World Cup #3
Mt. Ste. Anne, Canada
June 27-July 1, 2002

Hi everyone,
Another weekend of racing in the history books. This time we were north of Quebec City in a tiny ski resort called Mt. Ste. Anne. This is hard core Canadian country, where English is the second language. We may as well have been in France.

The course was extremely technical. Our third week of muddy roots and rocks. Lots of tight twisty singletrack. The ground was so soft from all the rain on Thursday that it felt like riding on a sponge. Everything in the woods was just soft and squishy. The climbs out in the open were dry and rocky.

All the top riders were here except the usual missing suspect, Marga Fullana. She only races in Europe so she wasn't in attendance. The race was a start loop plus five laps. It was going to be a long day. The first climb was brutally painful. I went into the single track in the top seven I think. We were all so close together it was hard to tell. Things slowly started to separate as we went up some of the longer climbs throughout the lap. I felt strong and smooth. No crashes which is quite an accomplishment on such a tough course. I ended up riding most of the race alone in 4th place. Jimena Florit was always about a minute in front of me. I could never quite catch her. Until the last .5km of the race. Somehow I made a last lap surge that was enough to reel her in. I passed her on the last climb and held her off at the finish. So I somehow ended up in third place.! p; Yeah! I would really like to win the world cup overall title this year so the points are extremely important. My 3rd place was enough to put me in the lead for the first time this year. Yippie! So at the world cup next weekend I get to wear the blue Tissot UCI leader's jersey. Only drawback is that means I won't be wearing my rainbow jersey next week. Oh, such sacrifices. Ha! Annabella Stropparo from Italy won, Barbara Blatter from Switzerland was 2nd, then me, then Jimena Florit from Argentina, and then Sabine Spitz from Germany. Another successful weekend!

I fly home tomorrow, repack, and then leave again Thursday for Vancouver and our next world cup. Life is hectic right now. But good and fun.

Until next week!

Au revoir,
Alison