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Leov doubles up on national titles with downhill win

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Atkin upsets Harper in women's race

The New Zealand Mountain Bike Championships finished today with the downhill and cross country eliminator events contested on the slopes of Fringed Hill in the Brook Valley, Nelson. The hot, windy weather continued and the sunshine heralded new national champions in two very tough cycling disciplines - one new and one well established.

The downhill event drew a huge crowd, with a win on the Fringed Hill course considered one of the ultimate prizes in New Zealand downhill racing. Right through the lead-up age group categories, the in-form riders from the early part of the New Zealand MTB Cup seemed to hold advantages over their chasing rivals. Two Nelson riders who hadn't yet made NZ Cup appearances upset the form book by winning their categories - Hayden McKay in the Master Men 30-39, and Tania Carson in the Open Women. McKay's win gave him back-to-back championship titles in this very competitive category. Another Nelson rider, Leo Sandler in his first year in the junior U19s won the gold, and in a stunning time that placed him within the top 10 elite times.

But it was the elite contest that captivated the Fringed Hill crowd. Multi-time national champion Harriet Harper held the fastest seeding time in the elite women's category by a mile, but had to settle for second place today after a truly inspired race by Sarah Atkin. Any doubt that the young Lower Hutt downhill exponent could foot it with Harper (the fastest female rider in New Zealand over recent years) was put to rest with her national championship title today.

In the elite men's race, the times were close. Matt Walker attacked from an early start position to lead for some time before Bryn Dickerson unseated him from the top of the leaderboard. New Zealand-based amateur Dickerson put the bike down on the last corner as well, loosing valuable seconds which he would rue while nervously watching the last starters come to the line one by one. George Brannigan (Havelock North) snuck past Dickerson, but Justin Leov confirmed his liking and success history with Nelson race courses to win by just over a second. The downhill national championship win made it two titles for Leov for the weekend, joining his Super D gold from Friday night.

Leov and Atkin will now proudly wear their race jerseys this year on the world stage with right sleeves constructed as a New Zealand flag, the internationally recognised downhill national champions identification.

The New Zealand MTB Cup resumes for downhill in Rotorua on February 11-12.

Full Results

Elite men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Justin Leov0:04:35.33
2George Brannigan0:00:01.38
3Bryn Dickerson0:00:02.80
4Kieran Bennett0:00:03.98
5Reuben Olorenshaw0:00:04.33
6Daniel Franks0:00:06.31
7Rupert Chapman0:00:08.75
8Matthew Scoles0:00:09.32
9Matt Walker0:00:10.32
10Hayden Lee0:00:12.25
11Luke Stevens0:00:13.36
12Joseph Nation0:00:14.15
13Wyn Masters0:00:14.24
14Richard Leacock0:00:15.96
15Nick Bygate0:00:17.35
16Sam Perry0:00:17.56
17Thomas Mathews0:00:20.17
18Daniel Heads0:00:20.93
19Jed Rooney0:00:22.27
20Dan Sims0:00:23.63
21Jarrah Davies0:00:25.76
22Eugen-Maxi Dickerhoff0:00:46.77
23Sam Stevens0:00:48.58
24Sam Baker0:00:55.55
25Thomas Jeandin0:01:27.48
26Aari Barrett0:01:34.86
27James Rennie0:02:04.82
28Octavio Teixeira0:04:33.87
DNFReon Boe
DNFMartin Kuhn
DNFJared Graves

Elite women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Sarah Atkin0:05:41.02
2Harriet Harper0:00:03.46
3Anka Martin0:00:28.33
4Amy Laird0:00:36.32
5Adrienne Hooper0:00:49.70
6Julie Berry0:01:00.35
7Veronique Sandler0:01:09.99
DNSSophiemarie Bethell

