pre-production 29er trail bike from Giant. He raced it for the first time last month and won the opening race of the Oregon Enduro Series.
In the women’s race, Emmett won her third Super D national championship with a time of 24:33. The Colorado resident rode the Anthem X Advanced 29er, which was introduced earlier this year, to victory on the tough Sun Valley course. Another Giant rider, Lizzy English of the Ride Giant/Ride Northstar California-based team, finished second, 18 seconds back, to take silver.
“It was a pretty long Super D, almost 25 minutes,” Emmett said. “There was probably an eight-minute climb in there. I just went for it and tried to ride a smooth race on the descents.”
Craig, riding a Giant prototype bike that he is helping develop, faced a field of more than 60 riders in Sunday's pro men’s race. The 6-mile course at Sun Valley dropped over 2000 vertical feet and included one long climb.
In the end of the pro men's race, the result was nearly identical to last year: Craig edged out his friend and fellow Bend, Oregon, resident Carl Decker of the Giant Factory Off-Road Team by the slimmest of margins, just 1.32 seconds. The Giant duo was well ahead of the third-place finisher, who was more than 13 seconds back.
“It always feels good,” said Craig after winning his seventh Super D national title. “We had a strong field today, the strongest national championship field I’ve seen, I think.”
It was Craig’s second win this year on a pre-production 29er trail bike from Giant. He raced it for the first time last month and won the opening race of the Oregon Enduro Series.
In the women’s race, Emmett won her third Super D national championship with a time of 24:33. The Colorado resident rode the Anthem X Advanced 29er, which was introduced earlier this year, to victory on the tough Sun Valley course. Another Giant rider, Lizzy English of the Ride Giant/Ride Northstar California-based team, finished second, 18 seconds back, to take silver.
“It was a pretty long Super D, almost 25 minutes,” Emmett said. “There was probably an eight-minute climb in there. I just went for it and tried to ride a smooth race on the descents.”
