Jongewaard and Fry deliver at wet and wild Mt Buller

Cross country racers Chris Jongewaard and Rowena Fry not only conquered the opposition but the pounding rain and howling wind to take their second victory of the 2010-2011 Jayco Australian Mountain Bike Series at Mt Buller in the Victorian high country on Saturday.

In the elite men's elite, four-time national champion Jongewaard and Athens Olympian Sid Taberlay played out an enthralling six-lap battle in the testing conditions, with Jongewaard holding on for a one minute and 42-second victory to secure the series leader's jersey.

Taberlay, who now spends the majority of his time in California, was a welcome face on the start line at Mt Buller, and the nine-time world championship representative showed that he was still a force to be reckoned with by taking the lead on laps two and three.

However Jongewaard, who was forced to replace his rear wheel on lap two, clawed his way back up to second position and eventually hit the lead on lap four, a position he never relinquished.

"It's been a hard lead up to this race," said Jongewaard. "I've just returned to my old coach and I didn't expect to be going that well. I got a good start and the track's pretty technical, so I was feeling good. I got a flat in the second lap, but the change was pretty quick so I didn't lose much time."

With less than three weeks remaining until the highly anticipated 2011 Specialized Australian Championships in Adelaide on February 22 - 27, Jongewaard is hoping the reunion with his former coach Yvo van Herck will put him back into ominous form.

"After the road nationals, I wasn't where I wanted to be. I've had nothing but good results from him (van Herck) in the past, so I contacted him and he was really enthused to take me back on.

"I've been back with him now for three weeks, and it's been a tough introduction. He's an all-around coach, he trains me really hard and a lot of hours, but I'm really happy.

"I'm on the road back to where I was. I'm a bit tired this weekend and it's going to be another couple of tough weeks, the Otways race will be hard, but then I'll freshen up ahead of nationals."

Peter Hatton from New South Wales crossed the line in third place, whilst Victorian Paul Van Der Ploeg was once again too strong in the under 23 race, taking victory in 1:43:16.

Earlier in the day, the elite women were the first to tackle the challenging conditions, with Fry taking an early lead. However visiting Kiwi rider Fiona Macdermid closed the gap and hit the front in lap two, leaving the Australian girls in her wake.

Macdermid, who won bronze at last year's Oceania Championships, looked set for a comfortable victory, but a rear tyre puncture midway through the fifth and final 5.1km lap forced her out of the race in the closing stages.

Fry pushed on to win in 1:56:23, 33 seconds ahead of Victorian Jenni King who crossed the line in 1:56:56.

"I actually thought when I crossed the line that I got second, so I was a bit fortunate," Fry said. "It's never fun when a New Zealander beats you, and I think I got off a bit lucky today."

"It's pretty muddy out there now. It was really good fun, but it's hard work. It sucks the power out of your legs and you feel like you're not going anywhere. The worst thing is getting mud in your eyes, you can't see anything but you just hope for the best."

Although Fry believes she still has some work to do, the 28-year-old Launceston rider is on track to win her third consecutive national crown later this month.

"I'm slowly getting there. I'm just having a really slow start this season, but I really want to have a good crack overseas this year. I head over in March and I'll be racing until September.

"I definitely want to win nationals, for my third year in a row, and hopefully my form will come together to do that. "

Grace Elvin (1:58:53 - ACT) held off a fast finishing Heather Logie for third in times of 1:58:53 and 1:58:54 respectively. Elvin secured a place on the podium by less than a second.

After three rounds of the cross country, King has 210 points and holds a slender two-point lead over Fry in the overall series standings. It should be an intriguing battle in the final round in Shepparton next month.

Canberra rider Rebecca Henderson remains unbeaten in the under 23 category, crossing the finish line in 1:46:37.

The cross country riders will return on Sunday morning for the fast and furious short course event from 8:30am.

Due to the weather, the seeding round of the downhill scheduled for this afternoon was cancelled.

The elite men's final downhill will be staged at 3:00 pm on Sunday afternoon, where Newcastle rider Rick Boyer will return to strengthen his lead in the elite men's downhill rankings following wins at Hobart and Mt Baw Baw earlier in the series. Shaun O'Connor and Rhys Atkinson are expected to provide the strongest opposition.

