Expect new names on the trophies when the UCI Marathon MTB National Championships are decided in Rotorua this weekend.
Last year’s winners Sammie Maxwell and Craig Oliver are not competing in the sold-out Whaka 100 which comprises the Cycling New Zealand MTB Marathon National Championships.
Maxwell is not competing after her exhausting season-long challenge to become the UCI XCO World Series elite women’s cross country champion, while Oliver focussed on competing with brother Ben in the bucket-list Cape Epic in South Africa earlier in the year.
The event is part of the Southern Hemisphere's largest mass-participation MTB event, first staged in 2007 at the one of the sport’s global meccas of Rotorua on the renowned forest tracks in the Whakarewarewa Forest.
The men’s honours may favour Waikato’s Matthew Wilson, a former Elite national XCO champion, who has been competing across North America this year, including earning a wildcard entry to the Lifetime Gran Prix and a second place overall finish at the BC Bike Race.
Other kiwis likely to be at the sharp end of the 100km test include Caleb Bottcher (Palmerston North) also freshly returned from a successful stint in North America, Former Rotorua local Sam Shaw (Wanaka), Jesse Cseh (Wellington), and Taupo brothers Coen and Corban Nicol. The next generation will be right in the mix too with U19 XC Champ James Climo back to better his 11th place finish from 2024.
But first across the line may be Australian visitor Sam Fox, who has enjoyed an outstanding season winning the Australian and Oceania men’s cross-country titles. The Tasmanian, no longer a fulltime rider, has enjoyed much success but of course the Whaka 100 is a stern test.
With Maxwell not competing, the women’s honours are wide open with young riders led by Amelie Mackay (Christchurch), who has had a personal best year competing in the UCI Cross Country World Series while fellow Cantabrian Mary Gray cannot be counted out.
They’ll face strong competition from Kayley McMillan (Morrinsville) as the U19 XC National Champ takes on the championship distance for the second time. Wellington-based riders to watch for include Laura Park, Lee Boon and Mary-Ann Moller, along with Milla Phipps (Rotorua) and Mia Cameron (Richmond).
There are several riders who will add considerable interest including former international downhiller turned podcaster Kieran Bennett from Nelson who raced on the US Pro Circuit; Mexican national champion Javier Lopez, Japan’s Masashi Ishida and Canada’s Tom de Rooy.
Other riders in the Whaka 100 of interest include five-time national road champion Gordon McCauley, other well-known roadies in Sam Horgan and Australian Hayden Brown, along with Noumea-based regular, former World Tour professional Chris Jenner.
There is also interest in Sam Meech from Tauranga, the two-time Olympic sailor, Rio medallist, and former Emirates Team NZ America’s Cup winner.
The schedule includes the Rotorua Canopy Tours 50km and other events from 8:30am on Saturday with the Giant Miler kicking off Sunday’s proceeding at 4:30am while the Shimano 100km and other races get underway from 7:40amat the Waipa MTB Car Park in Rotorua.
