The New Zealand Mountain Bike Championships finished today with the downhill and cross country eliminator events contested on the slopes of Fringed Hill in the Brook Valley, Nelson. The hot, windy weather continued and the sunshine heralded new national champions in two very tough cycling disciplines - one new and one well established.
The downhill event drew a huge crowd, with a win on the Fringed Hill course considered one of the ultimate prizes in New Zealand downhill racing. Right through the lead-up age group categories, the in-form riders from the early part of the New Zealand MTB Cup seemed to hold advantages over their chasing rivals. Two Nelson riders who hadn't yet made NZ Cup appearances upset the form book by winning their categories - Hayden McKay in the Master Men 30-39, and Tania Carson in the Open Women. McKay's win gave him back-to-back championship titles in this very competitive category. Another Nelson rider, Leo Sandler in his first year in the junior U19s won the gold, and in a stunning time that placed him within the top 10 elite times.
But it was the elite contest that captivated the Fringed Hill crowd. Multi-time national champion Harriet Harper held the fastest seeding time in the elite women's category by a mile, but had to settle for second place today after a truly inspired race by Sarah Atkin. Any doubt that the young Lower Hutt downhill exponent could foot it with Harper (the fastest female rider in New Zealand over recent years) was put to rest with her national championship title today.
In the elite men's race, the times were close. Matt Walker attacked from an early start position to lead for some time before Bryn Dickerson unseated him from the top of the leaderboard. New Zealand-based amateur Dickerson put the bike down on the last corner as well, loosing valuable seconds which he would rue while nervously watching the last starters come to the line one by one. George Brannigan (Havelock North) snuck past Dickerson, but Justin Leov confirmed his liking and success history with Nelson race courses to win by just over a second. The downhill national championship win made it two titles for Leov for the weekend, joining his Super D gold from Friday night.
Leov and Atkin will now proudly wear their race jerseys this year on the world stage with right sleeves constructed as a New Zealand flag, the internationally recognised downhill national champions identification.
The New Zealand MTB Cup resumes for downhill in Rotorua on February 11-12.
Full Results
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Elite men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Justin Leov
0:04:35.33
2
George Brannigan
0:00:01.38
3
Bryn Dickerson
0:00:02.80
4
Kieran Bennett
0:00:03.98
5
Reuben Olorenshaw
0:00:04.33
6
Daniel Franks
0:00:06.31
7
Rupert Chapman
0:00:08.75
8
Matthew Scoles
0:00:09.32
9
Matt Walker
0:00:10.32
10
Hayden Lee
0:00:12.25
11
Luke Stevens
0:00:13.36
12
Joseph Nation
0:00:14.15
13
Wyn Masters
0:00:14.24
14
Richard Leacock
0:00:15.96
15
Nick Bygate
0:00:17.35
16
Sam Perry
0:00:17.56
17
Thomas Mathews
0:00:20.17
18
Daniel Heads
0:00:20.93
19
Jed Rooney
0:00:22.27
20
Dan Sims
0:00:23.63
21
Jarrah Davies
0:00:25.76
22
Eugen-Maxi Dickerhoff
0:00:46.77
23
Sam Stevens
0:00:48.58
24
Sam Baker
0:00:55.55
25
Thomas Jeandin
0:01:27.48
26
Aari Barrett
0:01:34.86
27
James Rennie
0:02:04.82
28
Octavio Teixeira
0:04:33.87
DNF
Reon Boe
Row 28 - Cell 2
DNF
Martin Kuhn
Row 29 - Cell 2
DNF
Jared Graves
Row 30 - Cell 2
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Elite women
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Sarah Atkin
0:05:41.02
2
Harriet Harper
0:00:03.46
3
Anka Martin
0:00:28.33
4
Amy Laird
0:00:36.32
5
Adrienne Hooper
0:00:49.70
6
Julie Berry
0:01:00.35
7
Veronique Sandler
0:01:09.99
DNS
Sophiemarie Bethell
Row 7 - Cell 2
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U19 men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Leo Sandler
0:04:44.20
2
Reece Potter
0:00:04.98
3
Lawrence Cawte
0:00:12.97
4
Kurt Summerfield
0:00:13.33
5
Jay Barrett
0:00:14.59
6
Jamahl Stringer
0:00:16.67
7
Louis Hamilton
0:00:16.78
8
Tom Burns
0:00:16.81
9
Tim Adams
0:00:28.30
10
Kyle Lockwood
0:00:30.42
