English, Douglas retain their National titles

World champion Jason English from Port Macquarie and Victorian Jessica Douglas claimed back-to-back victories at the Australian Solo 24-hour Mountain Bike Championship in Canberra. The race was one of the major Australian qualifying events for the 2010 24-hour Solo World Championship to be staged in Canberra in October.

173 competitors assembled on the start line at Majura Pines. They faced a nine-kilometer course, renown for being hilly and technical. Riders amassed more than 400 kilometres over the 24 hours.

As a mark of respect to one of Australia's most successful mountain bike riders James Williamson, who tragically passed away in South Africa while participating in the Cape Epic on March 23, the race was held over 23 hours and 59 minutes.

A minute's silence was observed before the riders, who wore black armbands, completed a slow roll out lap in honour of their friend and fellow rider.

A Canberra local, Williamson, 26, was a national solo 24hr champion, world solo 24hr champion and was the editor of the Australian Enduro mountain bike magazine.

English makes it three national titles in a row

Completing 46 laps, English claimed his third national 24-hour crown in a row.

"Its fantastic to win three in a row," said English after the race. "It's awesome. Its my 10th win in a row in a 24-hour event."

As expected, the men's race was wide open in the opening couple of hours. John Blankenstein made a charge, however this was quickly chased down by underdog singlespeeder Brett Bellchambers, who looked very strong for the first six hours.

On lap three, English gained the lead again, and then consolidated that lead on lap 13, opening up his first real gap.

"The only move I made was to try and catch Brett," said English. "So that happened eventually in traffic, and he fell back into the main group. I had a bit of a lead, so I capitalised on that and expanded on my lead during the early hours of the night."

English held on out the front of the field, however positions in the chase group changed on a number of occasions throughout the night.

With three hours to go Andrew Fellows put his foot on the gas producing a swift 30:02 on lap 40. English counterattacked immediately, responding with an extremely fast 27:30, taking nearly seven minutes off his fastest lap time.

"It was probably a very silly thing do with those kays in my legs. I think I was going to suffer afterwards. I was a dribbling mess by the end of that fast lap."

At the end of time, Fellows finished in second position, one lap behind English, followed by Scott Chancellor in third, both men completing 45 laps each.

English will now turn his attention to the World Championships on home soil in Canberra in six months as he attempts to defend his world title.

"I just want to see an Australian win, that's the goal I have.

"It's important not to get sucked in by the faster US-based riders who like to charge off and go too hard. The Australians have the patience and can sit back and bring it home strong."

Douglas dominates women's race

In the women's race, Jessica Douglas opened strongly and didn't relinquish her lead for the entire race, comfortably completing 38 laps to defeat Claire Graydon (37 laps) and Rebecca Parkes (36 laps), who played out a great battle for second place.

"I'm very pleased to have it all over and done with," said Douglas, who finshed fourth at last year's World Championships. "I only been back in training for four weeks. I was just relying on previous 24-hour form and a hell of a lot of base."

"I had a minute gap and it just grew from there.

"My body didn't want to play from midnight until 6:00 am. It was 90 percent mental. I definitely overrode my survival instincts on my body."

