Jongewaard survives flat and protest for cross country title

Current national series leader Chris Jongewaard survived a flat tyre and a rider protest to win his fifth national cross country championship at the 2011 Australian Mountain Bike Championships in Adelaide on Friday.

And in the elite women's event, a surprise upset saw an emotional Katherine O'Shea take a huge step up to claim her first national title.

Off to a flying start, Jongewaard posted a 30-second lead on the rest of the field after just one lap, doubling his lead by the second. He hit trouble on the next lap with the 32-year-old suffering a flat tyre which pushed him back to third in the field.

After a similar mishap at the Mt Buller national series event earlier this month, Jongewaard showed his dominance of Australian cross country racing, recovering for the second time this season to take out the event in one hour, 43 minutes and 20 seconds.

In a second hiccup for the hometown hero, Jongewaard faced a rider protest at the conclusion of the event after a clash with eighth placed Ben Henderson from Canberra on the first lap.

UCI commissaries upheld the protest, hitting Jongewaard with a fine and 30-second penalty to take the South Australian to an official time of 1:43:50, but it was not enough to relegate him from the gold medal position. Victoria's Lachlan Norris (1:44:01) finished 10 seconds behind Jongewaard after the time penalty whilst Queensland's Aiden Lefmann (1:48:59) rounded up the minor placings.

After a turbulent two years, Jongewaard was pleased to be back in the Australian champion jersey just two months after his return to elite mountain bike competition.

"It hasn't quite sunk in. Honestly, I thought there was one more lap," a surprised Jongewaard said.

"It was pretty hot out there today and things went wrong. My rear tyre went flat, and I had some problems at the start and I just tried to block it out.

"Having a year off in the prime of your career is never a good thing for any athlete but it's how you deal with the situation and try to make it a positive return.

"For me, I owe it to a lot of people who have got me through the tough times. I owe this race and my career to them. It's been a pretty rocky road but I am enjoying my return and enjoying the sport so hopefully it's not too late to salvage something."

In other results, Paul Van Der Ploeg (1:34:34) took out the men's under 23 race.

The 2011 Australian Mountain Bike Championships will wrap up on Saturday with the cross country short track and downhill competitions. Cross country champion Chris Jongewaard will return to the track for the men's short track whilst Tasmanian Rowena Fry will also return in the women's event. Queensland's Michael Hannah will start as the fastest qualifier for the elite men's downhill whilst world under 19 champion Troy Brosnan has some work to do after seeding third behind fellow South Australian Connor Fearon. West Australian Holly Baarspul is the fastest Australian qualifier in the elite women's event, behind Canadian Clare Buchar.

Full Results

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Elite men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Chris Jongewaard1:43:51
2Lachlan Norris0:00:10
3Aiden Lefmann0:05:08
4Andrew Blair (Swell Redshift MTB Team)0:06:02
5Shaun Lewis0:06:59
6Adrian Jackson0:07:56
7Scott Liston (Search2Retain - Felt)0:08:16
8Ben Henderson (Torq/Anytime Fitness)0:08:55
9Daniel McConnell0:11:35
10Garry Millburn (Cannondale)0:11:36
11Nick Both (Swell-Redshift Racing)0:12:14
-1lapNeil Van Der Ploeg (Search2Retain - Felt)Row 11 - Cell 2
-2lapsGlenn Stewart (Cannondale)Row 12 - Cell 2
-2lapsSid Taberlay (Kenda / H20 Overdrive)Row 13 - Cell 2
-2lapsBen HogarthRow 14 - Cell 2
-2lapsCal Britten (Search2Retain - Felt)Row 15 - Cell 2
-2lapsNicholas Morgan (Ride Bellerive)Row 16 - Cell 2
-3lapsAndrew BurfordRow 17 - Cell 2
-3lapsJack Lamshed (Search2Retain)Row 18 - Cell 2
-3lapsJohn Groves (Apollo Bikes )Row 19 - Cell 2
-4lapsGeofrey SchilgRow 20 - Cell 2
-4lapsMatthew Fleming (Clarence St Cyclery)Row 21 - Cell 2
-4lapsFucile GiuseppeRow 22 - Cell 2
-5lapsJarrod RandoRow 23 - Cell 2
DNFKevin HarnettRow 24 - Cell 2
DNFBen Mather (Rapid Cycling)Row 25 - Cell 2
DNFChad GossertRow 26 - Cell 2
DNFJoshua Carlson (Rockstar Racing)Row 27 - Cell 2
DNFShane SpicerRow 28 - Cell 2
DNFPeter HattonRow 29 - Cell 2
DNSAndrew Fellows (AYup lights)Row 30 - Cell 2
DNSGrant LebbinkRow 31 - Cell 2
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Under 23 men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Paul Van Der Ploeg (Felt Bicycles)1:34:35
2Luke Fetch (Search2Retain - Felt)0:00:20
3Trenton Day (Scott Bikes)0:02:31
4Charlton Durie (Phantom Cycles)0:03:42
5Kyle Ward (Avanti Bike's)0:04:28
6Merlin Spranz0:04:36
7Cameron Ivory0:05:46
8Travis Frisby0:05:47
9Brendan Johnston0:10:23
10Josh Prentice0:10:30
-1lapDylan WallisRow 10 - Cell 2
-1lapLewis Rattray (St Kilda Cycles)Row 11 - Cell 2
-1lapDeclan KilkennyRow 12 - Cell 2
-2lapsLucas PittRow 13 - Cell 2
-3lapsMitchell Codner (Rotor / FRS Magura)Row 14 - Cell 2
DNFMichael CrosbieRow 15 - Cell 2
DNFJarrad BurrellRow 16 - Cell 2

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