GT Bicycles’ cross country bandits Todd Wells and Burry Stander have been on a bit of a whirlwind travel schedule over the last month. Just after the UCI World Cup in Bromont Canada they made a quick stop to Todd’s house in Durango Colorado and then ventured off to the Jejeu Islands in Korea to acclimate and train for the Olympics in China. Then after soaking in their Olympic experience in Beijing the made the jaunt to the southern hemisphere to their teammate Bryn Atkinson’s homeland, Australia.
The trip was a quick geography reminder that August in Australia is winter time. Images of the sun soaked beaches of Sydney was quickly replaced with the reality of the cold outback foothills of Canberra. Unbeknownst to most, Canberra is the capital of Australia and is situated about 200 kilometers inland from the east coast of Oz. On the outskirts of Canberra is Mount Stromlo which will be the home of the 2009 UCI MTB World Championships. Stromlo isn’t your run-of-the-mill mountain. It is a little of the small side in vertical drop compared to most of the world cup courses but has its share of technical sections with rocks, logs, jumps and banked turns. Todd and Burry loved the course saying it was one of the funnest they have ridden which helps set a positive tone for race day.
Race day arrived and so did the cool temperatures along with some clouds and threats of rain. GT’s Belgian wonder-wrench, Mark Maurissen, made sure that Todd and Burry’s 2009 GT Zaskar’s were in precision running condition to compete against the worlds best cross country racers. Todd and Burry have had a great season so far and their top finishes and consistency have helped move them to the top-ten of the world cup starting order positioning them on the front row.
As the starter’s gun sounded the lead pack quickly separated itself from the rest of the field and Todd and Burry were in it. The leaders established a blistering pace trying to shake each other loose but the top eight kept each other within reach. Burry and Todd were looking strong until on the third lap until Burry had a slide out in a loose turn taking him down temporarily. He recovered quickly and made up time trying to move back up to the lead pack meanwhile Todd kept on his charge. As Todd made his last pass through the feed zone he was sitting in 5th place with a large gap separating him from his South African team mate Burry. Todd kept on the gas to the line landing him on his first World Cup podium ever! It was a proud moment for Todd, his team mates and GT…. CONGRATUALTIONS TODD! Burry made a great comeback and came in behind Todd in 6th making for a great team result.
With the great finishes it strengthens their overall standings in the World Cup points series. Going into the last event in Austria Burry is sitting in 4th and Todd moving up to 9th overall. Watch for them to wrap up the season in Schladming Austria on September 14th with their best personal overall results in their careers.
GT Bicycles is proud to be sponsored by:
SRAM, Kenda, Champion Systems, Sun/Ringle, Fly Racing, SDG, Ogio, Kore and ethirteen
