by midweek felt much better,
though she grew concerned
about her clutch on day five.
This tempered her aggressive-
ness, though by then, the team's
lead over Australia was more
than four hours after the Auss-
ies lost Tayla Jones the previous
day with an injured sternum.
Then, there was the Rachel
Gutish saga. A huge crash in the
third day's final test left her with
a separated shoulder, broken
ribs, and more than an hour of
brutally rough transfer to com-
plete to reach parc fermé and
medical attention.
Most would have thrown the
towel at that point but knowing
much we're leading, just how
they're feeling and riding [is very
positive], and that's the most im-
portant thing on a long race like
this—that you're feeling good,
and your riding is good, then
we're looking forward to con-
tinuing that same momentum
for the rest of the week."
Collectively, however, the
American women faced larger
hurdles than their male counter-
parts in the form of injuries.
For second-year team mem-
ber Korie Steede, pre-race
injuries kept her seat time to a
minimum, which affected her
most in the heat of the first day.
But she was able to regroup and
VOLUME ISSUE NOVEMBER , P
the team we have," Kallonen said.
A couple of crashes midway
through the week took their toll,
leaving Davis with a banged-up
arm while Aiello got sick, which
slowed him until the JWT final
moto, where he finished second
to Oliveira.
With three EnduroGP-hard
-
ened riders who were all on last
year's team, Sweden was the pre-
race favorite for JWT honors, and
for five days, they proved that
prediction correct, going 1-2-3 in
each day's final standings.
But on the sixth day, Norrbin's
bike died in the final moto. To
finish, he needed to complete
the lap he was on, but the track
included several large jumps
that were impossible to push his
bike up un-aided.
Teammates Max Ahlin and
Axel Semb came to the rescue,
forfeiting their races and fol
-
lowing the rule that allows only
riders in a competition to assist
another rider, in this case, pro-
viding pushes or pulls.
This, of course, cost time and
dropped Sweden from first to third
behind unexpected winner France
with the U.S. second. As Oliveira
put it, "This is exactly what ISDE
is all about—six days and it's not
over 'til it's over. You've just got to
keep on trucking."
Women's World Trophy
The U.S. Women's World Tro
-
phy team got off to an excellent
start, less than three seconds
behind six-time champ Australia
on day one but taking over for
good the next day.
"Our girls are really pumped
about their performance," Kal
-
lonen said. "The time aside how
Sweden's Junior World Trophy
had the win until day six
when one of its riders had a
mechanical in the final moto.
