Cole 2nd at Fort William MTB World Cup

Cameron Cole (Maxxis Rocky Mountain, Christchurch) raced to a podium 2nd place result at the UCI MTB World Cup at Fort William, Scotland that surprised him in the best possible way.

The 2006 Junior Downhill World Champion has been on a steady rise through the Elite ranks since winning that title, but the speed with which Cole's first World Cup podium has come has both shocked and delighted him in equal measures. Cole qualified for the top 80 finals run in 3rd place by running his own race, and identifying areas of the Fort William downhill course where he could gain time improvements for his race run. He achieved those time gains in the technical upper sections and then displayed pure power and fitness through the lower parts of the course to claim 2nd place, behind another former World Champion Gee Atherton (Great Britain). Cole was only 0.48 seconds off the win, and this will power him with absolute confidence for the rest of the World Cup.

Cole also had his two good friends with him at the top of the field - Sam Blenkinsop (Lappierre International, Wanganui) and Justin Leov (Trek World Racing, Dunedin) were 6th and 14th respectively; Blenkinsop after qualifying in second place and gaining his first top ten result this season at this second World Cup round. The three Kiwi athletes also move into the top ten on World Cup standings (Cole 3rd, Blenkinsop 6th and Leov 9th) showing the threatening dominance that has been building for several years from these talented downhillers.

In total nine NZ racers qualified for the Fort William final, with another notable result being George Brannigan (Ancillotti, Hawkes Bay) who was 2nd in the Junior World Cup results.

Brief Results, UCI MTB World Cup, Fort William, Scotland
1 Gee Atherton (GBR) 4:35.70, 2 Cameron Cole (NZL) 4:36.18, 3 Greg Minaar (RSA) 4:36.91, 4 Aaron Gwinn (USA) 4:37.71, 5 Michael Hannah (AUS) 4:37.71, 6 Sam Blenkinsop (NZL) 4:37.81, 14 Justin Leov (NZL) 4:43.08, 40 Wyn Masters (NZL) 4:49.13, 52 Nathan Rankin (NZL) 4:52.94, 62 George Brannigan (NZL) 4:55.73, 64 Aari Barrett (NZL) 4:56.24, 75 Matthew Scoles (NZL) 5:17.84, 76 Brook MacDonald 6:07.63.
Qualifying Results, other NZL:
95 Sam Baker (Auckland); 105 James Hoggan (Christchurch); 112 David Balderstone (Christchurch); 123 Richard Leacock (Wellington); 139 Daniel Simms (Auckland); 146 Rufus Wenlock (Christchurch); 147 Joseph Nation Christchurch).

Full Results