Australian National Mountainbike Championships - NZ Results

It was a mixed bag of results being bought home today by the NZ Junior Cross Country squad which competed at the Australian National Mountainbike Championships in Canberra over the weekend.

11 of NZ's most promising Junior and two Elite Women Cross Country athletes competed at Stromlo Forest Park on the outskirts of Canberra yesterday against Australia's best. NZ's athletes attended the event as part of Mountainbike NZ's (MTBNZ) Athlete Development Programme, with the race course the same one to be used for the 2009 World Mountainbike Championships in September.

The U19 Junior Men four lap race was the first on the programme on Sunday morning, and offered NZ's strongest hope of podium results. Adrian Retief (Auckland) raced to a solid plan within a group of four riders trying to chase down winner Michael Baker (ACT) and was rewarded for his graft with third place, while Rotorua's Sam Shaw was two minutes back in fifth. But attrition struck two of NZ's brightest talents - Patrick Avery (Rotorua) withdrawing on his second lap after a nasty crash while challenging for the race lead, which has left him with a suspected broken wrist. Dirk Peters (Rotorua) gambled on a lightweight set of race tires which unfortunately did not pay off - a puncture on the first lap dropping him from a front of the field position to recovering from mid-pack. Peters mounted a spirited fight back and posted the fastest lap of the Junior race on his second, but another puncture on the third lap ended any chance he had of seriously pushing the leaders, eventually finishing 17th. Logan Horn (Christchurch) overcame some difficulties on his second lap to finish in tenth place in his first international level race experience.

Also in her first international level cross country race was Sarah-Kate McDonald (Clyde), competing in the U19 Junior Women race. McDonald diced with Queensland's Gillian Burgess for all of her three lap race, finishing in third mere seconds behind Burgess. But daylight separated ACT's Rebecca Henderson from second and third, with Henderson's experience and sheer pace keeping her clear of the chasers for the title. Jesse Loe (Te Awamutu) withdrew after two laps following an unplanned excursion off-course.

Two U23 athletes competed, with Scott Green (Rotorua) and Ashley Hough (Tauranga) under no illusions as to how much of a challenge they were faced with. The U23 field raced as part of the Elite event, completing five laps of the dry, dusty and technically difficult Stromlo course. Green and Hough were up against a very strong Australian field of top Elite and U23 performers with Green eventually finishing in 35th place, and 11th U23 rider. Hough had been circulating at a similar pace to Green, but withdrew after three laps.

Nic Leary and Fiona MacDermid (both Palmerston North) were NZ entrants in the Elite Women four lap race. Leary produced a solid performance to finish within the top ten in 9th, with MacDermid withdrawing after three laps.

The athletes return to NZ today to continue preparations for the Raboplus South Island Cross Country Cup, which kicks off this Sunday Feb 1st in Dunedin.