McConnell masters men's cross country

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The Jayco Australian Mountain Bike (MTB) Series got underway in Glenorchy, Tasmania, with local favourite Rowena Fry taking the honours in the women's cross country race and Beijing Olympian Daniel McConnell winning the men's event. After a difficult couple of weeks, due to funding cuts to the high performance mountain bike program, Fry was just relieved to be able to let her legs do the talking.

"I'm just happy to be out racing in the Australian summer, and it's good to get the season underway again especially after all the publicity that's been about elite mountain biking [funding cuts]," the Australian mountain bike champion said. "It's good to come out and show that we're still kicking on and still going well."

Fry took control of the race right from the start with a commanding performance that showed her to be a class above the rest of Australia's elite women despite claiming she didn't have great legs on the main climb of the course.

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"I don't think anyone's legs would feel good on that climb, but I managed to get up it for five laps so I'm happy with that," Fry said. "It was a bit comical at the start because I wanted to sit behind someone but everyone else had the same idea.

"As no one wanted to take the lead, I got forced onto the front and was trying to ride off some other girls and put the foot down with three laps to go," she said.

The minor placings were taken by Heather Logie from Canberra in second position at one minute and 27 seconds behind Fry, with Victoria's Jenni King in third place a further one minute and 24 seconds back. The first under-23 finisher was Rebecca Henderson, who went across the line in fourth position overall. After finishing eighth in the Under 19 category at the 2009 World Championships, it was Henderson's first official race out of the junior ranks and she confirmed she is a likely challenger to Fry in the near future.

In the men's race, the win didn't come quiet as easily for McConnell, but in the end he demonstrated why he started the race as the one to beat.

"I held back for the first few laps as I didn't really know how the other guys were going. I got about half way and decided to make a move. I got a bit of a gap and got out of sight and that's all I needed," McConnell said. "It's good just to come out with a win. I'm rapt."

The opening round of the series gave a chance for the 24-year-old Victorian to measure his early season form. "It's one thing to train but when you go out with 30 of Australia's best riders, it makes you think there's always room for improvement," McConnell said.

"I was just going into today's race to see how the form is and see what I need to work on over the next month or two,” he added. "The signs today were pretty good. So now I'm looking forward to the rest of the year."

There were also plenty of positive signs for Adrian Jackson, who finished in second place, one minute and 31 seconds behind the winner. Jackson finished second overall in the Australian national series last season and was sitting in third place for the majority of the day, but finished strongly with his consistent riding style

Tasmania continued its good run of results on home turf with Ben Mather finishing third.

In the men's Under 23 category a jubilant Paul van der Ploeg went out the winner with a victory salute reminiscent of an Arnold Schwarzenegger pose in his bodybuilding hey-day.

"I was just having a bit of fun and had been working on that one for a little bit," van der Ploeg said of his celebration across the finish line. "I'll race all the national series, have fun with that and try and get serious for the World Cup races when I head over to Europe in March for all the big ones."

The downhill, enduro and short course cross country races will be contested tomorrow.

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