Check here often for the latest updates on Kashi's exploits

Tuesday, July 30, 2002
It was a slow start from Roland Green that pushed Kashi Leuchs into the leaders position in lap one of the Mens MTB event at the Commonwealth Games. By the end of the 1st lap Green had caught up and taken over although he seemed to be breathing hard. Not long after Leuchs seemed to lose ground and Green developed a shadow by the name of Seamus McGrath.
As they hit the tar-seal Roland made a motor-bike throttle type of motion and McGrath came through for a big pull. They gapped Leuchs and put on the hurt. Leuch's early pace seemed to have hurt him as Liam Killen passed him and settled into 3rd spot behind the two pacing Canadians.
Killeen was riding like a man possessed and had the course fully nailed with the local crowd cheering him on. The gaps slowly widened through-out and at the start of the last lap Rollie tightened his shoes and cranked up the pace. He stood up turning into a sharp right hand hill and before long the gap back to Seamus was 30 seconds. He seemed to get stronger as the race went on and eventually finished around close to a minute ahead of Seamus McGrath. Almost three minutes back was Killeen with Kashi Leuchs a further three minutes, just holding out Aussie Craig Gordon.
1. Roland Green Canada
2. Seamus McGrath Canada
3. Liam Killeen England
4. Kashi Leuchs New Zealand..

posted by jeff lyall 7/30/2002 11:35:52 AM

Wednesday, July 17, 2002
Racing into Thin Air! Telluride 360 Festival
In the heat and elevation of Telluride Colorado, the 360 Degree Sports Festival kicked off with Friday's Elite Men's long course cross country event. Although small in stature with only 25 men, the racing itself proved to be fast, furious and very competitive. With temperatures nearing 90 degrees at an elevation of 8750 feet the race battle itself was as much rider against themselves as rider against rider.
On the starting grid, both Volvo-Cannondale riders Christoph Sauser and Kashi Leuchs enjoyed front line call-ups along with Ryder Hesjdal (Subaru-Gary Fisher), Travis Brown (Trek-Volkswagen), Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (RLX-Polo Sport) and Frank Mapel (Specialized). From the starting whistle, Sauser immediately jumped to the front followed by Hesjdal and Leuchs with the rest of the field strung out behind. The majority of the 5.1 mile course proved to be climbing with nearly 1100 feet of elevation gain per lap. On the opposite side of the course, the descent was extremely dusty with sharp rocks and fast, technical switchbacks. At the end of the first lap, Sauser had gained a 48 second advantage over hard charging teammate Kashi Leuchs. As the race progressed, both riders continued to open up the gaps to third place.
It the line it was Swiss National Champion, Sauser with the victory. A time gap of over three minutes later, an overjoyed Leuchs saluted the crowd with his second place finish. A further two minutes down third place finisher Travis Brown crossed the line.
Short Track Saturday dawned with the same beautiful blue skies and sunny weather as the previous day. With a 3:30 start, the elite men had plenty of time for autographs and a brief stint on the superb local single-track. Both Sauser and Leuchs were looking to solidify their XC results and take home the overall omnium prize. As per history, Hesjdal attacked from the gun opening a quick 10 second lead to the chase group of Sauser, Leuchs, Horgan-Kobelski and Frank Mapel. The race progressed with Hesjdal maintaining his lead, Sauser dropping back and Kashi Leuchs taking up the charge. At the final it was Hesjdal, Leuchs, Horgan-Kobelski, Mapel and Sauser.
The omnium podium gave Leuchs the overall top position with Hesjdal in second and Sauser third.

Volvo Cars - www.volvocars.com Cannondale - www.cannondale.com Peak Performance - www.peakperformance.se Shimano - www.shimano.com Alcalyte - Hutchinson -www.hutchinson.fr Azonic - www.azonicusa.com Bell - www.bellsport.com Biotone - www.biotone.com Brave Soldier -www.bravesoldier.com Carbon Brand - www.carbonbrand.com Cateye -www.cateye.com Champion Nutrition - www.champion-nutrition.com Cycle-Ops - www.cycle-ops.com DT Swiss - www.dtswiss.com Easton - www.eastonsports.com Fizik - www.fizik.it Fox Racing Shox - www.foxracingshox.com Golden Ratio - www.goldenratio.com GU - www.gusports.com Headsweats - www.headsweats.com Innovations in Cycling - www.innovationsaz.com Mavic - www.mavic.com Magura - www.magura.com Oakley - www.oakley.com ODI - www.odigrips.com Park Tool -www.parktool.com Pedros - www.pedros.com Syntace -www.syntace.de T.H.E. - www.the-industries.com Thule - www.thule.com Titec - www.titec.com Team Sports - www.volvocannondale.com
posted by jeff lyall 7/17/2002 07:42:53 AM

Monday, July 15, 2002
Vote for the Kiwi Common Wealth Games Athletes and try to win one a new Holden!!
www.holden.co.nz

Kashi wins at Telluride, 2 2nds gives him the overall in the Omnium.
http://www.velonews.com/ for all the details!
Short Track: Men
1. Ryder Hesjedal (Can), Subaru-Gary Fisher
2. Kashi Leuchs (NZ), Volvo-Cannondale
3. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, RLX-Polo Sport
4. Frank Mapel, Specialized
5. Christoph Sauser (Swi), Volvo-Cannondale

