2012 New Zealand Mountain Bike Cup launches

The 2012 edition of the long running New Zealand national mountain bike series launches this weekend in Queenstown. This first round of the 2012 New Zealand MTB Cup brings the country's best downhill competitors and a host of international visitors together for the first time since the end of February last year. And the 200-plus competitors will be breaking in a new venue on the face of the Remarkables in the bustling holiday destination of Queenstown to celebrate on January 8 and 9.

The cross country events bring another dimension to the series, all being UCI categorised, and attracting a number of big name international athletes to join the cream of New Zealand's fastest racers, all chasing valuable ranking points in Olympic qualification year.

The series works around New Zealand's flagship event, the national championships on January 27-29 in Nelson. The Oceania Championships will also take place on March 9-11 in Rotorua.

NZ MTB Cup Downhill
January 8-9: Round 1 - Queenstown
January 13-14: Round 2 - Dunedin
January 20-21: Round 3 - Mt Hutt
February 11-12: Round 4 - Rotorua
February 17-18: Round 5 - Wellington
February 24-25: Round 6 - Napier

NZ MTB Cup Cross Country
January 15: Round 1 - Dunedin
January 22: Round 2 - Christchurch
February 19: Round 3 - Wellington
February 26: Round 4 - Napier

2012 New Zealand Mountain Bike National Championships
January 27-29: Nelson

2012 Oceania Mountain Bike Championships
March 9-11: Rotorua

For more info on any of the above events, visit www.mtbnz.org.