2011 NZ MTB Cup Launches this Weekend Jan 7-9th in Tauranga

New Zealand's premier competitive national series of mountainbike racing launches this weekend in Tauranga. Round One of the much anticipated RaboDirect 2011 NZ MTB Cup presented by Nature Valley will be hosted by the Cycle Obsession Mountainbike Park in Welcome Bay, with Downhill racing on Saturday Jan 8th and Cross country racing on Sunday Jan 9th.

January and February each year see the sport's national body Mountainbike NZ delivering its events portfolio, which comprises the NZ MTB Cup covering events in both islands, with the Mountainbike National Championships forming the highlight of the summer race programme at the end of February. The full schedule is as follows:

RaboDirect NZ MTB Cup - Downhill
Round 1 Jan 7/8 Tauranga
Round 2 Jan 14/15 Napier
Round 3 Jan 22/23 Rotorua
Round 4 Feb 5/6 Nelson
Round 5 Feb 11/12 Nelson
Round 6 Feb 19/20 Christchurch

RaboDirect NZ MTB Cup - Cross Country
Round 1 Jan 9 Tauranga
Round 2 Jan 16 Napier (UCI Category 2)
Round 3 Feb 13 Nelson (UCI Category 2)
Round 4 Feb 19 Christchurch

RaboDirect Mountainbike National Championships (UCI Category CN)
February 24th to February 27th, Dunedin

All of New Zealand's top mountainbike athletes will be in attendance during the NZ MTB Cup, racing against their NZ domestic peers as well as a healthy number of international visitors. Athletes from Germany, Ireland, Great Britain, Australia and Tahiti among others are in NZ for the summer to tune their racing skills against NZ's world class athletes.

The Downhill entrant list for Tauranga reflects New Zealand's high status in this exciting event, where at the September World MTB Championships New Zealand gained a world number one ranking in the Under 19 Junior Mens category, a world number two ranking in the Elite Mens category, and a world number three ranking in the Under 19 Junior Womens category. Professional stars Justin Leov (Dunedin), Sam Blenkinsop (Wanganui), Cam Cole (Christchurch) and Brook MacDonald (Napier) will be showing the way against all comers in the star studded Elite Mens Downhill category, swelled for 2011 with the promotion of several highly promising Juniors who will be looking to stamp their mark quickly.

Adding to the excitement in Tauranga for the Downhill race is the addition of a full size digital screen in the finish area, which will be streaming live footage of the downhill course during both days of the Downhill programme - a technical service not seen at a downhill race in New Zealand since the Rotorua 2006 World Championships.

Sunday's Cross Country race is the first at this level on the Cycle Obsession Mountainbike Park race course. Many entrants have been scoping the course out during the week, with excitement building about it's close racing potential. New Zealand's top athletes will again be in attendance, building up to the all-important UCI Category Two events in Napier and Nelson where Olympic international ranking points are on offer. Like the Downhill category, several highly promising Juniors have progressed through to the U23/Elite category in both the Mens and Womens classes, and get their first shot at mixing up the well established order in this highly competitive race field at Tauranga.

Race results and news will be posted throughout the NZ MTB Cup at the MTBNZ website.