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Men's Open
1Jason English46laps
2Andrew Fellows45Row 1 - Cell 3
3Scott Chancellor45Row 2 - Cell 3
4Brett Bellchambers (SS)44Row 3 - Cell 3
5Edward McDonald (SS)43Row 4 - Cell 3
6Shane Taylor41Row 5 - Cell 3
7Jason McAvoy41Row 6 - Cell 3
8Andrew Hall41Row 7 - Cell 3
9Benjamin Hallowell40Row 8 - Cell 3
10John Clews39Row 9 - Cell 3
11Garry James39Row 10 - Cell 3
12Richard Peil39Row 11 - Cell 3
13David Speering (SS)38Row 12 - Cell 3
14Jeff Rooney37Row 13 - Cell 3
15Dean Jones37Row 14 - Cell 3
16Matthew Reekie37Row 15 - Cell 3
17Craig Honeybrook37Row 16 - Cell 3
18Matthew Griggs37Row 17 - Cell 3
19John Evans37Row 18 - Cell 3
20Kevin Wells36Row 19 - Cell 3
21Michael Hernan36Row 20 - Cell 3
22Andrew Clark35Row 21 - Cell 3
23Ross Cairns35Row 22 - Cell 3
24Aaron Thomson35Row 23 - Cell 3
25Brad Hawthorne35Row 24 - Cell 3
26Matt Hand35Row 25 - Cell 3
27Joe Avery35Row 26 - Cell 3
28Phil Welch35Row 27 - Cell 3
29James Lamb35Row 28 - Cell 3
30Jason Dreggs34Row 29 - Cell 3
31David McDonald34Row 30 - Cell 3
32Deon Revet34Row 31 - Cell 3
33Warrick Hancock34Row 32 - Cell 3
34Shawn Sabre34Row 33 - Cell 3
35Benjamin Culton34Row 34 - Cell 3
36Samuel Warmington (SS)34Row 35 - Cell 3
37Peter Johnson34Row 36 - Cell 3
38Geoff Gilchrist33Row 37 - Cell 3
39Phillip Banks (SS)33Row 38 - Cell 3
40Cang Nguyen33Row 39 - Cell 3
41David Eccles33Row 40 - Cell 3
42Andre Quaglio (SS)33Row 41 - Cell 3
43Trevor Fairhurst32Row 42 - Cell 3
44Clayton Locke32Row 43 - Cell 3
45Darren Groves32Row 44 - Cell 3
46Timothy Grover32Row 45 - Cell 3
47Benjamin Bruce32Row 46 - Cell 3
48Phillip Byron (SS)32Row 47 - Cell 3
49Steven Timbrell32Row 48 - Cell 3
50Mark Mollenhagen31Row 49 - Cell 3
51Mark Caulfield31Row 50 - Cell 3
52Chris St Jack31Row 51 - Cell 3
53Duncan Miller31Row 52 - Cell 3
54Cameron Dalton31Row 53 - Cell 3
55Rob Paksec (SS)30Row 54 - Cell 3
56Grantley Butterfield30Row 55 - Cell 3
57Mark Feeney30Row 56 - Cell 3
58Trevor Creighton (SS)30Row 57 - Cell 3
59David Milne (SS)30Row 58 - Cell 3
60James Eldridge30Row 59 - Cell 3
61Brenden Hargraves29Row 60 - Cell 3
62Jason "The" Head29Row 61 - Cell 3
63Andrew Remely29Row 62 - Cell 3
64Dave McGregor29Row 63 - Cell 3
65Angelo De Maria29Row 64 - Cell 3
66Stewart McKenzie29Row 65 - Cell 3
67Jon Odams29Row 66 - Cell 3
68Evan Sheppard28Row 67 - Cell 3
69Craig Dunlop (SS)28Row 68 - Cell 3
70Steve Woodward (SS)28Row 69 - Cell 3
71Martin Wisata27Row 70 - Cell 3
72Toby Hartley27Row 71 - Cell 3
73Darren Sattler27Row 72 - Cell 3
74Jody Musgrove26Row 73 - Cell 3
75Ben Binder26Row 74 - Cell 3
76Joshua Taylor26Row 75 - Cell 3
77Timothy Aust26Row 76 - Cell 3
78Brad Poidevin26Row 77 - Cell 3
79Andrew Chamberlain26Row 78 - Cell 3
80Matthew Madin25Row 79 - Cell 3
81Robert Bishop (SS)25Row 80 - Cell 3
82Andrew Handyside25Row 81 - Cell 3
83Richard Ferris25Row 82 - Cell 3
84Dan McNamara25Row 83 - Cell 3
85Ivan Chan24Row 84 - Cell 3
86Tony Rowley24Row 85 - Cell 3
87Robbie Morris24Row 86 - Cell 3
88Matt Turner24Row 87 - Cell 3
89Andrew Beddie24Row 88 - Cell 3
90Kevin Skidmore23Row 89 - Cell 3
91Peter Saw23Row 90 - Cell 3
92Lloyd Newell23Row 91 - Cell 3
93Geoff Moon21Row 92 - Cell 3
94Stephen Jackson20Row 93 - Cell 3
