Fontana City National Recap

The Southern California stops of the Kenda Cup West are some of the best courses in the nation and the weather in mid-March compared to the rest of the U.S. in general is perfect for a hard fight on your favorite two-wheeled weapon. No matter which poison you pick, Cross Country, Super D or Downhill, the Fontana City National has some of the best riding around. With the funding of the Sho-Air Cycling Group combined with the know how of Team Big Bear and Southridge USA, a brilliant event is sure to go down.


Coming off of the Kenda Cup West and UCI Event at Bonelli park last weekend, where the Cross Country course was world class and the Super D course was average at best, the Fontana courses for both of those disciplines, would be sure to please. The sheer technical descents and long single track climbs at Fontana would challenge an international field of both Pro Men and Pro Women cross country racers from factory teams, from right here in the US as well as Canada, New Zealand and the rest of the world.

First up the Pro Women's XC event. Coming off of her top podium spot at Bonelli, Trek Factory Racer, Emily Batty, was on everyone's mind.






The Pro Men's event was stacked with the fiercest competitors in the world. Factory riders from Specialized, Cannonade, Trek, Norco and others would all show up to put their pride and their bodies on the line for that coveted top spot. The large field made for dirty dusty conditions and the course was technical to challenge even the most talented riders.





Second place would go to Raphael Gagne, third place to Manuel Fumic (Factory Cannonade), fourth place Marco Aurelio Fontana (Factory Cannonade) and rounding out the top five Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez. American Todd Wells of the Specialized Factory team just missed the podium in the sixth spot.

In the Super D discipline, we heard a lot of grumbling about the course and the amount of climbing involved. Several of the competitors were on hardtail 29er's or full suspension XC bikes. The power transfer paid off for the podium finishers. In the Women's Pro Division, Cindy Montambault of Quebec, Canada finished 45 seconds in front of second place Divinci rider Rachel Pageau, also from Quebec. Third place was Elisa Otter an American from Waterbury, VT.




In the Pro Men Super D, we expected to see the winter series regulars. To our surprise, the only top three locals we were familiar with were; Mckay Vezina out of Newbury Park riding for the Giant Co-Factory team, he would finish second place on a Giant Anthem with first place going to Tom Sampson out of New Hampshire, on a Yeti ASR and Barry Wicks in third out of Ferndale, WA.



Despite the televised coverage of the PRO UCI XC event and the power put down on the Super D course, it's safe to say the crowd favorite is the Fontana City National Pro Downhill. Every year organizer, Donny Jackson attempts to build a course with World Cup level technical descents and this year was no exception. Friday's practice even had World Cup rider Aaron Gwin panting. Of course, that might have been because of the mid 80's temps.











Gwin was pinned on his race run and the crowd was behind him, but a flat after the burliest of gardens would end his day! With Fans holding up KHS Banners, the local company had a solid fan following and Logan made his trip from Utah worth it as the KHS Factory World Cup Rider, would take the win.





That wraps up the coverage of the 2015 Fontana Winter Nationals. The rumor mill around the vendor village and even a mention during the television coverage announced that Sho-Air was working on a UCI World Cup event at the Fontana Venue for 2016. After the growth of American market in the first quarter we wouldn't be surprised to see that happen. Stay tuned!

2015 race results.

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MENTIONS: @Specialized, @khsfactoryracing

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