Pro biking comes to SLO

The Jeep King of the Mountain 2007 Mountain Biking World Professional Championships came to San Luis Obispo on Saturday, hosted for the third year by the Madonna Inn. With 16 of the world’s top mountain bike racers, the invitation-only race was on its second leg of three, with athletes competing for a part in the $100,000 purse and the keys to a new 2008 Jeep Liberty.

In the men’s competition, the unstoppable No. 1 seed, Brian Lopes of Laguna Beach, swept local favorite Travis Collins (No.8) in round one and went on to the semi-finals with Cody Warren of Alpine, winning both races and then closing out the championship heat with 2006 NORBA champion Rich Houseman.

Houseman had barely advanced over Australian racer Wade Boots earlier in the semi-finals after Boots won but was disqualified in the first race because he went through a gate panel. Houseman went on to win the second based on the .93-second penalty time differential.

Lopes, a three-time world champion and nine-time national champion, is now tied for first place in the overall season standings and will move on to compete in the final race in September. The victory was his second in San Luis Obispo with the Jeep race tour, and his third overall.

Lopes shared the day’s glory with the winner in the women’s competition, Anneke Beerten from the Netherlands, who already has two wins in the 2007 season toward a UCI World Cup Championship. “I felt great because at the first (Jeep) race I wasn’t satisfied,” said Beerten after her victorious championship heat. “This course suited me, I’m really stoked.”

Beerten earned a bye after she placed No. 1 in the time trials, so she was automatically in the semi-finals racing Fion Griffiths (No. 4) of Great Britain. Her competition for the championship heat was Melissa Buhl (No.3) of Chandler, Ariz. Buhl was recently named the U.S. National Champion and had a close-call semi-final victory over crowd favorite Tara Llanes from Los Alamitos, Calif.

Beerten and Buhl put on a good final show, with Beerten winning the first race and Buhl overtaking her in the second; Beerten still took the win due to the time differential.

Like Lopes, Beerten is now tied for first in the overall standings for the season.

The final showdown for the Jeep King of the Mountain series will be on Sept. 1 in Beaver Creek, Colo. and will determine the Men and Women’s Professional Champions.

The race in San Luis Obispo will be aired on CBS on Sept. 23, from 5 p.m to 6 p.m.