Palmerston North emerging MTB star, Jonty Williamson made it five wins from six starts after victory in the junior men’s downhill at the UCI MTB World Series in Andorra today.
Joining him on the podium celebrations were Auckland’s Sacha Earnest with third place in the elite women, to match her performances from last week in Italy, and Queenstown’s Malik Boatwright who was third to Williamson in junior men.
The trio led the way with 12 kiwis making the finals on the dusty and crumbling surface of the steep 1.9km run which claimed more than its share of victims today.
Williamson was in a class of his own in junior men, fastest in qualifying and even regained his poise after slipping his left foot out of the pedals on his finals run. He led at all timing points in the final to finish 1.3s ahead of Finland’s Kaster Hickman.
The Yeti Fox rider has a commanding 111-point lead going into the summer break.
Boatwright, who rides for the Continental Atherton team, bagged his fourth podium finish of his impressive season, closing to within three points of second place in the standings in pursuit of Williamson.
There was a record six New Zealand women to qualify in finals at Andorra today, with Earnest again showing outstanding racecraft as she glided her way to a second straight podium in the elite women.
Despite racing with an injured hand, the Trek Unbroken team rider showed poise and speed on the challenging track to claim her second straight podium behind Austria’s Valentina Holl and Canada’s Gracey Hemstreet.
It moves Earnest to seventh on the standings on a fantastic day for kiwi women at Andorra, with four riders finishing in the top-10.
Former junior world champion Jenna Hastings (Pivot Factory) finished fifth in her best performance of the season, only 0.7s off the podium, with Queenstown’s Jess Blewitt (Scott Downhill) seventh and Jenna’s younger sister Kate Hastings from Rotorua eighth.
There was also heartbreak for the kiwis with in-form Lachie Stevens-McNab (Trek Unbroken), who qualified fastest in the elite men, but he succumbed to the shifty left-hand turn early in his run which ended his chances.
Christchurch rider Luke Wayman (Continental Atherton) also made a mistake to finish 24th in the elite men’s final.
The super-consistent Queenstown junior female, Indy Deavoll (Stoic Racing) was just pipped for her first podium in junior women, finishing fourth. Deavoll has scored points in five of six starts to move to fifth in the overall standings, just five points off fourth.
The action moves to cross-country tomorrow ahead of a four-week break before the UCI MTB World Series resumes.
Jonty Williamson in action (UCI/Trek Bikes)