McConnell and Henderson win elite point-to-point XC

Dan McConnell and Jenni King wrapped up overall wins on Sunday in round 3 of the Real Insurance All Mountain Cup, with McConnell winning the final point-to-point stage and King securing her win with a second to Bec Henderson.

Event hosts, the Canberra Off-Road Cycling Club, laid out a blindingly fast 20-kilometre course for the final stage of the weekend, which led to around an hour of exciting point-to-point action for the elite categories.

McConnell carried his form from Saturday's win in the Olympic cross country race, starting hard off the front and then maintaining his first place throughout the race.

"It's good to back up after yesterday," said McConnell. "It was a little bit harder today, with some fatigue in the legs. I was able to get away on the climb, and I knew a fair few of the tracks well, so I was able to ride it pretty smoothly to the finish."

McConnell was very satisfied with the overall general classification win for the round. "My weekend kicked off well with the super D, I rode it pretty conservatively. Yesterday, I won my pet event (the XCO), and was able to put some time in coming in to today, where I attacked from the start."

His weekend win likely makes him the rider to beat in the national championships in a fortnight in Adelaide. "My form should be pretty good for that," said McConnell. "I still think the race is looking fairly open but I'm looking forward to it."

Second place went to evergreen Sid Taberlay who spoke of the challenging Stromlo trails. "I've always struggled a little bit here in Canberra. It's just the surface, there's a fine line between being upright and being on the ground." Looking at the bigger picture with the Australian and international seasons both building, Tablerlay said, "It was good today. I'm starting to find some form which is good with nationals in a couple of weeks and the first World Cups a few weeks after that."

Paul Van Der Ploeg capped off a strong weekend with a third place in the point-to-point. Speaking to him, it's easy to see his single-minded focus on the fast end of the field. "It was a good race out there today. Macca (McConnell) rode away from me, and for a while I was accidentally blocking Sid through the feed zone, he gassed it, and I was fairly tired after yesterday's effort."

Many are keen to see how the young-gun will go in his first national championships race in the elite field. His plans between now and then. "A good week of training this week, and then I'll taper, it's a good track for me there, I've always had fairly consistent races in Adelaide."

Andrew Blair maintains his overall season lead. "It's always fun to race at home, I had some pretty good form and really enjoyed the racing. I'm focusing on the series, trying to retain the lead, so I need to be consistent."

In the elite women's race, Bec Henderson was pressured the whole way by Jenni King, but came away with the win. After the disappointment of four flat tyres in Saturday's racing, Henderson said, "It doesn't quite make up for yesterday, but it's good to get a win on the board and know that my form's good enough to compete with the other girls."

Henderson spoke of her race. "I had a bit of home track advantage, but Jenni was probably riding better than me. She was well and truly holding my wheel on the technical corners." The key move for the race happened on a climb as it often does. "After the feed zone, there was a steep long fireroad, she (King) put the pressure on so I counter-attacked and that's where I got away."

King, the dominant female rider for the whole season finished in second place to Henderson but had her third consecutive season round win. "It was fantastic. I came to Canberra expecting Bec Henderson to be tough to beat on her home course. She's also in flying form at the moment. To be racing against her and to win overall is really good."

Looking forward to the last round in Awaba, King who has won seven of nine events so far is understandably positive. "I'm pretty confident going into the final round that I can win the series overall, and that was the aim, to be consistent".

Katherine O'Shea, the reigning cross country national champion had a challenging race to secure third place. "It started pretty intense, a few attacks but it was a good course, I really enjoyed it".

In the under 23 men's race, in the men's Jack Haig had a close win from Robbie Hucker with Trenton Day in third. Hucker won round 3 overall, while Luke Fetch maintained his overall lead in the season.

In the under 23 women's race, Amy Austin won today's race and also took the overall win for the round from Jacinta Aitken. With her win, Austin also moved into the season lead.

Looking to the under 19 men's race, Billy Sewell took the win for the day and for the overall weekend from Ben Bradley and Benjamin Forbes. With the win, Sewell also takes over the series lead.

In the under 19 women's category, Emily Parkes won the race and the weekend overall from Karuna Henderson, and she too with this weekend's win assumes the mantle of season leader.

The final round of the Real Insurance All Mountain Cup will be at Awaba on March 2-4.

