You can’t mention the words "mountain biking" and "USA Cycling" without dropping the name Matt Cramer. Cramer heads up USA Cycling’s mountain-bike development team of Sam Jurekovic, Collin Cares and newcomer Tad Elliot, and helps keep elite athletes informed on the ever-changing rules, regulations and policies governing fat-tire racing in America.

With the 2008 Olympics in Beijing looming on the horizon, Cramer will be an integral cog in USA Cycling’s machine for picking the America’s Olympic cross-country team.

VeloNews readers may remember that USA Cycling’s lack of action led to much confusion and controversy in the picking of the team for the Athens Olympics. Cramer joined the organization shortly after that debacle, and now ensures that every elite athlete who is gunning for the Games knows exactly what is expected to make the squad.

VeloNews: When will we know how many spots the United States gets for the Beijing Games?

Matt Cramer: That competition is still open. It won’t be known until December 31 of this year — the number of spots we get is a combination of our nation ranking at the end of 2006 and 2007. That’s been a big push of ours over the last year. Everything has been directed at earning the maximum number of spots (three men, two women). If things stood still at the end of 2006, we would have a full team going — we’re ranked, I believe, fourth for men and fifth for women — and the top five earn the maximum number of spots. We are sitting well, but we don’t want to just sit on it and give up.

VN: What are you telling the elite riders?

MC: Well, they already know and are on board with our goals. Their individual performances are not just important to them, they are important for our nation ranking. All of the elite riders have been very supportive in the overall team role — we saw a big push of more Americans participating in the World Cups last year. I think it was more than we’ve ever seen. For the last Olympics we were inside the top 15 on the nation ranking. Now we’re inside the top five. That’s pretty good.

VN: There are some races in the United States that are now carrying UCI points, as part of the USA Cycling National Calendars. How do you think this well affect the Olympic chase?

MC: I think it’s great that the calendar has expanded and we have more UCI events. It gives the riders more opportunities to gain the 20 UCI points that riders need to be on the starting line at a World Cup. It’s a new rule for this year in four-cross, cross country and downhill — you need at least 20 UCI points to be able to compete at a World Cup, but they’re allowing any rider who had at least 20 UCI points at the end of 2006 to race the first World Cup in Houffalize.

VN: USA Cycling has already set the selection criteria for the 2008 Olympic cross-country team. What will a rider have to achieve to make it on the team?

MC: We’ve had it up on our website for a week now, and obviously we weight international competition most, specifically the world championships in 2008, which fall before the Olympics. If you get a top-three at the world championships it’s an automatic selection. After that we weight all of the 2008 World Cups leading up to that. The new criteria eliminate the need for athletes to run all over the world to chase UCI points like in 2004. It’s focused on top international competition.

VN: Could a rider make the team and just compete domestically?

MC: I don’t want to say no, but it would be very tough. The huge emphasis on international performance is there because that’s what they’ll face in the Olympics.

VN: The Pan-American championships (March 11 in Villa la Agostura, Argentina) are the first cross-country race of 2007. How do you expect the team to do?

MC: They were in October last year (in Balneario Camboriu, Brazil), and for us it’s in our favor having them in the spring this year. It was a tough time to have it late — it was a full month after the world championships. Riders spent 10 months racing full gas, they hit world’s and the World Cup finals, and then had a month off and had to keep their fitness up to speed for October. In some parts of South American, their season was just getting started. This year it’s important because the race sets our athletes up for starting positions at World Cup races.

VN: Is there anything new with the U23 programs?

MC: Yeah, we have Tad Elliot, our newest U23, come on board. He’s more of a project rider — he’s 19 and we won’t start working with him until May. We want to give him a chance to finish out the Nordic ski season, because he’s on the USA Nordic junior world’s team. We’ll probably have him at the Fontana NMBS. He’s a Durango, Colorado, guy and the few races he did on the NMBS circuit he did really well at. He has a huge engine from skiing. He was highly recommended by the Durango crowd, especially Ned Overend, who has seen him ride on a day-to-day basis. But replacing Sam Schultz (who signed with Subaru-Gary Fisher for 2007) is big shoes for Tad. To have Sam go to Subaru-Gary Fisher and John Devine to Discovery Channel is pretty good for the program. We’re also planning to bring in some development U23 women to the program. Those names haven’t been chosen, so we’ll wait to see how the year goes.

