New Zealands large contingent of mountainbikers have completed a busy weekend of racing at Mt Stromlo on the outskirts of Canberra. Competing on the same courses to be used for the September 1-6th 2009 UCI World Mountainbike Championships, the 37 strong NZ group made the most of the opportunity to race at the Stromlo venue against world class competition.
 
NZ's U19 junior cross country contingent were first in competition, and competed in World Cup supporting events with Adrienne Hooper (Auckland) 2nd behind Australia's Rebecca Henderson.
 
The U19 cross country men followed with NZ's strong presence in this field very evident. Patrick Avery (Rotorua) finished in 2nd place, 2 minutes down on the Australian winner, Luke Fetch. Dirk Peters (Rotorua) was close behind in 3rd place.

 
Other NZ (U19 XC)
5th Scott Green
7th Anton Cooper
8th Ashley Hough
10th Adrian Retief
 
The Elite Womens Elite cross country race saw Rosara Joseph produce her best ever result at World Cup level, finishing 2nd to Russia's Irina Kalentieva. Joseph produced a scorching final lap of the four lap 31km race to move into 2nd spot, following her Beijing Olympics top ten result and a week of travel to Canberra.

 
"I was very surprised that I did so well," said the 26-year-old Kiwi. "I was feeling bad after the Olympics and all the travel. I was on the verge of being sick all week so I was just hoping to have a good finish. The start wasn't as hard or fast as I thought and that helped me settle into the race," said Joseph who secured her first World Cup podium finish.
 
Monique Avery (Rotorua) also produced a strong performance on her return to top level MTB competition and finished 12th in the Elite field, and 2nd U23 rider.
 

Other NZ (Elite Women XC)
15th Jeanette Gerrie
16th Lisa Morgan
17th Nicole Swain
 
Swiss rider Ralph Naef produced a World Cup win in the Elite Mens five lap 38km cross country race that belied his up and down form and non selection for the Beijing Olympics. Kashi Leuchs was the best of the NZers and competed at a level consistent with his current World Cup ranking, finishing 16th. Brendon Sharratt returned to MTB competition and seized his first opportunity at this level, racing to a strong 30th in the world class field.

 
Other NZ (Elite Men XC)
34th Andrew Bott
36th Gavin McCarthy
DNF Tim Madgwick
 
World Cup downhill racing completed the weeks schedule of events at Stromlo. The small Elite Womens field certainly didn't lack quality, with the big international names all present. Tracy Moseley (UK) took the win on a wet and sticky course after early morning rain. NZ National Champion Sheryl MacLeod finished just off the podium in 6th place.

 
Other NZ (Elite Women DH)
11th Scarlett Hagen
18th Amy Laird
 
The Elite Mens downhill race was raced in equally difficult conditions. The heavy track surface meant those strong riders who could maintain a sustained finishing sprint would likely do well, and Greg Minaar (RSA) showed he was up to the challenge with a convincing win. Best of the NZers was Sam Blenkinsop, nine seconds down on Minaar and in 10th spot.

 
Other NZ (Elite Men DH)
15th Justin Leov
19th Cam Cole
25th Wyn Masters
27th Matt Scoles
30th Kieran Bennett
31st Dan Sims
36th Brook MacDonald (and 1st U19 Junior)
37th Hayden McGregor
40th Aari Barrett (and 2nd U19 Junior)
50th Richard Leacock
51st Eddie Masters
55th Nathan Sharratt
57th Joseph Allen
58th James Rennie
60th Dan Meilink
62nd Campbell Robertson
 
The 2008 UCI World Cup concludes at Schmadling in Austria in two weeks time. Yeti/Fox professionals Sam Blenkinsop and Justin Leov are currently 8th and 9th in World Cup standings and will be looking to consolidate, if not improve on those standings, giving an unprecedented two top ten overall results for NZ riders.

Great stuff guys and girls! What an awesome set of results!

Anton Cooper 7th in the under 19's That is the stand out performane. He is only all of 14years old or so. What a star.

JUANGEAR wrote: Anton Cooper 7th in the under 19's That is the stand out performane. He is only all of 14years old or so. What a star.

He's a machine!!

and well done to Jeanette, thats a top performance

JUANGEAR wrote: Anton Cooper 7th in the under 19's That is the stand out performane. He is only all of 14years old or so. What a star.

My hero

And to think he has several more years in U19 to improve on that 7th

The lil shit better learn not to pass the masters up the hill so blimmin fast. It's just plain rude

Congrats to Brooke and Arri fastest Junior riders at event 36th and 40th Respectivly

Yeah go Anton what a effort

Way to go kiwi riders - big congrats to Rosara...the beginning of many podium finishes for you I'm sure.
All the best from Robyn & Aaron Twemlow and matt at Grind Bikes!!

Mint track au!

Gav, 5mins after registering...

Awesome pic of poor Gav.

Looks like he spotted some dirt on his race bike eh?

Hope you had a good trip Powers. And did lots of good yelling.

Looking fwd to seeing you hopefully racing at Wainui.

DaveAldred wrote: Awesome pic of poor Gav.

Looks like he spotted some dirt on his race bike eh?

DaveAldred wrote: Awesome pic of poor Gav.

Looks like he spotted some dirt on his race bike eh?

Jeepers. You shouldn't even joke like that. A dirty bike is bigger than cherynobl