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Elite Male
1Daniel McConnell (Anytime Fitness - Shimano)0:56:17
2Sid Taberlay (Kenda - H20 Overdrive)0:00:18
3Paul Van Der Ploeg (Felt Otztal - X-bionic)0:00:30
4Andrew Blair (Swell Redshift MTB Team - Felt)0:00:57
5Lachlan Norris (Giant Factory Off-Road Team - Drapac)0:01:14
6Neil Van Der Ploeg0:02:04
7Joshua Carlson (Australian Giant Factory Team)0:02:05
8Matthew Fleming (Rock star Racing - Giant)0:03:09
9Adrian Jackson (Merida Flight Centre MTB Team)0:03:33
10Andrew Fellows0:03:43
11Shaun Lewis0:03:57
12Peter Kutschera (Apollo Bikes - Bikes Direct)0:04:32
13James Downing (Cannondale Australia - Lonsdal)0:04:34
14Michael Vanos (MSC Bikes - Blackmans Bicycles)Row 13 - Cell 2
15Chad Gossert0:04:37
16Andrew Arthur (Endeavour Cycles)0:05:26
17Ben Hogarth (Giant Exact MTB Team)0:07:13
18Sean Martin0:08:00
19Evan Jeffery0:08:36
20Matt Ligtermoet (Rush Racing Specialized)0:10:39
21Nick Both (Swell-Redshift Racing)0:11:29
22Anthony Shippard0:15:27
23John Groves (Apollo Bikes)0:15:28
24Dylan Cooper (Trek Concepts.com.au - Fictive.com.au)0:16:12
DNSOndrej Slezak (Bernard Beer)Row 24 - Cell 2
DNSTravis FrisbyRow 25 - Cell 2
DNSChris JongewaardRow 26 - Cell 2
DNSJarrod Moroni (Moronis Bikes Bendigo)Row 27 - Cell 2
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Elite Female
1Rebecca Henderson (Anytime Fitness - Shimano)1:06:54
2Jenni King (Torq Nutrition)0:00:34
3Katherine O'Shea (Torq Nutrition)0:01:36
4Tory Thomas0:02:24
5Peta Mullens (Team Merida Moronis Bikes Bendigo)0:04:51
6Jenny Fay0:07:13
7Lindsay Gorrell0:07:53
8Rosemary Barnes (Swell-Redshift)0:08:04
9Kelly Bartlett0:09:32
10Nicola Hogan (Drift Bikes)0:12:21
11Sally Gabriel0:14:16
12Jaclyn Schapel (Giant Australia)1:03:17
DNSNiki Fisher (Giant)Row 12 - Cell 2
DNSCatherine KelaherRow 13 - Cell 2
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Under 23 Male
1Jack Haig0:58:41
2Robbie Hucker0:00:02
3Trenton Day (Drift Bikes-Specialized)0:00:21
4Kyle Ward (Jet Racing - Specialized Bikes)0:01:09
5Luke Fetch (Search2Retain - Felt)0:01:12
6Michael Crosbie0:04:14
7Nelson Tilley (Top Brand Cycles - Townsville)0:04:27
8Daniel McDonald0:05:07
9Alexander Meyland (MTBA Specialized EDP Team)0:06:52
10Blake Polverino0:07:40
11James Hanus (Scott Australia - Mitcham Cycle Centre)0:14:55
12Sebastian Jayne (Bikeminded)0:32:04
DNSJosh CunneenRow 12 - Cell 2
DNSRobert KellRow 13 - Cell 2
DNSWilliam OrchardRow 14 - Cell 2
DNSCameron IvoryRow 15 - Cell 2
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Under 23 Female
1Amy Austin (Stevens Bikes)1:24:14
2Jacinta Aitken0:17:52
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Under 19 Male
1Billy Sewell (Torq MTB Team - Continental)1:02:30
2Ben Bradley (Specialized Bicycle Components)0:00:24
3Benjamin Forbes (Kenmore Cycles)0:00:38
4Ben Comfort (TLC Cycles - Geoff Comfort Photograpaphy)0:01:03
5Tasman Nankervis0:02:12
6Jack Lavis (Batemans Bay Cycles)0:02:34
7Chris Hamilton0:02:36
8Jason Lowndes (BCS Rising Sun)0:03:20
9Christopher Aitken (Breakaway Cycles Ozriders.com.au)0:03:32
10Toby Stewart0:04:07
11Peter McKellar Stewart0:05:15
12Cameron Prosser (Anytime Fitness)0:06:02
13Harry Lindsay0:06:38
14Harry Herne0:07:27
15Joey Vejvoda0:11:14
16Luke Ellison0:11:15
