Peta Mullens and Chris Jongewaard lead the Australian MTB Series after round 1 (Image credit: Rob Lindblade / www.bladecon.com.au)
Chris Jongewaard (BH Jet Black Cycling) and Peta Mullens (Target-Trek) sealed their leads in the Subaru All Mountain Cup after the pair took out the elite men and women's categories at round one of the Australian Mountain Bike National Series at Mount Buller over the weekend.
Both Jongewaard and Mullens claimed victories in the cross country race held on Saturday and the point-to-point race, which concluded round one of the All Mountain Cup discipline on Sunday.
Jongewaard said his AMC lead over Jack Haig (Team Torq) and Andrew Blair (Swell Specialized MTB Team) is a great personal achievement and has put him in good stead for the season of mountain biking ahead.
"It is really important to me to know the work I have put in can be transferred into the race to get results," the South Australian said. "It's going to be tough holding onto the leader's jersey."
A carpenter by trade, Jongewaard described his 2012 season as far from his best form with the 33-year-old vying to take a different approach to the sport for 2013.
"2012 wasn't a good year," Jongewaard said. "I went back to work full time, so when you're working 48 hours a week it's hard to fit in any mountain biking.
"This year I have taken a different approach and won't be going back to work full time until March, and it seems to be paying off - no pies for lunch is also helping," Jongewaard joked.
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Jongewaard won the point-to-point over Haig and Blair - the veteran rider saying once he and Haig had gained a gap on the field he allowed the 19-year-old to lead.
"Jack set the pace and I followed, he suffered there for a little bit and I could see that but there is so much singletrack that you can't really pass. I let Jack do his job and when the time came, I attacked and managed to come away with the win."
After placing second in both the cross country and the point-to-point, Haig - who elected to race in the elite category rather than under 23 - said his weekend had given him more incentive to claim top spot on the podium.
"It's good to be able to mix it up with the elite riders and I want to be able to beat Chris so it's more motivation to train a little bit harder," Haig said.
Women
In the women's All Mountain Cup, Mullens leads the rankings over Tory Thomas and Nathalie Schneitter.
The win comes as the 24-year-old prepares to tackle one of the world's most prestigious mountain bike races - the Cape Epic in South Africa.
"I'm a bit devastated that I don't think I can defend the jersey the whole way through the series," Mullens said of her impending absence from round three in Bright.
A former triathlete, road and track cyclists, Mullens says she has found her niche within the mountain biking community. "I've spent years overseas with the AIS road team and Cycling Australia have some great programs in cycling, I only hope that Mountain Biking can go that way," the Bendigo local said.
Mullens' sealed her overall win when she took out the XCP over teammate and defending series champion Jenni King (Target Trek) and Tory Thomas.
"I wanted to lead into the singletrack to calm my nerves and Jenni and I just kept yo-yo-ing for the lead all day," Mullens said of her race tactics.
"I'm a better climber than Jenni and she's a better descender - Jenni let me pass her on one of the climbs so I was able to lead down on the major descent before I gassed it up the next climb. I was just praying I could hold her off on the final descent.
"It's great for Target-Trek to go one-two today," Mullens said.
King lamented her mechanical in Saturday's cross country race has all but ended her chances in the general classification for the series, yet the defending Australian cross country champion will target the national championships in Canberra from February 20 - 24.
