Red Bull

The Chinese have put a lot of effort into grooming a crew of MTB riders to dominate next summer. Chengyuan Ren is one of the very few, select riders to beat Gunn Rita Dahle in the past few years. I hope the ladies in Red are not drinking a magic green tea. The Chinese team placed three (relatively unknown) riders in the top 10 in the 1st UCI World Cup this last weekend in Belgium. Either they have some special training techniques or those Specialized bikes are supercharged.

Flanders

Leif Hoste (the guy in pink) has gotten 2nd place three out of the last four years. He came close again (really close), but the Italian (the guy in blue) beat him at the line. Ouch!