Hanlen keeps perfect record intact in Napier

The NZ MTB Cup wrapped up in Napier. The venue added some variability with weather and race course conditions over the three days of competition - the major rain storm covering New Zealand on Wednesday left challenging conditions in the Pan Pac Eskdale Forest which didn't completely dry out. Adaptation was the key for all competitors, and all category winners displayed an ability to react quickly to the constantly changing race courses.

Sunday's cross country races in Napier were a repeat of the previous round in Wellington for the elite winners. The elite women's field chased Whakatane's Karen Hanlen from the start gun, and quickly lost contact with the Cup leader during the first two laps. Hanlen simply stretched her lead throughout the rest of the five lap feature to win by a large margin from Rotorua's Samara Sheppard. Hanlen has not been beaten this summer, and took her perfect record through to a NZ MTB Cup championship title for 2012.

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