English earns a victory, Willett wins her third

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Day two of the Ingkerreke Commercial MTB Enduro led riders along some of the most popular sections of Alice Springs singletrack and in so doing, saw a change of yellow jersey wearer from one 24-hour solo World Champion to another.

The Lasseter's Hotel Casino stage 3 started at the picturesque Alice Springs Telegraph Station amidst the awe-inspiring Ghost Gums and historic buildings of Australia's yesteryear. With little time to take in the sights, competitors were soon powering along a short 2km sealed section before turning onto some rougher 4WD tracks and then into the Kurrajong singletrack area. With an extensive network of well ridden trails, the Kurrajong area is often riders' most popular spot due to the flowing nature of the trails and the fun, technical riding it delivers.

These technical trails suited the reigning 24hr Solo World Champion Jason English as he found he had the legs and technical ability to pull away from his chasers as the 50km stage plaid out. Having gained a short gap on the lead bunch of six riders just after the water stop at the 24km point, English kept his heartrate down and saved his energy for the short punchy climbs whilst still moving fast enough to pull away from the pack.

English ended up winning the stage in 2:17:19 with a healthy margin over second place Ben Randall in 2:19.46 and the yellow jersey wearer at the time Adrian Jackson who finished in 2:20.48.

Jackson is a five-time Mountain Bike Orienteering World Champion, currently holding the sprint and long course titles and won the Red Centre MTB Enduro at Alice Springs back in 2008 but could not match 24hr specialist's speed over the 50km technical course resulting in the yellow jersey swapping from one World Champion to another with English currently leading by a handy two minutes and 48 seconds in the general classifications over Jackson and Ben Randall a further three minutes and 46 seconds behind.

The women's race was slightly less eventful with yellow jersey wearer Jodie Willet making it three for three by adding the stage 3 victory to her stage 1 and 2 wins yesterday. Despite admitting that she had not crashed so many times in a mountain bike race for a long time after crashing three times, Willet handled the technical terrain and loose conditions with enough speed to secure the victory.

After breaking the finish tape Willet as the women's winner she said she did not realise she was in the lead so just kept the pace up from the word go, a tactic that saw her confirm a healthy lead over her nearest rival.

Willet crossed the line in 2:50:01 ahead of second placegetter Jenni King in 2:53:38 and third place getter Rebecca Rusch in 2:56.51.

Speaking to Rusch after the the day's stage, Rusch admitted that she is having the time of her life at the Red Centre saying that, "Today's stage is my favourite cross country race ever!"

Rusch went on to say that she thought stage 1 on Monday was fun, but was really impressed by the quality and flow of the trails in stage 3 and had to keep reminding herself that she was racing and not just here for a recreational ride.

With Willet's third straight stage win, she has confirmed her yellow jersey position with a seven minutes and 52 seconds lead over second place Jenni King with Rusch a further seven minutes and 40 seconds further back in the general classification.

On day three, racers will be transported to a remote start location at the Trephina Gorge for a gruelling 95km race back through the Eastern MacDonnell Ranges to the finish line in Alice Springs. Although some handy leads have been built up in both the men's and women's categories, with four stages and plenty of riding still to go, the race could be taken by anyone of the top five in each category.