March 28, 2005 – The 2005 Colorado International Spring Series opened up with the Devil’s
Thumb Ranch Duathlon under perfect conditions today. It was the final
individual event of the 2005 North American Continental Cup Super Tour.
Race organizers and racers were pleased with cold, consistent conditions
and excellent snow that made for a great race with lots of action from a
strong international field.

Kris Freeman of the US Ski Team, making a rare appearance on American
snow, edged out his teammate Andrew Johnson at the finish when they bumped
slightly and Johnson went down in the sprint. Brayton Osgood took a narrow
third over a furious Ivan Babikov, who had broken a pole in the start and
moved his way through the field with an impressive classic leg and a
scorching skate time. Freeman’s strong performance put him in the Overall
lead in the series as well as the sprint and climbing leader’s jerseys.

In the women’s race, Subaru Factory Team’s Abigail Larson skated
strongly to overcome Wendy Wagner’s 12-second lead at the transition point,
cruising to a 42-second victory over Wagner. Canadian National Team member
Dasha Gaiazova followed closely behind in third. Larson has a solid lead
in the overall competition and shares the Climbing and Sprint Jerseys with
Wagner.

The junior field was packed with college skiers and juniors hot off
of JO’s. Dominic Henriques of Denver University dominated the Junior Men
with Georg Jalkotzy of Team Alberta in second and Paul Schauer of
Anchorage, AK in third. Brittany Perkins of Breckenridge, CO had the best
time in both legs to commandingly take the junior women’s race with Korie
Steitz and Kara LoPoint in third.

Everyone raced the same 7.5km/7.5km course and it was unanimously
decided that the Classic leg was perhaps one of the most challenging
courses in North America. Despite the difficulty, the racing was still
tight coming into the transition for all races. The coveted fun jersey had not been awarded as of press time. Race organizers will wait for reports from the first Saturday night to determine the initial Fun Leaders.

The series resumes Monday, March 28 with the Wells Fargo Team Sprint
(2005 SuperTour final) at Devil’s Thumb Ranch and continues Tuesday at the
Salomon Sprints at Snow Mountain Ranch, the Snow Mountain Ranch Skate Time
Trial on Thursday, The Swix Criterium at Winter Park Resort Friday and the
Fischer Season Closer Classic at Devil’s Thumb Ranch on Saturday.