Lopes races to World Cup victory

Laguna Beach resident Brian Lopes put himself on track to win yet another World Cup series title by winning a World Cup mountain bike race in Champery, Switzerland last weekend.

His triumph, which came in the second of five events that make up this year’s cup, Lopes became the overall points leader in the battle for this year’s series title.

He has won five previous World Cup series championships.

“It’s still early, so I don’t put too much on what’s happened so far,” the 35-year-old said. “Winning the overall cup title is my goal, for sure, but I’m not getting all worked up this early in the game. A lot can happen between now and the end of the series.”

Lopes had the fastest qualifying time at the Switzerland race, won all of his heats and beat out Michal Prokop of the Czech Republic, to win the final.

Prokop was second, Filip Polc of Slovakia was third and Gee Atherton of Great Brittan finished fourth.

Lopes began racing at age four, progressing from BMX to mountain biking. In the course of a prestigious career, in addition to his five World Cup titles, he has won three world championships, is a nine-time national champion, has co-wrote a popular book about mountain biking, “Mastering Mountain Bike Skills,” and has been a representative on the U.S. team at the Mountain Bike World Championships every year since 1993.

The World Cup is a series of races held all over the globe. Lopes left Wednesday for the next series event of the year, which will be held this weekend at Mont Ste. Anne in Quebec City, Canada.

Following the race in Canada, the final two cup series events are in Austria, and Slovenia.

He finished second at the first cup event held in Spain in May.

Between the Austria and Slovenia races, though, Lopes will compete for another title at the World Championships in Scotland.

After having been on the road for the past seven weeks, either filming or competing in such places as Poland, Spain, Portugal, Israel, Italy and Switzerland, Lopes had a few, brief days at home, before departing for Canada.

“It was nice to be able to spend time at home with my wife, and now I feel strong, feel good and ready for what’s ahead in Canada,” he said. “Hopefully, I can keep this little ball that I’ve been on, rolling.”