Cole blazes to New Zealand downhill national championship

Slippery conditions, which had caused major issues for racers during practice sessions, finally eased off by race morning - with the Signal Hill course drying just enough to take the unpredictable factor out of the picture.

Seeding showed no real surprises, with in-form riders all at the top of the age group and elite start lists for the afternoon final race start.

Tension built through the age group categories in the lead-up to the elite race as championship titles started to be delivered. A notable result went to Under 17 men's winner Tom Burns, who seeded first and converted that advantage into a championship win. The Dunedin local found enough speed to win by a staggering 10 seconds.

The Under 19 men's title was another that was highly sought after. Top seed Reuben Olorenshaw had a huge advantage up his sleeve going into the 2:00 pm race, and while he didn't have his usual clean and composed result in terms of his final run, was still able to push hard enough to claim the win. The Nelson flier has now collected National Championship titles as an Under 15, Under 17 and now Under 19 rider - unprecedented in New Zealand's downhill results history.

Defending National Champion Harriet Harper (Santa Cruz) won the elite women's race convincingly in Dunedin and in a time that had many of her male peers envious.

In the feature elite men's race, Nathan Rankin (Monster Energy) had seeded poorly but put together a race run that looked to be competitive enough to take the title. Rankin's time held until sixth seed George Brannigan (Ancillotti) peeled nearly two seconds out of him to take the leader's hotseat.

Five riders were still capable of going quicker than Brannigan - Rupert Chapman couldn't improve on his fifth seed time; Mathew Scoles (Cingolani-Protone) went four seconds quicker than his seeding time, but this was only good enough for eighth; Justin Leov (Trek World Racing) also improved but not enough; former elite world champion Gee Atherton (Commencal) crashed heavily in the top part of the course and couldn't finish, so the final starter and fastest seed Cameron Cole was the only rider who had a shot at beating Brannigan for the title.

The 2006 Junior World Champion Cole was composed, lightening fast and up to the task, stopping the clock at 2:58.13 - the only rider to race a sub-three minute run to take the prized elite nationa championship title.

Harper and Cole will proudly wear the stunning new downhill national champion's jersey while racing overseas this year - displaying the New Zealand flag on their full right sleeves from shoulder to cuff as recognition of their titles.

Cole's race run completed a busy domestic competitive race season for New Zealand's top mountain bikers, with many moving north to begin 2011 World Cup campaigns after competing at the Oceania Mountain Bike Championships on March 17-20 in Shepparton, Australia.

