Kintner, Buhl grab silver and bronze in four cross at MTB Worlds

Canberra, Australia (September 4, 2009) – The United States picked up a silver and bronze medal at the 2009 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships on Friday when Jill Kintner (Seattle, Wash./Red Bull) and Melissa Buhl (Chandler, Ariz./KHS) rode to the second- and third-place finishes in the elite women’s four cross finals.

After four years with Americans on the top step of the podium, Aussie Caroline Buchanan took the world title for 2009. Three-time world champion Kintner (2005-2007) earned the top seed in Thursday’s qualification round but narrowly missed out on a fourth career world title when she failed to overtake Buchanan in the four-woman final. Last year’s gold medalist Buhl came in third to put both former world champs back on the podium.

In the elite men’s four cross contest, Blake Carney (Caramillo, Calif.) was the top American in eighth-place. Mitch Ropelato (Ogden, Utah) was 26^th while Michael Haderer (Concord, Calif.) was 29^th. The world title went to Australian Jared Graves while Frenchman Romain Saladini and Jakub Riha of the Czech Republic rounded out the podium for the silver and bronze medals.

The U23 men’s cross country event was also contested on Friday with Rob Squire (Sandy, Utah) posting the top result for the three-man American contingent. After toeing the line in the 50^th start position on the course that allowed little passing, Squire placed 32^nd after the six-lap contest. Compatriots Tad Elliott (Durango, Colo.) and Colin Cares (Boulder, Colo.) were 36^th and 47^th respectively. South Africa’s Burry Stander rode to the world title while Alexis Vuillermoz (FRA) and Thomas Litscher (SWI) won the silver and bronze medals.

The 2009 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships continue on Saturday with the elite men’s and women’s cross country contests. Check back to www.usacycling.org for coverage of all the action.

Click here for complete results from the 2009 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships.