Jongewaard, Fry favorites for fourth round at Mt. Buller
Boyer, Picton to defend downhill series leads
At the last round of the 2010-2011 Australian Mountain Bike Series before the 2011 Australian Mountain Bike Championships in Adelaide later this month, the heat will be on is on. Racing at the Mt. Buller venue is set to be a thriller with some of the nation's best mountain bike riders taking to the challenging terrain this weekend, February 5-6.
Cross country
As the countdown to the London 2012 Olympic Games continues, the elite cross country races will be of great interest on Saturday.
Four-time national champion Chris Jongewaard made a triumphant return to elite mountain biking in Hobart late last year, and will start as favourite at Mt Buller, but the 31-year-old is expected to face stiff opposition from Lachlan Norris, Aiden Lefmann, Ben Henderson and reigning national champion, Dan McConnell, who will make his 2011 national series debut.
In the women's elite race, reigning national champion Rowena Fry will ride to the start line as raging favourite.
The cross country will be run on Saturday, and the short track will follow on Sunday.
Downhill
Newcastle rider Rick Boyer currently leads the men's elite downhill rankings following wins at Hobart and Mt. Baw Baw earlier in the series.
The 29-year-old will return to strengthen his lead on Sunday afternoon in the elite men's final and is expected to face strong opposition from Shaun O'Connor and Rhys Atkinson.
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.
In addition, a free kids skills clinic will be held on Sunday February 6 from 10:00 am at Mt Buller Village Square. The clinic is a chance for kids aged between 8 to 16 of all levels to get out there and learn new cross country skills on world class terrain.
The downhill will be run on Sunday.
Stay tuned to Cyclingnews for full coverage.
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets
After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59
Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Most Popular
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
'Even with my best shape, it would be difficult to follow Tadej' - Mathieu van der Poel on the podium at Liège
'I'm happy because I didn't think I would get a podium spot until about 5km to go' says World Champion caught behind a mid-race crash -
As it happened: Grace Brown outsprints Elisa Longo Borghini, Demi Vollering at Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes
The peloton tackled the toughest route yet with 10 climbs across 153km -
Liège-Bastogne-Liège: Grace Brown wins breakaway sprint to claim Monument victory
Australian beats Elisa Longo Borghini and Demi Vollering -
'I was riding for Urška's mother today' - Tadej Pogačar's Liège win settles two years of pain
Winning a sixth Monument places the Slovenian amongst the all-time greats of the Spring Classics