English wins fifth consecutive 24-hour Australian solo title

Jason English and Liz Smith were crowned Australian 24-hour solo mountain bike national champions after an enthralling weekend of endurance mountain bike action at Majura in the ACT.

English, the three-time and reigning 24-hour world champion secured his fifth consecutive national title against a high quality field. With barely a pause in the 24 hours, English's inimitable combination of speed and consistency paid off again.

After riding with a lead pack from the start, he slowly gapped the competitive field in the tenth hour. English was ecstatic with his result, riding 418 kilometres in the 24 hours.

"I've already achieved more than I ever thought possible. That said, I've trained and given myself the best chance, and four in a row was already massive," said English.

"It was a tough race, based on my preparation for the world championships in Italy and looking at the high-quality field assembled I was prepared that I could quite likely lose coming in. I decided that I wouldn't be disappointed if that happened, but that said, it's an awesome feeling to win".

With his undefeated run in 24-hour solo mountain bike racing now extending to almost four years, English has every right to be confident heading overseas to defend his title in Italy.

"I really wanted to go over as the Australian Champion; wearing the green and gold jersey. I've got six weeks to get everything sorted, and the goal is to win again".

Ed McDonald placed second outright and in the process won his 23-29 age category. In third place was under 23 rider Mark Tupalski, who also took out the U23 category on the way to the overall podium.

Liz Smith was crowned the women's 24-hour solo national champion after a race-long battle with Bec Parkes. With the two riders separated by only five seconds with two hours to go, Smith was finally able to take a lead that would seal the win.

The win is Smith's first national championship. "It feels fantastic. This was the first time at an endurance mountain bike race where I've had to race to-and-fro right to the end. I'm aiming now to race the worlds in Canberra next year," said Smith.

Mimi Guillot of France won the women's race outright racing as an international. With the lead group of three women grouped together overnight, Guillot rode away from daybreak to a convincing outright win. Guillot is a member of the Thule Adventure Team, the 2011 Adventure Racing World Champions.

The Canberra Off-Road Cyclists Club hosted the event for the seventh time. The event was sanctioned by Mountain Bike Australia as the national championships for the last five years. Over 100 riders enjoyed the singletrack at Majura and riders qualified for the 2012 WEMBO World Solo 24-Hour Championships to be held in Finale Ligure, Italy in May.

The next Mountain Bike Australia national-level event is the MTBA Marathon Championships, an event that will be also hosted by the Canberra Off-Road Cyclists Club at Stromlo Forest Park on June 10.

Canberra will also host the WEMBO 24-hour World Solo Championships in 2013.