U19 men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Leo Sandler0:04:44.20
2Reece Potter0:00:04.98
3Lawrence Cawte0:00:12.97
4Kurt Summerfield0:00:13.33
5Jay Barrett0:00:14.59
6Jamahl Stringer0:00:16.67
7Louis Hamilton0:00:16.78
8Tom Burns0:00:16.81
9Tim Adams0:00:28.30
10Kyle Lockwood0:00:30.42
11Michael Melles0:00:40.52
12Troy Stewart0:00:42.44
13Raphael Kammlein-Cutler0:00:47.14
14Thomas Gornall0:00:50.64
15Harry Chapman0:00:51.22
16Jake Paddon0:00:53.19
17Ben Walker0:00:54.47
18Andy Wilson0:00:58.43
19Elliot Davison0:01:07.01
20Alex Faulkner0:01:10.16
21James Shipp0:01:12.65
22Lloyd Jenks0:01:16.12
23Connor Harvey0:01:20.33
24Zach Baker0:01:21.42
25Callum Sprosen0:01:21.49
26Jordan Burns0:01:25.56
27Alex Kennett0:01:33.91
28JD Devlin0:01:42.54
29Luke Hooper0:02:30.85
DNFJack Futter
DNFCelyn Edwards
DQCaelab Drummond
DQJono Ross
DNSDan McCombie
DNSCole Smith

U17 men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Josh McCombie0:05:19.22
2Carl Goodwin0:00:01.18
3Connor Hamilton0:00:05.60
4Hayden Melles0:00:13.18
5Jonathon Kennett0:00:18.29
6Toby Walker0:00:24.69
7Fergus McIntosh0:00:41.91
8Gareth Burgess0:00:47.15
9Dj Holmes0:00:49.41
10Rod Hall0:00:52.76
11Laban Sjoberg-Mollison0:00:57.65
12Leo Calcasola0:00:57.67
13Ben Pointer0:01:01.62
14Robert Todhunter0:01:04.59
15Thomas Goodman0:01:10.70
16Jordan Titchmarsh0:01:13.42
17Sam Hendren0:01:26.31
18Marcelo Teixeira0:01:27.99
DNFWilliam Todhunter
DNSJack Humphries
DNSRichard Scandrett

U15 men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Oliver Jarman0:05:53.89
2Eden Cruise0:00:19.26
3Carlos Wilson0:00:27.45
4Jake Shirley0:00:38.98
5Ben Karalus0:00:58.10

Junior women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Sophie Tyas0:05:58.59
2Phoebe Coers0:01:21.47

Senior men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Jake Boylett0:04:56.91
2Kieran Thompson0:00:04.10
3Ben Tyas0:00:05.02
4Nick McConachie0:00:07.02
5Mike Langford0:00:07.51
6Carl Edmondson0:00:12.70
7Mat Prior0:00:14.23
8Tom Humphries0:00:17.06
9Scott McGregor0:00:17.47
10Corey Russ0:00:21.75
11Warrick Trompetter0:00:22.09
12Daryl Webb0:00:34.33
13Cole Titchmarsh0:00:36.13
14Jonas Meier0:00:41.78
15Leighton Kirk0:00:46.01
16Adam McClintock0:00:51.74
17Alan Newton0:01:00.27
18Florian de Vries0:01:03.68
19Thilo Rucknagel0:01:19.39
20Robert Chappell0:01:34.43
21Colin Tocher0:01:42.23
22Russell Archer0:01:45.12
23George Murray0:02:00.03
24Chris De Casare0:03:31.30
25Ferris Fairbairn0:03:43.26
26James Hampton0:04:48.04
27Matt Clarke0:05:14.25
28Andrew Bias0:05:56.20
29Tyler Brooker0:06:09.76
DNSVincent Enstroem
DNSMatt Burns
DNSMatthew Plowman
DNSScott Taylor
DNSJon Stout
DNSMichael McCullum

Senior women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Tania Carson0:06:20.04
2Amanda Pearce0:00:01.42
3Kaytee Campbell0:00:34.52
4Jo Perrott0:01:10.71
5Pippa Holdom0:01:56.32
6Carolin Friese0:01:56.54

Master 1 men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Hayden McKay0:05:01.15
2Derek Winwood0:00:00.15
3Boyd Grinstead0:00:07.49
4Chris Mancey0:00:15.19
5Andrew Martin0:00:22.55
6Ricky Pincott0:00:25.11
7Jamie Nicoll0:00:37.91
8Marcos Barbosa0:01:30.19
9Tony Boroviec0:01:32.45
10Kevin English0:03:39.81
11Sven Martin0:05:31.96
DNS Teruaki Takahashi

Master 2 men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Darryn Henderson0:05:25.75
2Mark Stirling0:00:17.22
3Karl Merriman0:00:28.20
4John Baddiley0:00:36.29
5Sean Cox0:01:03.28
6Nick Dalton0:01:20.46
7John Boylett0:01:21.60

Hardtail men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Loni Harvey0:06:49.97
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