Rising New Zealand teenage gravity riders Tyler Waite and Eliana Hulsebosch secured season-ending podium placings in junior downhill when the UCI MTB World Series wound up at Monte-Sainte-Anne in Canada today.
The pair of 18-year-olds finished third in the overall standings in respective junior male and junior female championships.
Waite (Yeti-Fox Factory) from Clive in the Hawkes Bay was second in today’s final round at Mont-Sainte-Anne behind American Asa Vermette which was enough to jump up to third in the overall standings for the season.
Close behind were fellow kiwis Jonty Williamson (Yeti-Fox, Palmerston North) and Kaikoura’s Oli Clark (MS Racing) placed fifth and sixth respectively for the season, with Williamson nabbing third behind Waite in today’s final race.
Hulsebosch from Tauranga, who rides for the Santa Cruz Syndicate, was outstanding in the junior women’s final today, finishing only 1.175s behind winner Aletha Ostgaard (USA) which elevated her to third in the season-long championship.
The Rotorua pair of Bellah Birchall (Team High Country) and Kate Hastings (Pivot Factory) finished seventh and eighth respectively in the season championship.
Super-talented teen, Sacha Earnest continued her superb recent form, placing fifth in today’s elite women’s final, behind winner Marine Cabirou from France, with Rotorua’s Jenna Hastings (Pivot Factory) seventh.
Austria’s Valentina Holl claimed the overall elite women’s title with Earnest pushing into the top-10 in eighth in the standings after scoring points in the last three rounds to complete an excellent debut elite season.
Queenstown’s Jess Blewitt (Cube Factory) placed 10th overall in the elite rankings.
Another teenager to shine late in the season is Christchurch 18-year-old Luke Wayman, with the Continental-Atherton team rider finishing 11th in today’s elite men’s final to lead the kiwi men ahead of Tuhoto-Ariki Pene and Lachie Stevens-McNab.
The attention now turns to the final day of the championship season tomorrow with current competition leader Samara Maxwell from Taupo chasing honours in the elite cross-country.
Today’s results:
Elite Female: Marine Cabirou (FRA) 4:01.617, 1; Nina Hoffmann (GER) at 0.716, 2; Myriam Nicole (FRA) at 2.296, 3. Also: NZers: Sacha Earnest (Trek Factory) at 7.207, 5; Jenna Hastings (Pivot Factory) at 10.037, 7.
Female Junior: Aletha Ostgaard (USA) 4:04.273, 1; Eliana Hulsebosch (Tauranga, Santa Cruz Synd) at 1.175, 2; Rosa Zierl (AUT) at 2.520, 3. Other NZers: Bellah Birchall at 30.565, 8.
Elite Male: Jackson Goldstone (CAN) 3:30.096, 1; Luca Shaw (USA) at 2.24s, 2; Andreas Kolb (AUT) at 2.245, 3. Also NZers: Luke Wayman (Continental Atherton) at 5.472, 11; Tuhoto-Ariki Pene (MS Racing) at 11.839, 24; Lachlan Stevens-McNab (Trek Factory) 28.
Men Junior: Asa Vermette (USA) 3:29.718, 1; Tyler Waite (NZL, Yeti-Fox) at 4.694, 2; Jonty Williamson (NZL, Yeti-Fox) at 8.256, 3.