Leonie Picton from Maffra will start as favourite in the women's elite downhill category after taking out comfortable victories in the opening two downhill rounds.

Full Results

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Elite men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Chris Jongewaard1:58:51
2Sid Taberlay (Kenda / H20 Overdrive)0:01:42
3Peter Hatton0:02:01
4Ivan Rybarik0:05:48
5Matthew Fleming (Clarence St Cyclery)0:06:50
6Joshua Carlson (Rockstar Racing)0:07:04
7Ben Mather (Rapid Cycling)0:08:38
8Ben Henderson (Torq/Anytime Fitness)0:08:55
9Aiden Lefmann (Cannondale)0:09:07
10Lachlan Norris (Giant / Drapac-Porsche)0:11:43
11Shaun Lewis0:12:41
12Andrew Blair (Swell Redshift MTB Team)0:13:19
13Andrew Fellows (Ayup Lights,Blacksheep)0:13:45
14Chad Gossert0:16:50
15Shane Spicer0:18:28
16Sam Chancellor (Total Rush)0:19:16
17Neil Van Der Ploeg (Search2Retain - Felt)0:21:58
18Rohin Adams (Total Rush, SRAM)0:24:03
19Nick Both (Swell-Redshift Racing)0:27:16
-1lapJohn Groves (Apollo Bikes)Row 19 - Cell 2
-2lapsCal Britten (Search2Retain - Felt)Row 20 - Cell 2
-2lapsGrant LebbinkRow 21 - Cell 2
DNFAdrian Jackson (Merida Flight Centre MTB Team)Row 22 - Cell 2
DNFJack Lamshed (Search2Retain - Felt)Row 23 - Cell 2
DNFDaniel McConnellRow 24 - Cell 2
DNFScott Liston (Search2Retain - Felt)Row 25 - Cell 2
DNFAnthony ShippardRow 26 - Cell 2
DNFBen HogarthRow 27 - Cell 2
DNFGarry Millburn (Cannondale)Row 28 - Cell 2
DNSGeoffrey Schilg (Kona)Row 29 - Cell 2
DNSMurray Spink (Giant Bicycles)Row 30 - Cell 2
DNSRoger Van Den BergRow 31 - Cell 2
DNSSteven CusworthRow 32 - Cell 2
DNSDylan Cooper (Trek Concepts.com.au)Row 33 - Cell 2
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Under 23 men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Paul Van Der Ploeg (Felt Bicycles)1:43:17
2Trenton Day (Scott Bikes)0:04:10
3Charlton Durie (Phantom Cycles)0:06:02
4Mitchell Codner (Rotor / FRS)0:09:07
5Travis Frisby0:13:46
6Kyle Ward (Spearman Cycles)0:27:07
-1lapTom Chaffey (Bike Minded)Row 6 - Cell 2
-3lapsAndrew AdamsRow 7 - Cell 2
DNFLuke Fetch (Search2Retain - Felt)Row 8 - Cell 2
DNFBrenton JonesRow 9 - Cell 2
DNFBrendan JohnstonRow 10 - Cell 2
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Elite women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Rowena Fry (Avanti)1:56:23
2Jenni King (Torq.australia)0:00:33
3Gracie Elvin0:02:31
4Heather Logie0:02:31
5Katherine O'Shea (Torq Nutrition)0:03:37
6Therese Rhodes (Merida - Flight Centre.australia)0:06:26
7Jodie Willett (Merida Flight Centre)0:06:36
8Peta Mullens (Apollo Bicycles)0:06:38
9Amity McSwan0:10:04
10Niki Fisher (Giant)0:11:02
11Rebecca Mates0:11:28
12Jaclyn Schapel (Giant)0:24:23
13Kelly Bartlett0:27:17
DNFFiona MacdermidRow 13 - Cell 2
DNSSarah RileyRow 14 - Cell 2
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Under 23 women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Rebecca Henderson* (Crowne Plaza Canberra)1:46:37
2Shelly Flood*0:02:13
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Under 19 men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Billy Sewell (Gordon Street Cycles)1:10:24
2James Hanus (Scott.australia)0:01:04
3Jack Haig0:01:53
4Blake Polverino0:02:51
5Jacob Langham0:05:19
6Sebastian Jayne0:05:28
7Daniel McDonald0:07:03
8Declan Wharton0:07:31
9Toby Stewart0:07:33
10Ben Comfort0:10:29
11Russell Nankervis0:12:02
12Rodger Pogson-manning0:14:51
13Christopher Aitken (Breakaway Cycles)0:15:17
14Robert Kell0:15:55
15Rhys Flahive0:18:10
16Alistair Crameri0:19:37
DNFAlexander Meyland (Rock And Road Cycles)Row 16 - Cell 2
DNFRyan LloydRow 17 - Cell 2
DNSJarryd JonesRow 18 - Cell 2
