Craig fifth in mountain bike race in Italy Exeter native’s finish believed to be best for U.S. in 10 years

Adam Craig of Corinth capped off his 2004 World Cup mountain biking schedule in strong fashion Sunday, placing fifth in a field of 180 cross country riders from around the globe in the seventh and final tour stop at Livigno, Italy.

The finish is the best performance in a World Cup cross country race by any active U.S. elite-division rider, according to U.S. Cycling records. It also is believed to be the best American performance in a World Cup race in a decade, since Europeans began dominating the sport. Tinker Juarez, a legendary mountain biker from Southern California, won the silver medal at the 1994 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships.

Craig and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski are the only two active American riders who previously earned top-10 World Cup finishes, but both finishes were in North American races that didn’t have a full complement of European competitors.

Craig finished ninth earlier this year in a race at Mont St. Anne, Quebec.

“We’ve had some good finishes in North American races, but this was a European race and everybody was there,” said Craig, who rides for Giant/Pearl Izumi. “I had good legs that day for sure.”

The Livigno race was a 36-kilometer test that involved four laps of a nine-kilometer course that resembled a natural half-pipe, as it involved climbs and descents into a mountain valley at an elevation averaging 6,000 feet.

The demanding course – which will play host to the 2005 UCI world championships – quickly spread out the field, giving Craig time to maintain his podium finish even after he blew out his front tire during the second lap and had to stop for about a minute for repairs.

Craig finished in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 48 seconds, 2:44 behind race winner Roel Paulissen of Belgium (2:02:04).

Horgan-Kobelski, one of two U.S. riders who qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics, was the second-fastest American, placing 30th overall in 2:11:54.

“I’m fired up,” said Craig, who earlier this year contended for an Olympic berth. “One of my goals was to get a World Cup podium, so I’m very happy about that.”

The Dexter Regional High graduate will compete this weekend in the inaugural U.S. Mountain Biking Championships at Mammoth Mountain, Calif.

This event marks a change in U.S. mountain biking, which previously recognized its champions through a yearlong point system but is switching to a single-weekend format to crown its best competitors each year.