MOUNTAIN BIKING : Tomac Bids for Sweep in National Finals

BIG BEAR LAKE —  John Tomac of Durango, Colo., will be trying to hold off hometown hope David (Tinker) Juarez for the pro men’s cross-country title and run that into a sweep of the downhill crown, as well, when about 2,500 of the United States’ best mountain bike racers compete in the National Off-Road Bicycle Assn.’s three-day national finals starting today.

The featured event is the 32-mile pro men’s cross-country race at 12:55 p.m. Saturday. Tomac, 26, and Juarez, 33, who lives at the nearby Sugar Loaf resort, are the only contenders left, setting up a virtual match race. Tomac has a big lead in the downhill, scheduled for 11 a.m. Sunday. No rider has won both titles in the same year.

Juliana Furtado of Durango, in pro women’s cross-country (11:10 a.m. Saturday); Cheri Elliott of California Heights, Calif., in pro women’s dual slalom (4:30 p.m. Saturday), and Kim Sonier of Flagstaff, Ariz., in pro women’s downhill (11 a.m. Sunday) have strong leads.

The tightest competition is among Brian Lopes of Mission Viejo, Jimmy Kight of Durango and Terry Tenette of Palo Alto in pro men’s dual slalom. They stand with 92, 91 and 89 points, respectively.

The top six finishers in each event will qualify for the U.S. national team that will compete in the world championships next month at Vail, Colo.