Full Results

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Men open
#Rider Name (Country) TeamLapsHeader Cell - Column 3
1Jason English (30-34)38laps
2Edward McDonald (23-29)37Row 1 - Cell 3
3Mark Tupalski (U23 )37Row 2 - Cell 3
4Andrew Hall (30-34)33Row 3 - Cell 3
5Brett Bellchambers SS (35-39)32Row 4 - Cell 3
6Deon Revet SS (40-44)31Row 5 - Cell 3
7Thule-Trailmix (Jacky Boisset) (30-34)30Row 6 - Cell 3
8Nathan Versey (30-34)29Row 7 - Cell 3
9David Speering SS (35-39)29Row 8 - Cell 3
10Garry James (50-54)28Row 9 - Cell 3
11Project 63 (Phil Welch) (40-44)28Row 10 - Cell 3
12Tony Rowley (45-49)28Row 11 - Cell 3
13David Coyles SS (30-34)27Row 12 - Cell 3
14Chris Millman (40-44)27Row 13 - Cell 3
15Scott Walker (45-49)25Row 14 - Cell 3
16Stuart Brown (35-39)25Row 15 - Cell 3
17Chris Schofield (35-39)25Row 16 - Cell 3
18Matthew Nash (40-44)25Row 17 - Cell 3
19James Eldridge (50-54)25Row 18 - Cell 3
20Chris Becvarik SS (40-44)24Row 19 - Cell 3
21Andrew Kingston SS (30-34)24Row 20 - Cell 3
22Andrew Clark (U23 )23Row 21 - Cell 3
23Corey Werfel (40-44)23Row 22 - Cell 3
24Justin Frith (23-29)22Row 23 - Cell 3
25Phil White SS (35-39)22Row 24 - Cell 3
26Project 63 (Ivan Chan) (40-44)21Row 25 - Cell 3
27Rod Gisik (35-39)20Row 26 - Cell 3
28Cameron Dalton (30-34)20Row 27 - Cell 3
29Peter Selkrig (50-54)20Row 28 - Cell 3
30Stephen Evans (50-54)20Row 29 - Cell 3
31Robert Davis (30-34)19Row 30 - Cell 3
32Geoff Moon (50-54)19Row 31 - Cell 3
33Kieran Laughton (35-39)19Row 32 - Cell 3
34Jason Shepheard SS (40-44)19Row 33 - Cell 3
35Angus Mckay (30-34)18Row 34 - Cell 3
36Ben Hallowell SS (30-34)18Row 35 - Cell 3
37James Ross (U23 )18Row 36 - Cell 3
38Steve Eggleton (45-49)18Row 37 - Cell 3
39Jason Harrod (23-29)16Row 38 - Cell 3
40Nathan Schubert (30-34)13Row 39 - Cell 3
41Joel McFarlane-Roberts SS (23-29)10Row 40 - Cell 3
42Timothy Stubenrauch (35-39)9Row 41 - Cell 3
DNFAnytime Fitness/Trek (Richard Peil SS) (45-49)18Row 42 - Cell 3
DNFSydney Eco-Cabs (Sam Warmington SS) (35-39)18Row 43 - Cell 3
DNFNeil Dall (50-54)17Row 44 - Cell 3
DNFClayton Locke (40-44)15Row 45 - Cell 3
DNFSam Chancellor (23-29)14Row 46 - Cell 3
DNFShane Taylor (30-34)14Row 47 - Cell 3
DNFPhillip Banks SS (30-34)14Row 48 - Cell 3
DNFMichael Norman (40-44)14Row 49 - Cell 3
DNFAaron Thomson (35-39)14Row 50 - Cell 3
DNFMark Astley (35-39)14Row 51 - Cell 3
DNFScott Chancellor (23-29)13Row 52 - Cell 3
DNFMatt Hand (30-34)12Row 53 - Cell 3
DNFMichael Sutinen (35-39)11Row 54 - Cell 3
DNFArran Pearson (40-44)10Row 55 - Cell 3
DNFAlistair Gribble SS (23-29)10Row 56 - Cell 3
DNFMatt Dening (45-49)9Row 57 - Cell 3
DNFMartin Handley (35-39)6Row 58 - Cell 3
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Women open
#Rider Name (Country) TeamLapsHeader Cell - Column 3
1Thule - Trailmix (Mimi Guillot) (30-34)29laps
2Liz Smith (30-34)29Row 1 - Cell 3
3Felicity Wardlaw (35-39)29Row 2 - Cell 3
4Bec Parkes SS (35-39)28Row 3 - Cell 3
5Libby Adamson (40-44)26Row 4 - Cell 3
6Prita Jobling-Baker (30-34)24Row 5 - Cell 3
7Wendy Stevenson (45-49)22Row 6 - Cell 3
8Gwynn Le Maitre (30-34)19Row 7 - Cell 3
9Ronja Hill-Wright SS (U23)11Row 8 - Cell 3
DNFBethany Thompson (23-29)8Row 9 - Cell 3
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Open men 6+6
#Rider Name (Country) TeamLapsHeader Cell - Column 3
1Jon Odams19laps
2Jason McAvoy18Row 1 - Cell 3
3Darren Groves18Row 2 - Cell 3
4Alex Ramsey17Row 3 - Cell 3
5Madison Giles17Row 4 - Cell 3
6James Mason14Row 5 - Cell 3
7Michael Dunbar14Row 6 - Cell 3
8Andrew Chamberlain14Row 7 - Cell 3
9Joshua Higson14Row 8 - Cell 3
10Anytime Fitness/Trek (Harry Herne)13Row 9 - Cell 3
11Tim Christie13Row 10 - Cell 3
12Craig Iverach13Row 11 - Cell 3
13Clinton Leong13Row 12 - Cell 3
14Hagen Ganahl13Row 13 - Cell 3
15Grantley Butterfield13Row 14 - Cell 3
16Sean Baker12Row 15 - Cell 3
17Marko Sibila12Row 16 - Cell 3
18Fil Giles10Row 17 - Cell 3
DNFAnytime Fitness/Trek (John Henderson)7Row 18 - Cell 3
DNFMartin Wisata7Row 19 - Cell 3
DNFAlexander Austin7Row 20 - Cell 3
DNFGeoff Pollard4Row 21 - Cell 3
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Open women 6+6
#Rider Name (Country) TeamLapsHeader Cell - Column 3
1Kath Bicknell16laps
2Anne Symes16Row 1 - Cell 3
3Merryl King15Row 2 - Cell 3
4Sophie Clement14Row 3 - Cell 3
5Rachel Jacka13Row 4 - Cell 3
6Belinda Chamberlain12Row 5 - Cell 3

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