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Trek
Team 1st Place in Click on this link for the TranAlp website: http://www.transalp.upsolutmv.com/en/ |
 courtesy Upsolut New Media |
July
27, 2002 Once again, the Trek/VW/JBL team of Chris Eatough and Jeremiah Bishop used their excellent handling skills to out class their competition at the Adidas BIKE Transalp Challenge. The two were able to complete today’s technical route nearly a minute and a half ahead of the second place team, Fiat Rotwild / Radteam Tirol. With eight hard days of mountain bike racing behind them, the Trek team finishes the stage race holding 6th place in the men’s competition. Of the 246 men’s teams that set out on stage one from Mittenwald last Saturday, 218 reached the finish line of the final stage. Now that Transalp is over, the Trek racers have a few short days of rest in Italy. They will be returning to the United States in time to compete in next weekend’s fourth stop on the National Championship Series held in Durango, Colorado.
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The toughest MTB race on earth has started July 20, 2002
Due to hot weather, this first stage with 79.74 km and 2,398 meters of climbing, was a tough one. The German team Xenofit-Rocky Mountain/T-Mobile of Karl Platt and the German Cross Country Champion, Carsten Bresser, was the first duo to cross the finish line in the stage village Imst after 3:35:08. The Italian team Holomites.com with Igor Tavella and Stephan Unterthurner arrived only 4 Minutes later, followed by the American Trek/VW Team Chris Eatough and Jeremiah Bishop. July
21, 2002 TransAlp Stage #2: Imst to Ischgl
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Stage #3: Ischgl to Nauders Today's stage seemed to be the toughest yet, as the route between the Austrian villages of Ischgl and Nauders was made slightly more difficult after heavy rains poured overnight and into the morning. Course conditions aside, today's stage also climbed to the highest point in this year's race, the 2,753 meter high Idjoch mountain. All those muddy 24-Hours of Snowshoe races must have been great practice for the Trek team. They pulled through with a 12th place finish in Nauders. Chris and Jeremiah are now the leading North American based team, 7th place in the men's general classification, 40 minutes off the leaders, with 349.83 km of mountainbike racing ahead of them.
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July
23, 2002
With the fourth and longest of the stages behind them, the Trek/VW/JBL team is more than halfway to the finish of their first Transalp Challenge. Much of the day’s racing took place on smooth fire roads, lending to a fast finish in the men’s class. Course Chief Uli Stanciu was surprised by the racers’ speed. “This was the fastest stage ever at the Adidas BIKE Transalp Challenge with an average speed of more than 28 km/h!” The men’s leaders, Team Xenofit-Rocky Mountain/ T-Mobile, took the stage win in 3:29:05. Jeremiah and Chris crossed the line in 5th place, only minutes later with a time of 3:33:09. The two are excited about stage #5. The 53.83km route between the stage villages of Naturns and Meran will include considerably more singletrack than the previous stages. It is on that singletrack that the Trek/VW/JBL team will have the advantage of their excellent technical abilities and hope to make up some time on the leaders. Currently the team is in 7th place in the men’s overall classification with 4 stages and 251.66km left to race. |
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PHONE CALL FROM JEREMIAH.............
"This is Jeremiah, calling from Northern Italy."
"Basically, the race has been up and down. We had a really good day the first day, despite some trouble we ended up third. Then we had a bad day yesterday. Just were pretty exhausted, lost contact because of a bad start... Tomorrow looks like it is going to be a very hard race. Basically, we have a climb, the first 15km is straight uphill (sighs) twice the size of Reddish Knob. That should give you an idea of the climbing here. Its, unbelievable!" -Reddish Knob is one of Jeremiah's favorite "training partners". It seems like they'll be climbing somewhere around 5,000ft in about 9.3 miles!
"The race is basically a fire road race with gargantuan climbs. Most of the stages have been about three and a half hours long. Its really really hard, hopefully we'll hit some singletrack tomorrow and make up some time."
"Thanks for all the support and encouragement!"
July 24,
2002
Stage #5: Naturns to Meran: 53.83 km
Trek/VW/JBL Team Takes 2nd Place in Technical Stage
Jeremiah Bishop and Chris Eatough knew exactly when it would be their turn to strike in the Adidas BIKE Transalp Challenge. As soon as they heard Stage #5 was marked with a monstrous climb followed by tricky singletrack downhill riding, the two planned on exploiting their shared talents in both areas and aim for a top finish. The Trek riders were right on their mark, finishing second in Meran, Italy only two seconds behind the stage leaders, team Holimites.com. The two have moved up to 6th in the overall standings. They are looking forward to the remaining racing, especially excited about the 8th and final stage. It will be another route that will favor the technical abilities that both Chris and Jeremiah excel with.
July 25,
2002
Stage 6: Meran to Malé (Italy), 81.90km
Team Trek/VW/JBL Race to 4th Place Finish
The route between the Italian villages of Meran and Malé proved to be quite difficult on account of two major mountain climbs. The day’s climbing totaled 3,494 meters, not all of which could be done on the bike. There were a few sections on the course that were similar to rock climbing and racers were forced to carry their bikes over the tricky terrain. In anticipation of this stage, Trek rider Jeremiah Bishop had attempted to go hike-a-biking to get the feel for carrying the bike he rarely dismounts during a typical cross country race. Practice or none, the two Trek/VW/JBL racers managed this ordeal well and crossed the finish line only 5 minutes and 32 seconds off the leaders. With only two stages until the finish of the 2002 Adidas BIKE Transalp Challenge, Chris Eatough and Jeremiah Bishop are looking comfortably towards a Top-10 finish in the men’s overall. The team is currently holding onto 6th place, less than nine minutes away from taking home a share of prize money.
July 26,
2002
Stage 7: Malé to Andalo (Italy), 54.22 km
One Day Remains in Adidas BIKE Transalp Challenge
The Trek/VW/JBL team of Jeremiah Bishop and Chris Eatough are racing with extreme consistency, finishing another Transalp stage in fourth place, again only 4 minutes behind the leaders. They still hold sixth place in the men’s overall classification, though they were able to shave off about a minute of the time separating them from fifth place, team Fiat Rotwild / Radteam Tirol. Tomorrow’s final stage is expected to favor the Trek/VW/JBL team. The route will boast a good deal of technical single track, very similar to stage four in which the team completed the route in second place. Despite being thoroughly tired from the previous stages, riders are going to meet the fiercest racing in the last day of Transalp. With overall standings on the line, the teams will push each other to the very ends of their physical limits. With only this one stage remaining until the race’s completion in Reva del Garda, each team is hoping for a smooth race free of mechanicals and injury.
