Van der Ploeg wins point-to-point cross country

Riders set off from the Corn Hill start to ride a point-to-point cross country course that had something for everyone, with elements that rewarded climbing ability, technical skills and descending bravery. Paul van der Ploeg and Jenni King won the elite men's and women's races, respectively.

Men

Paul Van Der Ploeg completed the course in 1:24:06, to win the elite men's race by 1:39 ahead of Andy Blair. Van Der Ploeg, new to the elite field from the under 23 category, was surprised with the win but happy to have his first win in elite category.

"I'm not usually known for climbing, but I pulled away from the field up Stonefly climb and then I had a clear run. I was smiling the whole way down, the tracks at Mt Buller are great."

Blair was happy with his second place, especially as it let him maintain his series lead. Results can sometimes drive goals, and when asked about his goals for the year, Blair said, "I'm now starting to think about trying to win the series."

A strong performer throughout the weekend, 2008 Athens Olympian Dan McConnell won the general classification across the three events (super D, cross country, point to point cross country) for the Mt Buller round. "I'm happy with that. It's early in the season, and there is a lot of racing and improvement to come, but it's started off better than I thought and I'm excited for the rest of the season."

Women

Jenni King won the final non-downhill stage of the weekend by 1:36 from Rebecca Henderson, who suffered a flat tyre on a critical climb.

"It was a really tough race but I enjoyed it, the trails were challenging."

In winning, King wrapped up the general classification and remains undefeated in the series. "I think I've got the right formula this year. I'm trying to be consistent through the racing and peak for the national championship and the Oceania championship."

