Nine New Zealand mountain bikers lie in the top 20 in respective overall standings going into the final European round of the UCI MTB World Series in Les Gets, in the Haute Savoie region of southeast France.
After a three-week break, the combined cross-country and downhill world series will lead to next week’s UCI MTB World Championships in Switzerland.
There are three further rounds in North America to wrap the series, with 33 kiwi riders competing in France this weekend.
They are headed by current junior men’s gravity series leader Jonty Williamson, the Yeti-fox rider from Manawatu who has chalked up five wins to date this season. Malik Boatwright (Continental Atherton) is third in the same category, with fellow Queenstown local, Indy Deavoll (Stoic Racing) fifth overall in junior women.
Best of the kiwi elites is two-time junior world championship medallist Sacha Earnest (Trek Unbroken), while Hawkes Bay’s Tyler Waite (Yeti-Fox) leads the kiwi men in the standings.
There is much interest in last year’s elite cross-country world series winner, Samara Maxwell (Decathlon Ford) who returns to the championship after taking time out for her personal well-being this season.
Christchurch’s Anton Cooper and Andorra-based Sam Gaze, a top-10 finisher at the Paris Olympics, head the elite men.
In the dry, the Les Gets course offers a high-speed challenge, but forecasts indicate a wet weekend, which may result in a wild test.
Short-track cross-country and downhill qualifying is on Friday (local time), with downhill decided on Saturday and cross-country on Sunday, local time.
New Zealand entries this weekend are:
XCO, Elite: Anton Cooper (Lapierre PXR, Christchurch), Sam Gaze (Alpecin Premier Tech, Cambridge). Female: Amelie Mackay, Samara Maxwell (Decathlon Ford, Taupo). Under-23 Men: Fletcher Adams (Taupo). Short Track: Cooper, Gaze, Maxwell – Adams
Downhill, Men Elite: Oli Clark (Mondraker Factory, Kaikoura), James Macdermid (The Alliance, Queenstown); Tuhoto-Ariki Pene (MS Racing, Rotorua), Lachlan Stevens-McNab (Trek Unbroken, Rotorua), Seth Stylie (Yeti Fox, Auckland), Tyler Waite (Yeti Fox Factory, Clive), Luke Wayman (Yeti Fox Factory, Christchurch).
Women Elite: Jess Blewitt (Scott Downhill, Queenstown), Sacha Earnest (Trek Unbroken, Auckland), Jenna Hastings (Pivot Factory, Rotorua), Kate Hastings (Team High Country, Rotorua), Eliana Hulsebosch (Santa Cruz, Tauranga).
Men Junior: Seppy Binsbergen (New Plymouth), Malik Boatwright (Continental Atherton, Queenstown), Cole Hulsebosch (Orbea FMD, Tauranga), Jed Kuegler (New Plymouth), Dexter Lock (New Plymouth), Camden Rutherfurd (Nukeproof Axess, New Plymouth), Sterling Stevens-McNab (The Alliance, Rotorua), Jonty Williamson (Yeti Fox Factory, Palmerston North).
Women Junior: Indy Deavoll (Stoic Racing, Queenstown), Capella Martin (Martinborough), Kiera Vlaar (Wellington), Millie Waite (Clive).
Jonty Williamson and Malik Boatwright on the podium in Andorra (Credit: UCI)