11
Michael Melles
0:00:40.52
12
Troy Stewart
0:00:42.44
13
Raphael Kammlein-Cutler
0:00:47.14
14
Thomas Gornall
0:00:50.64
15
Harry Chapman
0:00:51.22
16
Jake Paddon
0:00:53.19
17
Ben Walker
0:00:54.47
18
Andy Wilson
0:00:58.43
19
Elliot Davison
0:01:07.01
20
Alex Faulkner
0:01:10.16
21
James Shipp
0:01:12.65
22
Lloyd Jenks
0:01:16.12
23
Connor Harvey
0:01:20.33
24
Zach Baker
0:01:21.42
25
Callum Sprosen
0:01:21.49
26
Jordan Burns
0:01:25.56
27
Alex Kennett
0:01:33.91
28
JD Devlin
0:01:42.54
29
Luke Hooper
0:02:30.85
DNF
Jack Futter
Row 29 - Cell 2
DNF
Celyn Edwards
Row 30 - Cell 2
DQ
Caelab Drummond
Row 31 - Cell 2
DQ
Jono Ross
Row 32 - Cell 2
DNS
Dan McCombie
Row 33 - Cell 2
DNS
Cole Smith
Row 34 - Cell 2
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U17 men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Josh McCombie
0:05:19.22
2
Carl Goodwin
0:00:01.18
3
Connor Hamilton
0:00:05.60
4
Hayden Melles
0:00:13.18
5
Jonathon Kennett
0:00:18.29
6
Toby Walker
0:00:24.69
7
Fergus McIntosh
0:00:41.91
8
Gareth Burgess
0:00:47.15
9
Dj Holmes
0:00:49.41
10
Rod Hall
0:00:52.76
11
Laban Sjoberg-Mollison
0:00:57.65
12
Leo Calcasola
0:00:57.67
13
Ben Pointer
0:01:01.62
14
Robert Todhunter
0:01:04.59
15
Thomas Goodman
0:01:10.70
16
Jordan Titchmarsh
0:01:13.42
17
Sam Hendren
0:01:26.31
18
Marcelo Teixeira
0:01:27.99
DNF
William Todhunter
Row 18 - Cell 2
DNS
Jack Humphries
Row 19 - Cell 2
DNS
Richard Scandrett
Row 20 - Cell 2
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U15 men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Oliver Jarman
0:05:53.89
2
Eden Cruise
0:00:19.26
3
Carlos Wilson
0:00:27.45
4
Jake Shirley
0:00:38.98
5
Ben Karalus
0:00:58.10
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Junior women
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Sophie Tyas
0:05:58.59
2
Phoebe Coers
0:01:21.47
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Senior men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Jake Boylett
0:04:56.91
2
Kieran Thompson
0:00:04.10
3
Ben Tyas
0:00:05.02
4
Nick McConachie
0:00:07.02
5
Mike Langford
0:00:07.51
6
Carl Edmondson
0:00:12.70
7
Mat Prior
0:00:14.23
8
Tom Humphries
0:00:17.06
9
Scott McGregor
0:00:17.47
10
Corey Russ
0:00:21.75
11
Warrick Trompetter
0:00:22.09
12
Daryl Webb
0:00:34.33
13
Cole Titchmarsh
0:00:36.13
14
Jonas Meier
0:00:41.78
15
Leighton Kirk
0:00:46.01
16
Adam McClintock
0:00:51.74
17
Alan Newton
0:01:00.27
18
Florian de Vries
0:01:03.68
19
Thilo Rucknagel
0:01:19.39
20
Robert Chappell
0:01:34.43
21
Colin Tocher
0:01:42.23
22
Russell Archer
0:01:45.12
23
George Murray
0:02:00.03
24
Chris De Casare
0:03:31.30
25
Ferris Fairbairn
0:03:43.26
26
James Hampton
0:04:48.04
27
Matt Clarke
0:05:14.25
28
Andrew Bias
0:05:56.20
29
Tyler Brooker
0:06:09.76
DNS
Vincent Enstroem
Row 29 - Cell 2
DNS
Matt Burns
Row 30 - Cell 2
DNS
Matthew Plowman
Row 31 - Cell 2
DNS
Scott Taylor
Row 32 - Cell 2
DNS
Jon Stout
Row 33 - Cell 2
DNS
Michael McCullum
Row 34 - Cell 2
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Senior women
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Tania Carson
0:06:20.04
2
Amanda Pearce
0:00:01.42
3
Kaytee Campbell
0:00:34.52
4
Jo Perrott
0:01:10.71
5
Pippa Holdom
0:01:56.32
6
Carolin Friese
0:01:56.54
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Master 1 men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Hayden McKay
0:05:01.15
2
Derek Winwood
0:00:00.15
3
Boyd Grinstead
0:00:07.49
4
Chris Mancey
0:00:15.19
5
Andrew Martin
0:00:22.55
6
Ricky Pincott
0:00:25.11
7
Jamie Nicoll
0:00:37.91
8
Marcos Barbosa
0:01:30.19
9
Tony Boroviec
0:01:32.45
10
Kevin English
0:03:39.81
11
Sven Martin
0:05:31.96
Row 11 - Cell 0
DNS Teruaki Takahashi
Row 11 - Cell 2
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Master 2 men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Darryn Henderson
0:05:25.75
2
Mark Stirling
0:00:17.22
3
Karl Merriman
0:00:28.20
4
John Baddiley
0:00:36.29
5
Sean Cox
0:01:03.28
6
Nick Dalton
0:01:20.46
7
John Boylett
0:01:21.60
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Hardtail men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Loni Harvey
0:06:49.97
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