Cycling names Pan-Am XC squad
USA Cycling will bring 15 athletes to the 2007 Pan American Championships, slated March 11 in Villa la Agostura, Argentina.

Elite men:
Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, Subaru-Gary Fisher
Adam Craig, Giant
Jeremiah Bishop, Trek-Volkswagen
Todd Wells, GT
Michael Broderick, Seven Cycles-Kenda

Elite women
Mary McConneloug, Seven Cycles-Kenda
Willow Koerber, Subaru-Gary Fisher
Heather Irmiger, Subaru-Gary Fisher
Shonny Vanlandingham, Luna
Georgia Gould, Luna

U23 men
Sam Schultz
Sam Jurekovic
Collin Cares

U23 women
Melanie Meyers
Chloe Foresman

No mountain-cross at Sea Otter
There will be no mountain-cross competition at this year’s Sea Otter Classic — organizers decided not to include the gated race due to previous run-ins with foul weather, pressure from the Monterey County parks and recreation and numerous complaints from athletes.

"We’ve invited some of the best builders, but the course has never met our expectations because of the rain," said Jeff Frost of Blue Wolf events, course builder for the Sea Otter Classic. "The hillside is awesome in dry conditions, but we were sinking equipment in the mud and having to tow it out.

"Last year we were in the flats, and people complained that it wasn’t fast enough. Four-cross racers have always been the most vocal and critical of our courses, and we’ve never been able to pull off a really good course for them."

Instead, Sea Otter will instead feature three new competitions: an adventure race, Super D and a BMX race. Like a mountain-cross course, the BMX track will include jumps and tight turns.

"We’re still worried about if it rains, but the features will be much shorter, so we’re less worried about gravity," Frost said. "It’s not a jumping-based race like mountain-cross has become."

The decision to scrap mountain-cross could affect the overall turnout at Sea Otter — last year the event drew more than 200 racers. Dutchwoman Anneke Beerten, winner of the overall pro women’s gravity omnium in 2006, said she would not attend the 2007 race because her marquee event has been taken out.

"It is frustrating, but to fly there and hire a car and a hotel, it is not worth it for me," Beerten said. "There is no reason for me to go out there. I will use my budget for something else."

Juarez, Kona win 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo
For the second consecutive year, Tinker Juarez (Cannondale) claimed the solo victory at the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo, held February 17-18 in Tucson, Arizona.

The 45-year old Juarez completed 18 laps around the 15-mile course, edging out David Harris (Health FX). Sarah Kaufman took the women’s solo event after enduro-mountain bike legend Linda Wallenfels crashed out while in the lead. Kaufman completed 15 laps.

Winning the team completion was the four-person squad from Kona, which included NMBS marathon winner Chris Sneddon and Erik Tonkin, a member of the 2007 USA national cyclo-cross team for the world championships. The team finished 24 laps.

Price, Tomlinson claim 12 Hours of Razorback
The 12 Hours of Razorback, a stop on the new USA Cycling National Endurance Calendar, sent riders spinning laps through Razorback mountain-bike park February 18 in Reddick, Florida.

Harlan Price (Independent Fabrications) of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, took the solo men’s competition, completing 13 laps around the 10-mile course. Price outlasted Rob Lichtewalner (Barenaked-Cannondale), who also completed 13 laps.

Winning the women’s solo competition was Carey Lowery of Athens, Tennessee. Lowery finished 10 laps. Each lap contained a grueling 1244 feet of climbing.

Miller joins Kenda-X Fusion
The new Kenda-X Fusion mountain bike team — formerly the Ford Women’s mountain-bike team — has added Australian Brent Miller to its roster.

Miller has been a mainstay on the National Mountain Bike Series for the past four years, and has represented Australia at the world championships for seven of the past eight seasons. Miller formerly rode under a combined Santa Cruz-WTB-Fox sponsorship.

Miller missed much of the 2006 season — last spring, while on a training ride in his hometown of Canberra, he was struck head on by a car that had run a stop sign. The accident kept Miller off of his bike for three months.

"I was always curious to know what would happen if I got hit by a car," Miller said. "I thought maybe it would get me to move on to something besides cycling. But it has made me more motivated to get back on top of my cycling."