Final Standings Men
1. Leuchs, 4 points
2. Hesjedal, 6
3. Sauser, 6
4. Mapel, 10
5. Henry, 10

http://velonews.com/race/mtn/articles/2664.0.html
Leuchs 2nd at Telluride
Men:
1. Christoph Sauser (Swi), Volvo-Cannondale, 20.4 miles in 1:54:04
2. Kashi Leuchs (NZ), Volvo-Cannondale, at 3:25
3. Travis Brown, Trek-Volkswagen, at 6:05
4. Jay Henry, Specialized, at 6:48
5. Ryder Hesjedal (Can), Subaru-Gary Fisher, at 9:54

posted by jeff lyall 7/15/2002 12:15:39 PM

Wednesday, July 10, 2002
Interested in a limited edition Kashi Leuchs T-shirt, Sweatshirt or signature card? Kashi is selling the T's for $30 NZ ($20 US) and Sweats for $70 NZ ($40 US). Contact here
posted by jeff lyall 7/10/2002 12:35:37 PM

Tuesday, July 09, 2002
Hi, thanks all of you for the emails.. its nice to see your all watching!
It was a good race for me... firstly I had a really fun week in Vancouver, and managed to catch up with my step-sister, Amber. She also showed me around some of the fun areas of town. The weather was great all week, so overall I was in good spirits coming into Sundays race, which always helps!!
The start was crazy, as everyone knew that after 2 short loops, we would hit the major decent, and things would split up quickly. I was in about 10th place at this point, but unfortunately behind Ryder Hysjedal, who left a gap to the first group. I fought hard up the climb, and throughout the next lap to reach a clear 6th. Fillip Meirhaeghe had the lead, and then it was 4 riders together, about 30sec up the road. This group contained Susi, Bart, Roland, and Christoph Dupouey.!
The long decent was pretty steep at places and still wet because of melting snow (the race is held on a ski field over looking Vancouver). This was good for me, as I was gaining atleast 10-20 sec each lap, and could recover a bit up the steep climbs. I raced conservative until 1.5 laps, when I could see Roland was coming off the back of the group in front.!
I was amazed that coming into the last lap, I still had some power in the legs. I passed Roland (who was totally blown!), and then with 1km left, I also passed Christoph D. Fillip won again, Susi 2nd, Bart 3rd. It was the first time Susi and I were on a World Cup podium together... so as you would imagine a great team dinner followed!!
We are all heading off to Telluride at the moment, where there is a DH world Cup this weekend. Its actually going to be a huge adventure festival, with many other sports.. so I'm hoping to catch up with some other friends from NZ, like Nathan Faave etc... should be some fun I'm sure.!
Chao!
Kashi!

posted by jeff lyall 7/9/2002 10:37:00 AM

Monday, July 08, 2002
Grouse Mountain World Cup 7-7-2002 XC No 4
Kashi hitting peak form... 1st in Commonwealth
1. Filip Meirhaeghe (Bel) Specialized 1:49:42
2. Christophe Sauser (Sui) Volvo Cannondale at 0:26
3. Bart Brentjens (Ned) Giant Global 1:38
4. Kashi Leuchs (Nzl) Volvo Cannondale 2:01
5. Christophe Dupuoey (Fra) Giant Global 2:22
6. Roland Green (Can) Trek VW 3:25
7. Martino FRUET (ITA) 1:53:45
8. Ryder HESJEDAL (CAN) 1:54:41
9. Seamus MCGRATH (CAN) 1:54:42
10. Geoff KABUSH (CAN) 1:55:30
20. Peter WEDGE (CAN) 2:00:04
22. Sid TABERLAY (AUS) 2:00:32
28. Mathieu TOULOUSE (CAN) 2:02:43
33. Chris SHEPPARD (CAN) 2:04:03
40. Josh FLEMING (AUS) -1Lap
42. Andreas HESTLER (CAN) -1Lap
44. Ricky FEDERAU (CAN) -1Lap
45. Mark LEIS (AUS) -1Lap
49. Paul ROWNEY (AUS) -2Laps
53. Brent MILLER (AUS) -2Laps
54. Julian HINE (CAN) -2Laps
56. Carter HOVEY (CAN) -2Laps
57. Michael PRUNER (CAN) -2Laps
64. Kris SNEDDON (CAN) -3Laps
http://www.canadiancyclist.com
posted by jeff lyall 7/8/2002 05:17:23 PM

Monday, July 01, 2002
Kashi's report from Mont Ste Anne World Cup #3 My hands are still sweating after today's hot and humid World Cup. We've been having some great weather this week, making the swimming pool the social place to hang out after training. Its been a fun week, as all the down hill riders were here, and I've been able to catch up with a bunch of friends from kiwi land.
The course here has always been technical, but this year they even made it tougher. Some of the tracks were freshly made, and some mid week rain made it very soft and tricky to ride. This was surely one of the most crucial points on the course, splintering the field early on. I was just off the back from a huge leading pack after 1 (of 6) lap. I knew that I had to get up there if I wanted to be on the podium, so I really gave it all. But I ran out of stem after 2 laps, and had to settle into my own rhythm. Christoph was having an awesome day, and had the series leaders jersey clearly in sites. But then on the 4th lap he punctured, and then shortly broke his chain.. I had to feel sorry for him, as it really screws up his whole season. Fillip Meirhaeghe benefited from it though to take the win, and the overall lead! Good for him I guess. It just shows how up and down cycling can be. For me, I managed to hold it together for 9th place. I actually had caught up to 6th place with one lap remaining, but then I really suffered on the last lap.. it was just one of those funny days.
Next stop, Vancouver!!!
posted by jeff lyall 7/1/2002 03:41:36 PM


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