Twenty-five New Zealand riders in mountain bike and BMX Racing face crunch competitions around the globe this weekend.
Following on from the successful world championships, the UCI MTB World Series remains in Switzerland for the final European round for cross-country and downhill ahead of deciding rounds in North America.
Likewise leading kiwi BMX Racing competitors are in Santiago del Estero, Argentina for the final double-round of the UCI World Series for all grades for 2025.
Mountain bike eyes focus on Lenzerheide, the famed ski and MTB location perched in the valley between the canton capital of Chur to the north and St Moritz.
Fresh from her silver medal in the UCI MTB World Championship, Taupo’s Samara Maxwell (Decathlon Ford) takes a healthy 435-point advantage over world champion Jenny Rissveds into the antepenultimate round in elite women.
The Decathlon Ford pro rider has not been out of the top three on the overall points from short-track and XCO World Series races. Maxwell has won two rounds, finished runner-up four times and third once.
A key has been Maxwell’s race-intelligence, focussing on her own race pace rather than getting caught up in moves of others, which has impressed many in her rookie season in the elite competition.
The final three rounds are also important for Sam Gaze, the Alpecin-Deceuninck professional who has rediscovered form at the world championships. He is keen to finish strongly to improve his rankings which will enable him to tackle next season in a more competitive starting grid position.
The downhill riders are also pushing for podium opportunities with Hawkes Bay’s Tyler Waite (Yeti-Fox Factory) currently in second overall, and just 29 points off the lead in junior men, while Tauranga’s Eliana Hulsebosh (Santa Cruz Syndicate) is third overall in junior women, 90 points off second.
Cube Factory rider jess Blewitt (Queenstown) is eighth overall in elite women, 240 points from the top five, while Trek Factory’s Lachlan Stevens-McNab (Rotorua) is 13th overall in elite men, 130 points off the top 10.
There are 16 kiwi riders in action with elite short track cross-country on Friday evening (local time), XCO finals from 9am local time with elite women from 1.30pm and men from 3.30pm.
Gravity riders have qualifying on Friday from 12.30pm local time with finals on Saturday from 11.30am through to elite men from 2pm local time.
Meanwhile four New Zealand riders are in Argentina for the final double-rounds of the UCI BMX Racing World Series at Santiago del Estero.
In elite men, Rico Bearman and Bennett Greenough line-up, with Bearman currently eighth overall, while Rotorua’s Megan Williams is competing in elite females.
There is interest in the efforts from the Junior Women’s world champion Lily Greenough, who is third overall in the world series rankings, racing the season in the Under-23 Women class.
Racing is from 12.15pm on Saturday and Sunday, with quarterfinals from 1.35pm, semifinals from 3.15pm and finals from 3.40pm – all local time.