Full Results

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Elite men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Cameron Cole0:02:58.13
2George Brannigan0:00:01.88
3Nathan Rankin0:00:04.81
4Justin Leov0:00:05.65
5Brook Macdonald0:00:06.07
6Kieran Bennett0:00:06.55
7Reon Boe0:00:07.35
8Matthew Scoles0:00:07.57
9Edward Masters0:00:08.67
10Tim Mackersy0:00:09.52
11Hayden Lee0:00:11.61
12Gerard Wolfe0:00:13.62
13Tom Matthews0:00:13.63
14Matthew Walker0:00:14.00
15Joseph Nation0:00:14.86
16Richard Leacock0:00:15.21
17Dan Sims0:00:21.80
18Gareth Brewin0:00:26.98
19Rob Venables0:00:34.24
20Rupert Chapman0:00:47.42
DNFGee AthertonRow 20 - Cell 2
DNSThomas JeandinRow 21 - Cell 2
DNSEwan DohertyRow 22 - Cell 2
DNSDaniel HeadsRow 23 - Cell 2
DNSSam BakerRow 24 - Cell 2
DNSReuben MillerRow 25 - Cell 2
DNSTroy MurdochRow 26 - Cell 2
DNSHayden McGregorRow 27 - Cell 2
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Elite women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Harriet Harper0:03:44.50
2Casey Brown0:00:25.01
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Under 19 men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Reuben Olorenshaw0:03:18.48
2Dan McCombie0:00:01.18
3Reece Potter0:00:02.10
4Jake Robinson0:00:03.54
5Zach Baker0:00:04.51
6Troy Stewart0:00:05.84
7Tim Adams0:00:08.47
8Kirk Fisher0:00:09.75
9William Parata0:00:10.47
10Nick Bygate0:00:11.08
11Bryan Beaufils0:00:15.11
12Brandon Ransfield0:00:15.18
13Warrick Trompetter0:00:18.14
14Conor Smith0:00:21.44
15Cameron Flick0:00:25.08
16Daniel Franks0:00:27.67
17Mitch Townsend0:00:29.73
18Campbell Mercer0:00:35.25
19Mat Prior0:00:36.91
20Tyler Brooker0:00:39.91
21Harrison Redshaw0:00:48.84
22Lukas Chalmers0:01:04.87
23Corey Prutton0:01:16.33
24Robert Havill0:01:16.47
DNFLouis HamiltonRow 24 - Cell 2
DNSJackson Carter-SmithRow 25 - Cell 2
DNSJay BarrettRow 26 - Cell 2
DNSCaleb MurdochRow 27 - Cell 2
DNSKurt McDonaldRow 28 - Cell 2
DNSGeorge DiverRow 29 - Cell 2
DNSAdam McClintockRow 30 - Cell 2
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Under 17 men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Tom Burns0:03:17.02
2Harry Chapman0:00:09.21
3Josh McCombie0:00:16.88
4Lawrence Cawte0:00:19.39
5Kieran De Grey0:00:25.76
6Leo Sandler0:00:28.23
7Jack Arnopp0:00:31.76
8Raphael Kammlein-Cutler0:00:35.75
9Josh Airey0:00:36.74
10Dan Lawton0:00:40.53
11Andy Wilson0:00:41.20
12Connor Hamilton0:00:42.22
13Jake Paddon0:00:43.12
14Michael Melles0:00:46.32
15Morgan Taylor0:00:54.49
16Bradley Dent0:01:10.61
17Cameron Kerr0:01:19.67
18Josh Hicks0:01:23.51
19Jack Harrington0:01:44.31
DNSAlfie SimmonsRow 19 - Cell 2
DNSKurt SummerfieldRow 20 - Cell 2
DNSElliot DavisonRow 21 - Cell 2
DNSTaylor BachopRow 22 - Cell 2
DNSJames MintyRow 23 - Cell 2
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Senior men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Bryn Dickerson0:03:07.30
2Leighton Kirk0:00:04.40
3Zac Williams0:00:09.75
4David Balderstone0:00:12.75
5Dylan Sanchez-Pinsent0:00:16.80
6Stefan Gardner0:00:18.00
7Dave du Plessis0:00:19.83
8Cameron Kay0:00:22.14
9Samuel Perry0:00:22.40
10Jake Boylett0:00:25.87
11Jimmy Pollard0:00:27.04
12Jeff Austin0:00:28.26
13Tobias Handcock0:00:31.64
14Nick McConachie0:00:36.60
15Jon Stout0:00:38.55
16Murray McInnes0:00:38.65
17Tom Humphries0:00:40.14
18Allie Diamond0:00:40.61
19Oscar Tatom0:00:43.51
20Michael McKee0:00:44.35
21Jacob Leach0:00:50.25
22Adin Johnson0:00:53.79
23Cam Johnson0:00:54.00
24James Hampton0:00:56.34
25James Robbins0:00:57.65
26Scott Taylor0:01:11.00
27Chris Mancey0:01:14.69
28Mike Reader0:01:15.24
29Craig Wolland0:01:28.52
30Alan Wolland0:01:30.81
31Robert Chappell0:01:46.76
32Brandon Sborden0:01:52.00
DNFAdrian LooRow 32 - Cell 2
DNFBen TyasRow 33 - Cell 2
DNFKieran ThompsonRow 34 - Cell 2
DNSBen StewartRow 35 - Cell 2
DNSBrandon DunnRow 36 - Cell 2
DNSDoug WinterRow 37 - Cell 2
DNSOrion Daley-CoersRow 38 - Cell 2
DNSDaryl WebbRow 39 - Cell 2
DNSJamie LyallRow 40 - Cell 2
DNSOlly MorrisRow 41 - Cell 2
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Master 1 men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Hayden McKay0:03:25.76
2Boyd Grinstead0:00:02.28
3Ricky Pincott0:00:11.19
4Cameron Bisset0:00:14.16
5Lachie Columb0:00:40.14
6Phil Walter0:00:46.94
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Master 2 men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Darryn Henderson0:03:35.79
2Luke Simmons0:00:25.69
3John Baddiley0:00:40.21
4John Boylett0:00:51.38
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Junior women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Sarah Atkin0:04:06.87
2Veronique Sandler0:00:17.47
3Sophie Tyas0:00:21.06
4Phoebe Coers0:02:03.57
DNFSophiemarie BethellRow 4 - Cell 2
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Open women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Amanda Pearce0:04:55.61
2Pippa Holdom0:00:32.90
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Under 15 men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Jack Humphries0:03:37.75
2Connor Sandri0:00:14.19
3Hayden Melles0:00:41.24
4Ihakara Pene0:00:46.80
5Matt Lawton0:00:54.40
6Joshua Botting0:01:38.21
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Sweepers
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Andrew Paisley0:13:22.97
2Richard Scott0:00:19.21
DNSMatt BurnsRow 2 - Cell 2

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