The Living Springs Farm Park in Governors Bay, Christchurch hosted the second round of the New Zealand MTB Cross Country Cup. Weather conditions ranged from bitterly cold and rainy southerlies during the morning age group race to periods of sunshine in the afternoon elite and junior races, with all entrants being kept right on their toes dealing with the sudden and brutal changes in racing conditions.
The elite and under 19 junior race delivered the same four winners from the Cups first round last weekend in Dunedin. Mary Gray faced a greater depth of competition than on her home track last weekend, but the 2011 junior national champion still won comfortably ahead of Amber Johnston. Likewise Anton Cooper who rode through the whole elite field again this week to win the under 19 juniors - Cooper was in a class of his own at Living Springs and continues to delight spectators and competitors alike with his devastating pace and hunger for the front of the race.
The elite women's race was without Beijing Olympian Rosara Joseph this week however Karen Hanlen seemed on a mission to win this race with as much style as possible, and Hanlen put daylight between her win and second placed Katie O'Neill. Switzerland's Jolanda Neff challenged O'Neill for that second position from the gun, but could not find that elusive burst of pace to catch and pass.
The elite men's race was a tough contest. Christchurch's Brad Hudson led for the first three laps, but slipped back to third mid race when Carl Jones launched an aggressive attack for the lead. Dirk Peters tussled with Hudson through the last three laps and the two riders rapidly chipped away at Jones's lead to bring them within striking distance at the end of their six laps. Only 10 seconds separated the three at the line, with Jones clearly relieved to have clung onto the lead and the win at the New Zealand Cup second round. These three had paced themselves right away from the rest of the elite field, eventually ending nearly eight minutes ahead of Patrick Luthi, who outsprinted Rotorua's Sam Shaw for fourth.
Racing for the first time at a national level Olympic format cross country race were the adventure racing dream team of Richard and Elina Ussher. Both athletes are in final preparation mode for the upcoming Coast to Coast event, however were out to enjoy some cross code multi-tasking today in the elite races. Both found the experience tougher than expected with the cross country format, but should be back again based on their first shot at this.
The morning's age group categories raced in terrible conditions, but put on a real show for the crowd of spectators at Living Springs. Master 30-39 rider Phil Patterson rode his wheels off for that category win, and also to try to maintain lead rider position on course from under 17 rider Ben Oliver. Oliver eventually passed Patterson and moved through to outright leader on course with super consistent and fast lap times, to win his category again this week.
The New Zealand MTB Cup now takes a break before resuming for its final rounds in February in the north island. All riders will converge on Nelson for the National Mountain Bike Championships which begin on Friday, January 27 and finish on Sunday afternoon, January 29. Four events and championship titles will be contested next weekend - the super D and cross country eliminator events making their first appearances at national level in New Zealand, joining the traditional downhill and cross country standard events.
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