The Toowoomba Mountain Bike Club had worked hard to get the flood-ravaged track back into condition for the staging of the final two rounds which saw the return of UCI's world no.1 ranked rider Jared Graves. But it wasn't to be Graves' weekend. After a promising start and a convincing win in round three, Graves struck bad luck with a flat tyre in round four. That caused his lead to diminish in the final round as he settled for a respectable third position.
With twenty-five elite male riders, it was the category to watch, especially with series points so close. The same four men from the finals the day before showed that they were once again the best riders of the day. Graves was once again riding with ease but was having trouble with flats all day long, suffering from about four just on the Sunday. His last flat came at the worst time, in the final, while he was leading the race.
Graeme Mudd took this in his stride. "I heard his tyre going down in the third straight so knew I just had to make a move on the next corner to get passed," he said.
Mudd took the win and Richard Levinson also managed to pip Graves on the line for second, while Matthew Willoughby settled for fourth position.
The National Series Title went to Levinson for his second year in a row. Mudd’s win on Sunday allowed him to sneak into second place of the series while Ryan Hunt claimed third.
In elite women's race, Cherie Simpson again took the win, meaning she earned the National Series Title followed by Jolene Knight and Jayne Rutter.
In Under 19 men's race, Brandon Yrttiaho again took the win. He ended up third in the series with the win going to Ben Leslie and Max Hughes in second.
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Callum Morrison won both the day and series in the Under 15 men's race. In Under 17 men's race, Daniel Campbell took out the series and Warrick McNab took the series title in the sport men's race.
Brief Results for round 4
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Elite men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
1
Graeme Mudd
2
Richard Levinson
3
Jared Graves
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Elite women
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
1
Cherie Simpson
2
Jayne Rutter
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Under 19 men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
1
Brandon Yrttiaho
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Under 17 men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
1
Daniel Campbell
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Under 15
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
1
Callum Morrison
Final standings Australian Four Cross National Series
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