Jacobs defends Australian national cyclo-cross title

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Lisa Jacobs (Apollo/health.com.au) successfully defended her national Australian cyclo-cross title at the weekend in Adelaide while former national mountain bike champion Chris Jongewaard added the cyclo-cross title to his palmarès.

Jacobs, who was the inaugural champion at the 2013 titles, explained what the win meant to her after the race.

"It means such a lot to me to keep the [green and gold] stripes for another year," said Jacobs who represented Australia at the 2014 cyclo-cross world championships.. "I've really grown to love the sport, it's great to see it develop and to be a part of that is fantastic."

"I'd had such a good time wearing the jersey for the last 12 months and I wasn't really ready to give it up, so I'm excited I'm able to wear it again," said Jacobs.

Jacobs soloed to her victory proving herself as the strongest rider in the race.

"I knew my form was good but you still never know how everyone else is going, I could only control what I was able to so I was really happy I had done the right preparation because it paid off in the end," she added.

Terri Rhodes and National Series (NCXS) leader April McDonald battled it out for second place behind Jacobs as Rhodes won the two-up sprint to claim the silver medal.

In the men's race, Adelaide's Chris Jongewaard claimed the men's CX national title, ahead of defending champion Allan Iacuone (VIC).

In the men's race Jongewaard also soloed to victory as he proved too strong for the defending champion Allan Iacuone who crossed the line 30 after the current leader of the NCXS. 

"I'm ecstatic that I managed to take the win," said Jongewaard. "Allan is a super nice guy and a tough competitor so it was good to compete with him.

"Leading into the race I didn't' know where my form would be, [so] I'm really happy."

Rounding out the podium was Paul Redenbach.

Cycling Australia, Cycling Victoria and Mountain Bike Australia all expressed their gratitude to the Port Adelaide Cycling Club for hosting the championships.

In the weekend's other events, Tom Chapman and Liam Jefferies claimed the under 23 and under 19 national titles respectively while Jacobs and Jongewaard also notched up wins in round five of the NCXS which were held on Sunday.