Coming into Sunday afternoon's men's race, observers had many favorites. In attendance was the World and World Cup Champion, Roland Green (CAN, Trek-Volkswagen), as well as Olympic Gold Medallist Miguel Martinez (FRA, Full Dynamix), Swiss Cup star Julien Absalon (FRA, Bianchi Motorex), and Europe Cup dominator Roel Paulissen (BEL, Rainer-Wurz). Between them, there were plenty of champions to go around, and with a super-fast course laid out before them, it was anyone's bet who would take home this round one win.

But one champion nobody counted on was UCI #1-ranked Sir Bart Brentjens (NED, Giant Bicycle), the first-ever Olympic mountain bike gold medallist after winning in '96 and being knighted as a result. Even with a strong performance at Sea Otter, Bart's been languishing for several seasons, searching for the form that made him so dominant in the mid-'90s.

Sunday, he found it. Bart crushed 157 other starters, many of them young hot-shots who envisioned themselves at the front of this well-attended race. Certainly, in their minds, no old-schooler was going to come and steal victory from them. But you never know in mountain biking - and like Fullana in the women's race this morning, Bart was out to prove that he's still around.

"It's been a long time," responded Bart when we asked him how long it's been since he had a ride like that. "I think Les Gets, France. And the last time I went that fast was probably here in 1994. It's unbelievable what I did today."

Bart had reason to be impressed with himself, as he rocketed off the front of a blistering men's race and crushed his two closest chasers, Roland Green (CAN, Trek-Volkswagen) and Roel Paulissen (BEL, Rainer-Wurz). Green and Paulissen, who rode together on the GT squad two years ago, made a chase of it, staying together nearly the entire race while other chasers fell to the wayside. Finally Green attacked in the final lap to claim 2nd.

The men campaigned six laps plus a start loop today, going into the hot and dusty Spanish hills like a large, fast-moving snake that wound its way around the tight turns of the course infield. Bart had looked sure of himself from the get-go, taking a far right-hand side start position and clicking in both feet before the gun; he took the holeshot, led the parade loop and never looked back.

At the end of the first lap Bart led a string of contenders, including Martinez who would flat out of the race in the 3rd lap. Green and Paulissen were also there, as were Marco Bui (ITA, Lanabau-Rainer Wurz). Also riding up front were teammates Julien Absalon and local favorite Jose Hermida (Bianchi Motorex).

But after taking his turn up front in the second lap, Bart found himself with a 10-second gap at the bottom of a rough stairstep section, and decided to test the waters. Martinez chased briefly before flatting out, while the rest of the contenders rode in a large bunch.

Green, Paulissen and Hermida were the first to break up the chase party as they dropped Filip Meirhaeghe (BEL, Specialized), Bui and Fumic behind, while Bart's teammate Christophe Dupouey (FRA, Giant) chased solo further back. Bart began attacking harder and harder, pushing the gap from a minute in lap 3 to a 1:30 in lap 4 and eventually two minutes by the fifth lap.

And thus the die was cast for pretty much the remainder of the race. The second chase group would eventually break up as Green attacked Paulissen to gain 13 seconds. And even with the huge crowd behind him, Hermida dropped back and Dupouey dropped out. Fumic dropped Meirhaeghe to splinter the pack as the final lap approached, taking the final podium position.

In that sixth lap Bart just kept pouring it on, increasing his gap to an astonishing 2:10 and looking untouchable - save some sort of mechanical meltdown. But he kept it together to win his first World Cup since that Les Gets race in '96, and his first international event since taking the European Championships in 2001.

Next week the World Cup XC season continues in Belgium, in the town of Houffalize. Check back with us then, and we'll see you at the races.

— Ari Cheren, MountainZone.com Correspondent