The Zer02 rider Rafa Álvarez de Lara will travel to New Zealand the next August 18th with the RFEC (Royal Spanish Cycling Federation) for racing in the 2006 Four Cross World Championship.

The 4X World Championship will be decided on Friday August 25th, by elimination runs down a new course that has been built for the 2006 Worlds in Routora (New Zealand), in a natural amphitheatre a kilometer north of the main event village at Skyline Skyrides.

In 2005 in Livigno (Italy), Rafa finished 8th, and this year he hopes to to go up onto the podium with his Specialized bike.

In a exciting semi-final with rivals as Jared Graves, Greg Minaar and Kamil Tatarkovic, Álvarez de Lara took soon the second position keeping it to the last jump, but Minaar overcame him in the finish line leaving him out of the final.

In the minor final, Rafa took the head during the whole race, though the North American Eric Carter overcame him, also on the same line, relegating him to the second position of the series: the sixth final (the best achieved one for a Spanish in this discipline). But the happiness lasted little, since he was relegated to the eighth position for a start having skipped.

[www.2006rotoruamtb.com]