In-form young kiwi downhill riders made eye-catching starts to the penultimate round of the UCI MTB World Series at Lake Placid, USA.
Rotorua’s Lachlan Stevens-McNab, coming off his podium in the last round in Switzerland, was sixth fastest in the elite men in qualifying.
The Trek Factory rider will be joined in tomorrow’s final by a second kiwi qualifier in Christchurch’s Luke Wayman. The Continental Atherton team gravity rider produced a stunning run in the second qualifying session where he was fourth fastest.
Auckland teenager Sacha Earnest, also from the Trek Factory team, built on her excellent form in the latter half of the season to qualify second fastest. The two-time junior world championship medallist is the sole kiwi through to tomorrow’s elite female final.
Tauranga junior Eliana Hulsebosch (Santa Cruz Syndicate), who has already claimed six podiums including a win since joining the junior ranks last year, was fastest in junior qualifying in an impressive run. She will be joined in the final by fellow kiwis Bellah Birchall (Rotorua) and Indy Devoll (Queenstown).
Meanwhile overall cross-country series leader, Samara Maxwell had to settle for 13th in the short-track race on a super-fast and narrow course.
The Decathlon Ford rider was slow from the start and pushed back to 35th. With few passing opportunities, Maxwell worked her way through the field up to 13th spot, only 24s from the winner, Jenny Rissveds (SWE).
The Kiwi professional has a healthy lead of 283 points in the overall series, going into Monday’s penultimate XCO race at Lake Placid.
They face a new XCO course at Mt Van Hoevenberg, which has some long, steep climbs with technical rock gardens, forest trails, and some fast open terrain.
Maxwell will be joined in the elite company by two former junior world champions in Sam Gaze and Anton Cooper, keen to reverse their European fortunes with strong performances this week at Lake Placid and in the final round at Mont Sainte Anne in Canada.
The downhill titles will be decided tomorrow with XCO races on Monday (NZT.
