Craig takes opener Corinth man wins bike race

BOERNE, Texas – Adam Craig of Corinth claimed his first National Off-Road Biking Association (NORBA) National Mountain Bike Series cross-country championship Sunday, winning the opening race of the season at the NORBA National Texas Supergrind at the Tapatio Springs Resort.

The race, held on muddy terrain, involved three laps of 8.2 miles each.

Canadian Olympian Geoff Kabush took the early lead, trailed by Craig and U.S. Olympian Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski of Boulder, Colo.

Craig, who has spent the winter training in Bend, Ore., left Horgan-Kobelski behind on the second lap and caught up with Kabush heading into the final lap.

“I gained contact with Geoff and he didn’t drop me,” Craig told U.S. Cycling after the race. “I race well in the mud. I grew up in Maine racing in this stuff.”

The Dexter High graduate made his decisive move with about a mile and a half remaining in the final lap.

“I just kind of rolled past Geoff at the top of a big climb and turned the power on and got a huge gap,” said Craig.

American Trent Lowe surged past Kabush to finish second, with Kabush, Hogan-Kobelski and Liam Killeen of England completing the top five.

With third-place finishs in Saturday’s short-track event and Friday’s time trial, Craig also claimed the overall general classification title for the weekend.

The 2005 Shimano NORBA National Mountain Bike Series continues in McDowell Mountain Park, just northeast of Phoneix, Ariz., on March 17-20.