Wearing the familiar TISSOT Leaders jersey she wore in
7 of 8 races-Leigh Donovan
Leigh Donovan wins the final Dual race and wins the Overall
Dual World title!
Leigh's win and teammate Mickael Deldycke's 3rd place also
cinch the #1 TEAM...Team . #1 Dual Team
Leigh was the first to end Chausson's streak, then went on to
win 3 more, and ultimately wins the prestigious World Cup title.
Mt.St. Anne Canada-Leigh went into the final of 8 events
on the world cup with a 45 point lead. It was nearly impossible
for Leigh to lose the title. 1st place offers 50 points, and the
only way for Leigh to lose was if she qualified bad and got out
in the first round. That was not to happen as Leigh was the #1 qualifier,
followed so closely by her good friend Tai Lee Muxlow (AUS-Dirt
Works). 2nd place in the overall points chase Katrina Miller tried
to qualify slow to get race Leigh in the first round, but it was
a worthless effort from the beginning, and Miller was later defeated
in the first round against Kathy Pruitt.
Leigh raced against Melissa Buhl in her first race (after a 1st
round bye) and had a terrible start, and followed Melissa into the
1st turn, Leigh made a move soon after and was gone. Leigh's next
race was against Missy Giove, racing her first Dual of the year,
Leigh got her amazing trademark gate start and never looked back.
It was on to the final against Tara Llanes where Leigh got another
great start and had a good lead for most of the race, but Tara made
a last ditch move in the final turn but lost her balance when she
tried to pass and fell over, it was Leigh's 4th win of the season,
and her first ever Dual Overall Win.
"I have achieved my goals this year, I wanted to win the
US Slalom title and the World Cup. I knew the Slalom title would
be more attainable than the World Cup considering Anne had never
lost a Dual, but when I beat her in round #2, I knew it could be
done, and beating her again in Durango #3, I wanted to win the title
more than ever. And as always I want to win the final race and the
overall so it capped off an incredible-dreamlike season, and I am
really happy that with Mickael and I rode well enough this season
to be the #1 ranked team, we were small but powerful!..."
Dual Final Results-Mt St Anne
1. USA DONOVAN Leigh USA .
2. USA LLANES Tara USA YETI- PEARL IZUMI
3. AUS MUXLOW Tai-Lee AUS DIRTWORKS USA
4. USA GIOVE Missy USA GLOBAL RACING
5. FRA JONNIER Sabrina FRA FRANCE
6. NZL QUIN Vanessa NZL DDINC INTENSE
7. USA PRUITT Kathy USA DIRTWORKS USA
8. USA BUHL Melissa USA ODI KHS
9. ECU MARGGRAFF Diana ECU SOCAL-NICOLAI
10. AUS MILLER Katrina AUS TEAM JAMIS
Overall World Cup, after 8 of 8 races
1. USA -DONOVAN Leigh USA . 320
2. AUS -MILLER Katrina AUS TEAM JAMIS 225
3. USA -LLANES Tara USA YETI- PEARL IZUMI 205
4. FRA -JONNIER Sabrina FRA FRANCE 177
5. FRA -CHAUSSON Anne-Caroline FRA VOLVO CANNONDALE 120
6. FIN -REPO Katja FIN TEAM GT 79
7. AUS -MUXLOW Tai-Lee AUS DIRTWORKS USA 70
8. FRA -GROS Celine USA SCOTT USA 55
9. USA -PRUITT Kathy USA DIRTWORKS USA 22
10. USA -GIOVE Missy USA GLOBAL RACING 20
Downhill-Leigh never felt very good on the course, and with
a crash in the final Leigh had to settle for 6th place, this result
dropped her in the overall to 6th as well. Leigh is off to home
for some rest and then to the Worlds for her final MTB race of her
career.
Leigh Donovan is the 2001 World Cup Dual Champion,
8x National Champion, as well as 1995 World Downhill Champion. She
is a member of the most elite, professional tain bike racing team
in the world-The . MOUNTAIN BIKE RACING TEAM. Team .
sponsors include; Manitou, Shimano, Titec, Fizik, Maxxis, Tioga,
DeMarchi, Giro, FOX Shocks, Azonic, Clif Bar and Gel, Tange, MRP,
ODI, . Leigh also chooses to use OAKLEY
which is the finest eyewear you can get.
