Rotorua mountain biker Lachlan Stevens-McNab grabbed his first elite podium of the season placing third in the men’s downhill final at Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
The Trek Factory rider was outstanding down the tight, dry course which forms the largest bike area in Switzerland, at the final European round of the UCI MTB World Series, ahead of the concluding two rounds in USA and Canada.
Stevens-McNab, 21, moves into the top-10 in the elite men’s standings on a strong day of performances for kiwi gravity riders, and adds to his two podiums in his rookie year in category last year.
The kiwi junior men continued to shine with a double podium to Jonty Williamson (Palmerston North, Yeti-Fox Racing) and Oli Clark (Kaikoura, MS Racing) second and third in impressive performances.
It moves Clark to fifth and Williamson to sixth in the standings behind fellow kiwi Tyler Waite who is fourth, with all within reach of a top three season effort.
Stevens-McnNab’s fellow kiwi in the Trek Factory team, Sacha Earnest, returned from injury that forced her out of the world championships to score a season-best fifth in her rookie year in the elite women’s category.
Earnest, who produced a superb run in the final, moves up to 13th in the overall standings with fellow kiwi Jess Blewitt (Queenstown, Cube Factory) in eighth.
Tauranga’s Eliana Hulsebosch was the best of the kiwis in the junior women’s final, with the Santa Cruz Syndicate rider sixth just ahead of Rotorua’s Bellah Birchall (Team High Country).
Hulsebosch is in fourth place overall, just five points off a top-three finish, with Birchall sixth.
The Lenzerheide event concludes with the cross-country races tomorrow where kiwi Samara Maxwell is looking to extend her lead in the elite competition.
Downhill and cross-country riders then head to Lake Placid-Mt Van Hoevenberg which hosts the penultimate round of the UCI MTB World Cup on 3-5 October ahead of the final stop at Mont-Sainte-Anne in Canada on 9-12 October.
Results:
Downhill, elite men final: Amaury Pierron (FRA) 2:44.699, 1; Henri Liefer (GER) 2:45.106, 2; Lachie Stevens-McNab (NZL, Trek Factory) 2:45.513, 3.
Elite women: Tahee Seagrave (GBR) 3:11.579, 1; Nina Hoffmann (GER) 3:11.640, 2; Valentina Holl (AUT) 3:12.394, 3. Also: Sacha Earnest (Auckland, Trek Factory) 3:16.197, 5.
Junior men: Asa Vermette (USA) 2:44.707, 1; Jonty Williamson (Palmerston North, Yeti Fox) 2:49.491, 2; Oli Clark (Kaikoura, MS Racing) 2:50.463, 3. Also NZers: Seppy Binsbergen (Taranaki) 3:09.248, 16; Tyler Waite (Clive, Yeti-Fox) 3:11.176, 17.
Junior women: Rosa Zierl (AUT) 3:11.437, 1; Aletha Ostgaard (USA) 3:14.588, 2; Marie Rosa Jensen (NOR) 3:16.797, 3. Also NZers: Eliana Hulsebosch (Tauranga, Santa Cruz Synd) 3:19.669, 6; Bellah Birchall (Rotorua, High Country) 3:25.152, 7.
