News has already been posted, but here's a release from their PR dept....
WINDHAM, New York--Windham Mountain, New York, becomes the first mainland USA venue since 1992 to host the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup finals, when a multi-discipline event, including cross country, downhill and four cross will conclude the 2010 series, August 28-29.
The last time a world cup mountain bike event took place in the USA was 2005, when the series visited Angel Fire resort in New Mexico. In 1996, the finals venue was Honolulu, Hawaii, and in 1992 the finals venue for the cross country was Vail, Colorado.
Windham Mountain hosted a national series event in 2008, and then again earlier in 2009. Tim Woods, the president and general manager of Windham Mountain, said: "When we were awarded the World Cup finals, we knew it would be critical to develop partnerships with professionals who have ‘been there and done that.’ The margin for error is zero. We worked with Blue Wolf Events last year on the East Coast Nationals and it was immediately clear that their experience, organization and attention to detail are the perfect fit for us. They will be a big part of ensuring that the World Cup’s return to the United States is a success."
One of the most qualified top-level mountain bike event organizers in the US, Jeff Frost of Blue Wolf Events has world cup organization experience dating back to the early ‘90s in Mount Snow. Then in this decade there followed a stint with GaleForce at the world cup races in Napa and Telluride.
The Windham Mountain world cup finals are expected to attract most, if not all, of the top contenders in the world, since only one week later the world championships take place at Mont-Sainte-Anne, near Quebec City.
"With New York City only two and a half hours drive, and Boston only three hours, I think we will see a lot of people come out for this race. It's been a long while since such a concentration of mountain biking talent has visited these shores. I'm getting goose bumps already thinking about the excitement it will generate. The world cup circuit has gotten so competitive again, and there is so much at stake in the finals, I think the atmosphere is going to be just electric," said Jeff Frost.
The importance of bringing world cup racing to US soil cannot be understated. “In Canada and other nations we’ve seen that World Cups are critical for the development of local athletes. The inclusion of Windham, leading up to the world championships, is sure to provide a significant boost to the performances of U.S. athletes, as well as introducing many aspiring young riders to the highest levels of competition.” said veteran journalist Rob Jones, editor of Canadiancyclist.com.
The challenging mountain bike courses in north eastern USA, combined with the compact convenience of the resort accommodations, made this area an annual favorite of riders on the world cup circuit back in the glory days of the 1990s. Journalists of the day recall that some of the greatest races in the history of the sport took place in this part of the world. Windham stands poised to renew an old and very fruitful relationship.
Windham Mountain is a family-oriented resort in the northern Catskill Mountains of New York, just an hour south of Albany and 2.5 hours north of New York City. Windham offers big mountain skiing and snowboarding (1,600 vertical feet and 46 trails) and other fun activities like snow tubing, ice skating, skateboarding, paintball and a bungee trampoline. For more information about Windham Mountain, visit www.WindhamMountain.com. To learn more about mountain biking at Windham, visit www.windhammountainbike.com.
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