DNSNathan Parsons (Onyabike Belco)Row 19 - Cell 2
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Under 19 women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Amy Austin1:24:52
2Jess Wigan0:12:33
3Rosemary Stewart0:20:28
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Under 15 men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Roly Stewart1:03:30
2Tynan Cox0:02:25
Row 2 - Cell 0 Liam Jeffries (Trailmix)Row 2 - Cell 2
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Under 15 women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Ellie Wale1:01:56
2Gabrielle Millan0:26:24
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Under 17 men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Ben Bradley0:47:24
2Hamish Prosser (Mal Adjusted)0:03:02
3Jack Lavis0:03:39
4Jack Jude (Cognition Bikes)0:05:43
5Tasman Nankervis0:08:09
6Peter McKellar Stewart0:08:10
7Cameron Prosser0:08:29
8Simon Harrington0:09:04
9Benjamin Green0:10:48
10Mitchell Greenway (All Terrain Cycles)0:10:50
11Jordan Butler0:14:25
12Todd Lavis0:18:27
13Jayden Ward0:21:20
14Hamish Middleton0:24:21
15Jack Gardner0:29:15
DNSSam WilsonRow 15 - Cell 2
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Under 17 women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Ella Scanlan-bloor0:55:05
2Zoe Binder (Berry Mountain Cycles)0:02:36
DNFKyna Millan (TLC Cycles MSL)Row 2 - Cell 2
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Expert men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Hayden Lebbink1:16:06
2Phillip Mawbey0:04:18
3Jordy Davis0:05:36
4Evan Jones0:16:18
DNFMark McInnes (Butler HR)Row 4 - Cell 2
DNFJarrod QuinnRow 5 - Cell 2
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Veteran men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Perren Delacour (Yeti)1:10:38
2James Kennedy0:05:03
3Duncan Murray0:06:14
4Tom Macmunn0:07:05
5Russell Collett (Yeti Cycles)0:08:32
6David Ferroni0:11:15
7Craig Borham0:11:19
8Michael Roycroft (Moto X Nutrition)0:21:09
DNFCraig FelixRow 8 - Cell 2
DNFTim Bardsley-SmithRow 9 - Cell 2
DNSSean BakerRow 10 - Cell 2
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Veteran women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Philippa Rostan1:20:11
2Prita Jobling-baker0:02:56
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Veteran men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Peter Kreilis0:51:02
2Craig Mclean (SRAM)0:00:49
3Steve Munyard (Bentleigh Bicycles)0:07:38
4Andrew Remely0:10:46
DNSEvan James (Exact Giant MTB Team)Row 4 - Cell 2
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Master women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Jane Ollerenshaw (Bentleigh Bicycles)1:38:45
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Super master men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Andrew Hall (Great Divide Coffee)0:52:12
2Craig Peacock0:03:05
3John Henderson0:06:26
4Mark Codner (FRS/Rotor BBK Bikes)0:08:10
5Mark Grundy0:11:15
6Stephen Flood0:14:31
7Keith McKellar Stewart0:15:59
DNSGarry LewisRow 7 - Cell 2
DNSPaul DarvodelskyRow 8 - Cell 2
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Grand master men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Gary Poole1:11:16
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Sport men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Tim Rowe (Bikenow)1:13:39
2Nick Scott0:02:15
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Sport women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Rosemary Barnes (Swell Design)0:52:37
2Melanie McConnell0:04:10

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