It was just one moment among many in her season-long UCI points-chase battle with Sue Haywood and Alison Dunlap, but for Mary McConneloug it may have been the most important. Midway through the first of five laps in the Calgary cross-country, the Seven Cycles rider came up behind Dunlap and politely asked to pass.

"She was in her granny gear," recalled McConneloug, who rolled by Dunlap on one of the short climbs on the 5.5km course. "I got around her, caught up to Annabella [Stropparo], and slowly pulled away."

An hour and a half later McConneloug crossed the finish line at Canada Olympic Park, a mile-wide smile beaming from beneath her curly brown hair. She had just finished second, only 46 seconds behind Olympic favorite Gunn-Rita Dahle, to solidify her chances at grabbing America's lone women's start spot in Athens. Clearly it had been the race of her life.

"Basically this is a win for her." said Michael Broderick, McConneloug's boyfriend and travel partner for what has been a five-month mountain-bike racing odyssey that included events in at least a dozen countries. "I always thought she was the best all along, but I think this will finally shut up all the squawking from other people."

At times McConneloug was accused of running scared, choosing to spend most of the year racing in Europe instead of facing her rivals on the NORBA circuit. But McConneloug brushed off the criticism, traveling around Europe in a rented RV and hitting as many high-value races as she could. Still, it clearly felt good to prove herself in a race with so much on the line, against a field that did include her chief Olympic rivals. The reigning U.S. national champion's second-place equaled Dunlap's best World Cup result of the season (although McConneloug's effort came against a weaker field).

"Anyone who didn't think I deserved to be in this position can see what I'm capable of," said McConneloug. "Today I was out there thinking, 'I can medal in Athens.'"

The End of the Road

On the other side of the spectrum was an emotionally spent Dunlap, who finished seventh, 4:25 behind Dahle. Though she had been mathematically eliminated the week before at the Mont-Ste-Anne World Cup, the race in Calgary truly brought things to an end for the former world champion and two-time Olympian.

"This has been a really long, hard haul," said Dunlap, who was a longshot for Athens after losing so much ground in 2003 because of a separated shoulder. "I'm done. I'm out of it. Now I'm going to go home and go camping for a week. I just hope in four years [USA Cycling] can find a better way to pick the Olympic team because this was crazy."

Asked if she might be around for one more shot at the Games, Dunlap answered with an emphatic "no."

"I'll be lucky if I'm at the races next year," she added, hinting that her 15-year cycling career might be coming to an end. "There are other things I want to do. I want to start a family. I want to be with my family more. The decision isn't made yet—[Luna] wants me to keep racing. But I'm definitely going to give it some serious thought."

Then there was Haywood, who was a distant 15th in Calgary but still had one more shot at overtaking McConneloug in the UCI standings at the ensuing weekend's marathon world championships in Austria. The Trek-Volkswagen pro trailed McConneloug by 56 points in the July 7 UCI rankings. But even with hope still alive, Haywood was ready for the Olympic qualifying ordeal to be over. "I'm just f-ing exhausted," she said. "I want to go home and rest but I've still got another week to go. It's an Olympic year and you're not supposed to change that much, but everything's been different."

Unstoppable Dahle

The one thing that hasn't changed this year is Dahle's dominance. Week after week for the last two years, the Norwegian has been the best in the world. Her victory in Calgary gave her 10 World Cup wins in 10 starts (she sat out World Cup No.4 in Austria to take a midseason break in Colorado), and she'll head into Athens as the overwhelming favorite. But Dahle (Multivan-Merida) discourages that tag.

"There were a lot of good riders missing today," she said, after locking up her second straight overall World Cup title. "I know I have beaten them before, but I still must maintain my focus."

As usual, that focus of Dahle's was centered on a quick start in Calgary. After finishing the start loop in a comfortable third place, she proceeded to post the fastest three laps of the day, and was 1:10 up on McConneloug by the time she hit two laps to go. Not until the final turn on the course that ran below the base of the 90-meter Nordic ski jump used in the 1988 Olympic Winter Games did Dahle ease off the gas. And at least a few of those surrendered seconds were spent getting off her bike and raising it over her head for what has become her trademark victory salute. It's an act that we could see again come the end of August.

"So far I have won everything I have been going for," she admitted. "Why not again?"