95Brian Merton20Row 94 - Cell 3
96John Styles20Row 95 - Cell 3
97Warren Willson20Row 96 - Cell 3
98Brad Mertens (SS)20Row 97 - Cell 3
99Ken Schack-Evans20Row 98 - Cell 3
100Hieu Nguyen19Row 99 - Cell 3
101Arran Pearson18Row 100 - Cell 3
102Scott Walker18Row 101 - Cell 3
103John Dietz17Row 102 - Cell 3
104Colin Littleton17Row 103 - Cell 3
105David Feeney17Row 104 - Cell 3
106Jason Harrod16Row 105 - Cell 3
107Nick Mostyn15Row 106 - Cell 3
108Carl Sommerville13Row 107 - Cell 3
109Scott Abercrombie (SS)13Row 108 - Cell 3
110Mike Brennan13Row 109 - Cell 3
DNFJohn BlankensteinRow 110 - Cell 2 Row 110 - Cell 3
DNFAndrew BellRow 111 - Cell 2 Row 111 - Cell 3
DNFTrue SwainRow 112 - Cell 2 Row 112 - Cell 3
DNFJoel DonneyRow 113 - Cell 2 Row 113 - Cell 3
DNFDavid Power (SS)Row 114 - Cell 2 Row 114 - Cell 3
DNFDan MackayRow 115 - Cell 2 Row 115 - Cell 3
DNFFrancis Le BrunRow 116 - Cell 2 Row 116 - Cell 3
DNFNeil DallRow 117 - Cell 2 Row 117 - Cell 3
DNFBrendan Den (SS)Row 118 - Cell 2 Row 118 - Cell 3
DNFDirk RidingRow 119 - Cell 2 Row 119 - Cell 3
DNFMichael CulhaneRow 120 - Cell 2 Row 120 - Cell 3
DNFAdrian JonesRow 121 - Cell 2 Row 121 - Cell 3
DNSTony BondRow 122 - Cell 2 Row 122 - Cell 3
DNSTimothy CafeRow 123 - Cell 2 Row 123 - Cell 3
DNSDean PattendenRow 124 - Cell 2 Row 124 - Cell 3
DNSRobbie VerityRow 125 - Cell 2 Row 125 - Cell 3
DNSCorey WerfelRow 126 - Cell 2 Row 126 - Cell 3
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Women's Open
1Jessica Douglas38laps
2Claire Graydon37Row 1 - Cell 3
3Bec Parkes (SS)36Row 2 - Cell 3
4Jacqui Kennett33Row 3 - Cell 3
5Belinda Porter32Row 4 - Cell 3
6Jac Connell32Row 5 - Cell 3
7Claire Stevens32Row 6 - Cell 3
8Diane Perry31Row 7 - Cell 3
9Anne Napier30Row 8 - Cell 3
10Yolande Joubert29Row 9 - Cell 3
11Marea England29Row 10 - Cell 3
12Erin Zimmer (SS)26Row 11 - Cell 3
13Merryl King26Row 12 - Cell 3
14Kris Nicholls (SS)25Row 13 - Cell 3
15Philippa Rostan (SS)24Row 14 - Cell 3
16Meaghan Binder24Row 15 - Cell 3
17Kirsty Cummin22Row 16 - Cell 3
18Kathleen Kingwill21Row 17 - Cell 3
19Julie Bassett16Row 18 - Cell 3
20Monica Skjerve14Row 19 - Cell 3
21Karen Taylor13Row 20 - Cell 3
22Susan Webber12Row 21 - Cell 3
DNFAnne AntrechtRow 22 - Cell 2 Row 22 - Cell 3
DNFKathryn StolarskiRow 23 - Cell 2 Row 23 - Cell 3
DNFSue ThompsonRow 24 - Cell 2 Row 24 - Cell 3
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Men's 6 + 6
1Mark Tupalski26laps
2Taylor Charlton23Row 1 - Cell 3
3Thomas Power22Row 2 - Cell 3
4Andrew Johnson22Row 3 - Cell 3
5Joseph Arrouk20Row 4 - Cell 3
6Chris White20Row 5 - Cell 3
7James Ross19Row 6 - Cell 3
8Ross Hamilton19Row 7 - Cell 3
9Peter Feain19Row 8 - Cell 3
10Cameron Rybinski18Row 9 - Cell 3
11Harry Herne18Row 10 - Cell 3
12Patrick Wark15Row 11 - Cell 3
DNFDylan CooperRow 12 - Cell 2 Row 12 - Cell 3
DNFPeter HattonRow 13 - Cell 2 Row 13 - Cell 3
DNFCraig ArmourRow 14 - Cell 2 Row 14 - Cell 3
DNFNick MenagerRow 15 - Cell 2 Row 15 - Cell 3
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Women's 6 + 6
1Vanina Vergoz21laps
2Amanda Sanderson20Row 1 - Cell 3
3Ann Holden19Row 2 - Cell 3
4Kath Bicknell13Row 3 - Cell 3
5Juliane Wisata11Row 4 - Cell 3

 

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