Corinth’s Craig is 2nd American at Cup event

MADRID, Spain – Adam Craig of Corinth and Bend, Ore., sped to a 41st-place finish among 181 mountain bikers who completed the second International Cycling Union World Cup elite men’s cross country race of the season Sunday.

Craig, 24, finished the event in 2 hours, 11 minutes and 13 seconds, nearly nine minutes behind race winner and reigning Olympic champion Julien Absalon of France. Absalon won the Madrid stop in 2:02.18, edging second-place Christoph Sauser of Switzerland by one second at the finish line.

Craig was the second-fastest American in the race. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, a 2004 U.S. Olympian from Boulder, Colo., finished 22nd overall in 2:08.03.

Craig currently ranks 25th in the overall UCI World Cup elite men’s cross country standings, just behind 23th-place Horgan-Kobelski among American riders. The third race of the World Cup season is scheduled for next weekend at Spa Francorchamps, Belgium.