The peak of the hoods are pretty much level with the top of the seat, I would say a max of 2 inch at the lowest part of the bar(not drop).

I was actually a Biathlete but to keep things simple I say XC. But with your Rossi thing at the end of your post you must know what Biathlon is. I stopped for lots of reasons but mainly because I stopped loving it and then it gets hard to get motivated to train each day, it really takes over your life and I was not able to do it any more. And I always dreamed of cycling lol:-)