King of the Mountain event to test top cyclists

Shortly after the fastest road cyclists in the world wrap up the Tour de France, many of best mountain bikers on the planet will gather at The Canyons near Park City.

The Jeep King of the Mountain World Pro Championships will hold its Y-cross event on Aug. 4 and expects to see dozens of the world's best test their skills against each other in this unique format.

Y-cross is a race that starts with two cyclists going head-to-head on separate courses down the mountain. Eventually, the courses merge into a single course for the final sprint to the finish. The format allows cyclists to get up to full speed without worrying about each other, then forces them to contend not only with the rocks, dirt and hill but each other as they navigate their way over banked turns, steep drop-offs and the straightaway sprint.

Racing begins at 3:30 p.m. with a "meet the pros" session at 11 a.m. and a post-race concert on the plaza at The Canyons after the awards ceremony. The Utah races will be the first in a three-race series to crown the Jeep King of the Mountain. CBS will televise the races on Aug. 18.

Racers such as Melissa Buhl, Jill Kintner, Wade Bootes and Michal Prokop will be on hand to test the course and try to win their share of the $100,000 purse and keys to a new Jeep Liberty.

Admission to the races is free.

LOUDER ANYTHING BUT SILENT: Salt Lake's Jeff Louder, a pro cyclist with the HealthNet/Maxxis team, has had a stellar summer. With several top-10 overall finishes under his belt, Louder appears to be pushing things a little harder as the year goes on.

Just a few days after setting the road up Big Cottonwood Canyon on fire as he easily won the Porcupine Hill Climb, Louder won the fifth stage of the Cascade Cycling Classic in Oregon. Covering the mountainous 85-mile course in 3:39:37, he outsprinted eventual overall winner Phil Zajicek (Navigators Insurance) and Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United) at the finish.

Louder wrapped up his weekend of racing in fourth overall. Fellow Salt Lake pro cyclist Burke Swindlehurst (Toyota-United) also had a strong weekend with a tenth-place finish, 3:07 behind Zajicek. Louder was just 1:26 off the pace.

FEELING AN ULCER? One of Utah's biggest bicycle events is just around the corner. The Utah Lake Century Epic Ride (ULCER, for short) will be held on Aug. 4 and will take cyclists young, old, experienced and new around Utah Lake for as many as 111 miles.