The number one ranked team in the UCI world standings, the LUNA Pro Mountain Bike Team is widely regarded as the most professionally run and successful mountain bike team on the circuit today. In its five seasons the LUNA squad has garnered an amazing tally of over 200 individual race wins, including an astonishing 18 National Championships! The LUNA Professional Mountain Bike Team’s 2008 roster is highlighted by reigning U.S. National Cross Country Champion Georgia Gould; three-time NORBA National Series Cross Country champ Shonny Vanlandingham; two-time NORBA National Series Short Track champ Katerina Nash (formerly known as Hanusova) and Chloe Forsman, a five-time national champion in the junior and collegiate ranks. New to the team are Canadians Catharine Pendrel and Danelle Kabush. Pendrel had a breakout ride at the 2007 World Championships placing 6th in the women’s elite cross country event. Kabush, a silver medalist at the XTERRA World Championships in 2006 will join Vanlandingham on the newly formed XTERRA squad. Both riders are an exciting addition to this powerhouse squad.
Although no longer racing full time, former World Champion Alison Dunlap and two-time U.S. Downhill Champion Marla Streb remain vital to the LUNA Pro Team and its mission to get women on mountain bikes. Dunlap will attend NORBA National events on behalf of the LUNA Pro Team and its sponsors to conduct women’s rides and clinics as the LUNA Pro Team’s official ambassador. She will also coach LUNA’s active racers. Marla preserves the gravity aspect of the program and remains LUNA’s most effective PR magnet. Now a mother and a part-time racer, Streb dreams of winning the 2007 National Championships and standing on the podium with her daughter Nicoya.
2008 Mountain Bike Team Focus
Gould, Nash, Pendrel, and Forsman are all trying to make the Beijing Olympic Team. They will compete in the UCI World Cups, NORBA National Series events, and the Elite and Collegiate National Championships. Vanlandingham and Kabush will race the full XTERRA culminating with the World Championships in Maui, Hawaii.