Craig caps season with pair of titles

MAMMOTH, Calif. – Adam Craig of Corinth capped off his mountain biking season over the weekend with a pair of first-place finishes at the 2005 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships held at Mammoth Mountain.

Craig, 24, earned his first major championship Sunday with a win in the pro men’s short-track cross country event. He also won men’s pro Super D downhill Saturday after placing third Friday in the pro men’s cross country race.

In Sunday’s 20-minute timed short-track race, Craig, Todd Wells of Durango, Colo., and defending champion Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski of Boulder, Colo., established themselves in a lead group halfway through the race before Horgan-Kobelski dropped out of contention with a front flat tire. In the head-to-head battle that ensued between Wells and Craig, Wells was on the attack first and opened a considerable gap over Craig.

Several laps later, Craig regained contact with Wells and had the luxury of sitting on while Giant Bicycles teammate Carl Decker of Bend, Ore., worked hard from behind to catch the leaders.

“Once the separation with Jeremy and the flat happened I got back up to Todd and then I was just kind of waiting on Carl,” Craig told USA Cycling. “There was no reason for me to work hard and pull if Carl was trying to come back up.”

Decker was not close the gap to the leaders on the final lap, but a relatively fresh Craig attacked Wells on the course’s lone incline. Fatigued from his earlier breakaway effort, Wells could not respond and Craig hung on to take the national title by 4.76 seconds over Wells.

Craig’s title on Sunday was the second national championship of his career after Saturday’s victory in the Super D downhill, but his first major title in a traditional endurance event.

Craig won the Super D in a tie of 20 minutes, 11.45 seconds, 33 seconds faster than second-place Mike West of Boulder, Colo.

“[Saturday] was fun. You just race downhill as fast as you can,” Craig said, “but [the short track] was a serious race. I was hoping to be able to win this one, so I’m glad it worked out.”

In Friday’s pro men’s cross country event, Craig and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski of Boulder, Colo., themselves as the race leaders on the first ascent of the four-lap race, but by the end of the second lap, Horgan-Kobelski had a commanding minute and a half advantage over Craig.

As Horgan-Kobelski continued to extend his lead, Todd Wells of Durango, Colo., put forth a late-race surge to displace Craig from his silver medal position.