Full Results

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Elite men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Paul Van Der Ploeg (Felt Otztal, X-bionic, World Cup Team)1:24:07
2Andrew Blair (Swell Redshift MTB Team, Felt, FRM)0:01:39
3Sid Taberlay (Kenda / H20 Overdrive)0:01:41
4Neil Van Der Ploeg (Search2Retain - Felt)0:01:43
5Daniel McConnell (Anytime Fitness, Shimano, FOX)0:02:11
6Joshua Carlson (Australian Giant Factory team)0:03:24
7Peter Kutschera0:05:22
8Adrian Jackson (Merida Flight Centre MTB Team)0:06:25
9Matthew Fleming (Clarence St Cyclery, Shimano, Trek)0:07:12
10Nick Both (Swell-Redshift Racing)0:07:48
11Chad Gossert0:08:04
12Michael Vanos0:09:00
13Shaun Lewis0:09:23
14Ben Hogarth (Giant Exact MTB Team)0:11:50
15Michael Illing (Cycle Now,)0:12:27
16Jarrad Burrell0:12:37
17James Kennedy (Kalamunda Cycles)0:13:45
18Scott Liston (Search2Retain - Felt)0:13:59
19Evan Jeffery0:13:59
20Travis Frisby0:16:08
21Jack Lamshed (Felt Bicycles)0:17:03
22Grant Lebbink0:24:06
23Anthony Shippard0:49:19
DNFMatthew ZagurskiRow 23 - Cell 2
DNSAndrew Arthur (Endeavour Cycles)Row 24 - Cell 2
DNSEric ConliffeRow 25 - Cell 2
DNSDylan Cooper (Trek Concepts.com.au)Row 26 - Cell 2
DNSJohn Groves (Apollo Bikes)Row 27 - Cell 2
DNSOndrej Slezak (Bernard Beer)Row 28 - Cell 2
DNSMurray Spink (Giant Bicycles)Row 29 - Cell 2
DNSJarrod HughesRow 30 - Cell 2
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Elite women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Jenni King (Torq Nutrition)1:42:15
2Tory Thomas (The Bicyle Superstore Albury)0:01:36
3Jodie Willett (For The Riders)0:01:38
4Katherine O'Shea (Torq Nutrition)0:05:56
5Rebecca Henderson (Anytime Fitness, Shimano)0:07:52
6Peta Mullens (Team Merida Moronis Bikes Bendigo)0:07:52
7Jessica Douglas (Torquay Cycling Factory/Giant Bikes)0:13:17
8Lindsay Gorrell0:17:36
9Kelly Bartlett0:19:15
10Sarah Holmes (Cycleworx Avantiplus)0:23:32
11Jaclyn Schapel (Giant Australia)0:25:19
12Felicity Wardlaw (only my partner)0:25:21
13Jenny Fay (Team Rockstar Racing)0:28:04
14Rosemary Barnes (Swell-Redshift)1:16:01
DNSTrudy NicholasRow 14 - Cell 2
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Under 23 men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Jack Haig1:26:36
2Luke Fetch (Search2Retain - Felt)0:02:41
3Robbie Hucker0:04:21
4Trenton Day (Scott Bikes, Breakaway Cycles)0:04:25
5Robbie Rhodes0:08:58
6Tom Goddard0:11:34
7Alexander Meyland (Rock and Road Cycles/Giant Bicycles)0:22:40
8Blake Polverino0:26:53
9Ben Marshall0:29:18
10Kyle Ward (Jet Racing, Specialized Bikes)0:45:45
11Sebastian Jayne (Bikeminded)1:22:50
DNSMichael CrosbieRow 11 - Cell 2
DNSCameron IvoryRow 12 - Cell 2
DNSRowan BrownRow 13 - Cell 2
DNSJames Hanus (Scott Australia, Mitcham Cycle Centr)Row 14 - Cell 2
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Under 23 women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Jess Wigan (Sealy's Cycles)2:23:24
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Under 19 men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Billy Sewell (Torq mtb team, Continental, Gordon)1:32:53
2Benjamin Forbes (Kenmore Cycles)0:00:02
3Scott Bowden0:00:59
4Ben Comfort (TLC Cycles, Canberra Geoff Comfort P)0:01:27
5Christopher Aitken (Breakaway cycles ozriders.com.au)0:02:14
6Chris Hamilton0:02:50
7Tasman Nankervis0:05:21
8Peter McKellar Stewart0:06:15
9Rodger Pogson-Manning (Ay Up, Silverback, FRF Therapeutic ex)0:07:43
10Jack Lavis (Batemans Bay Cycles)0:08:33
11Toby Stewart0:09:52
12Jason Lowndes (BCS rising sun)0:13:03
13Joel Rogers0:14:48
14Harry Lindsay0:22:46
15Cameron Prosser0:27:02
DNFHarry HerneRow 15 - Cell 2
DNFBen Bradley (Specialized Bicycle components (AU))Row 16 - Cell 2
DNSJordan ButlerRow 17 - Cell 2
DNSMichael Hayashi (On The Rivet Cycles Phillip and Tugge)Row 18 - Cell 2
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Under 19 women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Holly Harris2:01:04
2Emily Parkes0:03:31
3Kyna Millan (TLC cycles; MSL; TREK / On the rivet)0:25:49
DNSKaruna HendersonRow 3 - Cell 2
DNSElla Scanlan-Bloor (Mcgees Cycling Store)Row 4 - Cell 2
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Under 17 men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Reece Tucknott (Wembley Cycles Specialized Bikes Sh)0:50:01
2Simon Harrington0:00:47
3Hamish Prosser (Mal Adjusted; Apollo Bicycles)0:00:52
4Benjamin Green0:02:15
5Jayden Ward (JEt-Racing & Specalized Bicycle's)0:03:05
6Mitchell Greenway (All Terrain Cycles)0:03:10
7Callum Carson0:03:12
8Jack Jude (Cognition Bikes / Specialized)0:04:08
9Dean Madden (Specialized, Bike Nirvana)0:06:40
10Foley Lachal0:07:47
11Jet Turner0:11:13
12Tom Green0:11:55
13Jack Gardner0:13:31
14Daniel Dowling0:14:06
15Malte Adebahr0:17:38
16Stefan Cotroneo0:18:59
17Josh Abbey0:20:17
DNFRoly StewartRow 17 - Cell 2
DNSDru BerrymanRow 18 - Cell 2
DNSJack BoothRow 19 - Cell 2
DNSBen LackRow 20 - Cell 2
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Under 17 women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Ellie Wale (Sealy's Cycles)1:15:22
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Under 15 men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Liam Jeffries (Trailmix)0:57:48
2Zale Ross-Willmore0:07:08
3Declan Prosser0:24:25
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Under 15 women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Sarah Tucknott (Wembley Cycles)1:05:26
2Gabrielle Millan1:09:08
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Expert men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Landon Arthur1:45:17
2Jan Francke0:01:33
3Phillip Bardsley-Smith0:13:00
4Gregory Ellis0:20:14
5Tim Rowe (Trailmix)0:50:04
DNSShannon RademakerRow 5 - Cell 2
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Veteran men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Jarrod Moroni (Moronis Bikes Bendigo)1:38:28
2Damien Enderby (Compressport)0:06:12
3Dion Blair0:13:53
4Andrew Low0:18:41
5Daniel Gossert0:23:18
6Gavin Burland (City Bike Depot CBD)0:28:55
DNSCon MavroudakisRow 6 - Cell 2
DNSTrevor ArnoldRow 7 - Cell 2
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Veteran women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Rhianna Farrell2:35:37
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Master men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Damon Willmore (Bunbury Chiro)1:38:34
2Mark Fenner0:00:32
3Daniel Skerry0:03:37
4Richard Peil0:06:09
5David Harris0:12:10
6Keith Hamilton1:15:50
DNSMicheal ChanceRow 6 - Cell 2
DNSAndrew RemelyRow 7 - Cell 2
DNSMichael ChanceRow 8 - Cell 2
DNSRob DavisRow 9 - Cell 2
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Master women
#Rider Name (Country) Team
DNSSally Fenner
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Super master men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1John Henderson1:42:09
2Craig Peacock0:02:39
3Kevin Jones0:11:47
4John Harvey0:25:22
5Paul Verheijden (Integrated Fire Service Pty Ltd Pinnac)0:26:54
6Keith McKellar Stewart0:34:30
DNSRoger Campbell (Palm Beach SuperCycles)Row 6 - Cell 2
DNSNathan CarrollRow 7 - Cell 2
DNSScott CarsonRow 8 - Cell 2
DNSDavid DanksRow 9 - Cell 2
DNSBruce Pain (RFSART)Row 10 - Cell 2
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Super master women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Peggy Douglass (Bike Shed Braddon)2:10:33
DNSJenny Tucknott (Wembley Cycles)Row 1 - Cell 2
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Sport men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Daniel Van Der Ploeg (Felt Bikes)1:54:09
2Lucas Sproson0:05:32
3Steffan Vaivars0:12:09
4Jason Head (project 63)0:18:41
DNSTim Bardsley - SmithRow 4 - Cell 2

 

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