Calgary, Alberta (July 3, 2004)—The sixth round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series proved to play an integral role in Olympic selection as reigning U.S. National Champion, Mary McConneloug (Fairfax, Calif. [Seven Cycles]), increased her lead in the UCI standings amongst Americans with a superb second place finish this afternoon. McConneloug finished second, 46 seconds behind the seemingly untouchable Gunn-Rita Dahle (NOR), who won her tenth consecutive World Cup cross country race, and a convincing two minutes ahead of third-place finisher, Annabella Stropparo (ITA). More importantly for McConneloug, she finished ahead of the only other candidate mathematically eligible for the sole U.S. women's Olympic mountain bike nomination, Sue Haywood (Davis, W. Va.). Haywood finished 15th.

Stay tuned for the results of the Marathon Worlds (July 11), which will decide Olympic MTB team!!!