For the third consecutive year, the international mountain bike teams, tech support and race organizers’ group (IMTTO) has awarded the prestigious IMTTO Event Of The Year trophy to Rare Management, organizers of the UCI mountain-bike and trials world championships held in Fort William, Scotland.

The management firm also hosted rounds of the UCI World Cup in Fort William starting in 2002, and won the IMTTO award for its World Cup rounds in 2005 and 2006.

Unlike other prizes, the IMTTO award recognizes any mountain-bike event held in 2007, and is voted on by a group of 60 members within the mountain-bike industry.

For the second consecutive year, members voted the Mont-Sainte-Anne World Cup as the second-best event (and therefore the best World Cup of 2007), very closely followed by the Houffalize, Belgium, World Cup. The highest-ranked non-World Cup, non-world championship event was the Roc d’Azur, held October 13 in southern France.

"The feedback we get from our members in this voting process is extremely valuable,” said IMTTO president Martin Whitley. “We pass on that constructive feedback to the various organizers in order to help them further improve their already-excellent events.

“As an organization, the role of IMTTO is to further assist the events in their growth and therefore further secure the future of mountain bike racing as a viable sport for our members. The trophy we have awarded to Rare Management symbolizes this aim.”

Results
1. UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, Fort William, Scotland
2. Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada
3. Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Houffalize, Belgium
4. Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Maribor, Slovenia
5. Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Offenburg, Germany
6. Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Vigo, Spain
7. Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Schladming, Austria
8. Roc d’Azur, Frejus, France
9. Kokanee Crankworx, Whistler Mountain, Canada
10. Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Champery, Switzerland
11. Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Saint Felicien, Canada
12. Bundesliga Cross Country National, Heubach, Germany
13. Swisspower Cup, Bern, Switzerland
14. Absa Cape Epic, South Africa
15. Lisbon Downtown, Lisbon, Portugal
16. Bundesliga Cross Country National, Munsingen, Germany
17. US Open, Diablo Park, NJ, USA
18. Bearclaw Invitational, Mountain Washington, Canada
19. Swisspower Cup, Schaan, Switzerland
20. Sea Otter Classic, Monterey, CA, USA

Tokyo Joe’s forms development squad
Tokyo Joe’s, Trailmaster Coaching and the Boulder Valley Cycling Alliance (BVCA) have announced the formation of the Tokyo Joe’s Junior Development Team.

Based in Boulder, the elite-level junior mountain bike program is headed by Olympian and coach Ann Trombley. The program offers a local grassroots and volunteer-based cycling development for cyclists ages 13-22.

The 2008 team includes 12 junior cyclists who will begin training in Boulder this winter for the upcoming cycling season. The first team camp will be held in Phoenix, Arizona, for a week in February with additional clinics and weekly rides to follow. Tokyo Joe’s Junior Development Team will compete in a full schedule of Mountain States Cup races, as well as the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Calendar of Events.

Ride with Greg Minnaar
World downhill champion Greg Minnaar is teaming up with Gene Hamilton of BetterRide for a three-day downhill mountain bike camp at Bootleg Canyon in Boulder City, Nevada.

The April 11-13 camp is limited to 12 riders. For more information, see www.betterride.net.