Cole blazes to New Zealand downhill national championship

Image 1 of 4

Slippery conditions, which had caused major issues for racers during practice sessions, finally eased off by race morning - with the Signal Hill course drying just enough to take the unpredictable factor out of the picture.

Seeding showed no real surprises, with in-form riders all at the top of the age group and elite start lists for the afternoon final race start.

Tension built through the age group categories in the lead-up to the elite race as championship titles started to be delivered. A notable result went to Under 17 men's winner Tom Burns, who seeded first and converted that advantage into a championship win. The Dunedin local found enough speed to win by a staggering 10 seconds.

The Under 19 men's title was another that was highly sought after. Top seed Reuben Olorenshaw had a huge advantage up his sleeve going into the 2:00 pm race, and while he didn't have his usual clean and composed result in terms of his final run, was still able to push hard enough to claim the win. The Nelson flier has now collected National Championship titles as an Under 15, Under 17 and now Under 19 rider - unprecedented in New Zealand's downhill results history.

Defending National Champion Harriet Harper (Santa Cruz) won the elite women's race convincingly in Dunedin and in a time that had many of her male peers envious.

In the feature elite men's race, Nathan Rankin (Monster Energy) had seeded poorly but put together a race run that looked to be competitive enough to take the title. Rankin's time held until sixth seed George Brannigan (Ancillotti) peeled nearly two seconds out of him to take the leader's hotseat.

Five riders were still capable of going quicker than Brannigan - Rupert Chapman couldn't improve on his fifth seed time; Mathew Scoles (Cingolani-Protone) went four seconds quicker than his seeding time, but this was only good enough for eighth; Justin Leov (Trek World Racing) also improved but not enough; former elite world champion Gee Atherton (Commencal) crashed heavily in the top part of the course and couldn't finish, so the final starter and fastest seed Cameron Cole was the only rider who had a shot at beating Brannigan for the title.

The 2006 Junior World Champion Cole was composed, lightening fast and up to the task, stopping the clock at 2:58.13 - the only rider to race a sub-three minute run to take the prized elite nationa championship title.

Harper and Cole will proudly wear the stunning new downhill national champion's jersey while racing overseas this year - displaying the New Zealand flag on their full right sleeves from shoulder to cuff as recognition of their titles.

Cole's race run completed a busy domestic competitive race season for New Zealand's top mountain bikers, with many moving north to begin 2011 World Cup campaigns after competing at the Oceania Mountain Bike Championships on March 17-20 in Shepparton, Australia.

Full Results