17Rodger Pogson-Manning (Ay Up - Silverback)0:14:38
DNSConor Bullard (Bilt Bikes)Row 17 - Cell 2
DNSJordan ButlerRow 18 - Cell 2
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Under 19 Female
1Emily Parkes1:22:01
2Karuna Henderson0:02:35
DNFHolly HarrisRow 2 - Cell 2
DNSKyna Millan (TLC Cycles - MSL)Row 3 - Cell 2
DNSBrooke TranterRow 4 - Cell 2
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Under 17 Male
1Hamish Prosser (Mal Adjusted - Apollo Bicycles)1:06:15
2Benjamin Green0:00:33
3Jayden Ward (Jet-Racing - Specalized Bicycles)0:00:47
4Mitchell Greenway (All Terrain Cycles)0:00:55
5Callum Carson0:01:05
6Jack Jude (Cognition Bikes - Specialized)0:01:35
7Simon Harrington (Scott Bikes)0:01:43
8Dean Madden (Specialized - Bike Nirvana)0:01:54
9David Bleakley0:03:03
10Cosi Hofman0:04:40
11Roly Stewart0:04:51
12Jack Booth0:09:34
13Jackson Streeter0:09:49
14Josh Abbey0:10:41
15Bryan Dunkin0:13:39
16Rong Min (Global Track Warehouse)0:44:14
17Tom Green0:51:45
DNSConnor O'DwyerRow 17 - Cell 2
DNSToby OrchardRow 18 - Cell 2
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Under 17 Female
1Lucy Burton1:28:16
DNSZoe Binder (Crowne Plaza Canberra)Row 1 - Cell 2
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Under 15 Male
1Griffin Layton-Scheld (Onyabike Belco & Civic)1:16:30
2Declan Prosser0:05:59
3Matthew Dinham0:06:26
4Charlie Brodie0:07:32
5Ben Metcalfe0:10:04
6Joseph Simpson0:28:29
DNSJackson Frew (Lennock Motors - Commencal)Row 6 - Cell 2
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Under 15 Female
1Gabrielle Millan2:14:03
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Veteran Male
1Bradley Morton (Onya Bike Belconnen)1:03:31
2Jason Chalker0:01:49
3James Collins (Trek - Bontrager)0:03:35
4Michal Kafka (Bernard Riders)0:04:12
5Dion Blair0:05:03
6Fabian Guerrero0:05:27
7Gavin Burwood0:06:16
8Pablo Santa0:09:03
9Damien Enderby (Thule Team Australia - Cranks Bikestore)0:11:40
DNSLiam O'DeaRow 9 - Cell 2
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Master Male
1Matthew Rizzuto1:04:01
2Mark Fenner0:02:16
3Evan James (Giant Adelaide)0:02:23
4Douglas Pollock0:02:24
5Richard Peil0:02:52
6Troy Fisher (Stevens Bikes)0:03:21
7David Medlock0:04:42
8Luis Severino0:05:25
9David Harris0:06:32
10Luke Ingram0:15:41
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Super-Master Male
1John Henderson1:08:58
2John Allison0:02:27
3David Wilson0:03:41
4Mark Codner (FRS - Rotor BBK Bikes)0:04:51
5Paul Sloan0:07:35
6Nathan Carroll0:08:14
7Neil Dall0:13:32
DNSSteven BullardRow 7 - Cell 2
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Super-Master Female
1Alison Forbes1:30:13
DNSBev Anderson-TranterRow 1 - Cell 2
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Ultra-Master Male
1Fil Giles1:46:59
DNSPeter HeywoodRow 1 - Cell 2
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Expert Male
1Michael Hogan (Bicycle Garage Lilyfield)1:08:13
2Phillip Bardsley-Smith0:01:02
3Marc De Geoffroy0:01:40
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Sport Male
1Michael Brice1:05:14
2Andrew Wood0:06:50
3Tim Bardsley Smith0:09:34
4Daniel Van Der Ploeg (Felt Bikes)0:09:36
5Jason Head (Project 63)0:10:57
DNSDevin SandoRow 5 - Cell 2

 

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