Blenkinsop and Cooper claim mountain bike double honours

Mountain Bike stars Anton Cooper and Sam Blenkinsop made it a double-double with both winning their respective Oceania and New Zealand championship titles at Dunedin.

Cooper won the cross-country honours in the Oceania Championships on Friday, his fifth in a row, and today added the Altherm New Zealand title for the sixth time as an elite.

Earlier fellow Christchurch-based rider Blenkinsop bagged his first New Zealand elite title after claiming the Oceania title for the second time at the outstanding Signal Hill course.

Meanwhile Nelson’s Josie Wilcox, second in the Oceania Championships, claimed her first elite cross-country title in the elite women’s race, and Tauranga’s Shania Rawson, back after injury last year, to win her second New Zealand elite title in the downhill, after finishing runner-up also in the Oceania Championships.

Cooper, the Trek Factory professional, dominated again today, clearing out to win in 1:20:54, over four minutes clear of Southland’s Josh Burnett who was a minute ahead of third placed Cameron Jones (Nelson).

“When I started the sport I never dreamed of achieving six elite wins so to do that is really special and hopefully it is not the last,” said Cooper.

“I felt quite good today on the bike and my legs felt fresh. In fact I felt better deep in the race than I did on Friday in the Oceania race which is a good sign.”

It means Cooper will again wear the national jersey when he competes on the world circuit this year.

“It is massively important and I do not want to give the national jersey away without a fight. The fern is a unique symbol of New Zealand and it stands out and I am very proud of it.

Referencing the event coverage on Sky Sport Next, Cooper is hopefully the increased mainstream media coverage of the sport will help its development.

“If we get more numbers we will produce the talent and a few of us have shown there is a pathway in both disciplines of cross country and downhill to be professionals and carve out a career and I hope that is motivating to the young riders.”

Wilcox had to recover from a crash to see off talented under-23 riders Sammi Maxwell and Jessica Manchester to win the title.

“Approaching the rock garden I caught a bee in my mouth. I hate bees and tried to brush it off but ended up washing out and did a bit of damage.

“I struggled at Oceanias because I had a long travel day the day before. Today felt a lot more controlled and felt good again and it was only five weeks after the Pioneer race.”

There was genuine support for Blenkinsop, one of the most popular riders on the circuit, after his first national title.

Like the Oceania race on Saturday, Blenkinsop was fastest in the seeding run and produced his best in the final run of the day to clock 2:24.957 which was a full three seconds faster than the previous best.

The rising young guns had set the pace with Nelson’s Same Gale posting the time to beat with a 2:27.973 just ahead of junior world medallist Tuhoto-Ariki Pene in 2:29.697.

But Blenkinsop, the Norco Factory professional, stamped his class on the field.

“Today was good. My practice was really good but my seeding run was messy but I just had to tidy that up for my race run,” said Blenkinsop.

“I’ve been trying to win a national elite title for 14 years or more. I had a few as a junior but none as an elite until today. I am so stoked to get it and now it is off my shoulders.

“All I have to do is win a world championship elite title and I have pretty much done all I need to do in the sport.”

Like Cooper he is delighted to wear the New Zealand colours this year.

“To have the New Zealand flag on my sleeve this year is a cool thing. Ours is one of the coolest on the circuit. All the other kiwis have had a turn so finally it is my turn.

“And it will be cool to hang that jersey on the wall and look at it when I am an old man.”

Results:

Cross-Country:

Female, Under-15: Caoilinn Gray (Te Miro) 42:08, 1; Eva Hyhan (Christchurch) 48:31, 2; Amber Nicol (Taupo) 51:43, 3.

Under-17: Mia Cameron (Taupo) 52:07, 1; Rebecca Hufflett (Nelson) 52:50, 2; Annabel Bligh (Christchurch) 55:19, 3.

Under-19: Amelie Mackay (Christchurch) 57:34, 1; Zoe Nathan (Nelson) 1:00:02, 2; Emma Lord (Tauranga) 1:04:55, 3.

Elite/Under-23: Josie Wilcox (Nelson) 1:23.18, 1; Sammie Maxwell (U23 - Taupo) 1:25.56, 2; Jessica Manchester (U23 - East Auckland) 1:32.07, 3.

Masters 1: Mary-Ann Moller (Port Nicholson Poneke) 59:19, 1; Sarah Martyn (Otago) 1:11:10, 2; Celia Lie (Otago) 1:00:08, 3.

Masters 2: Ronel Cook (Otago) 58:32, 1; Sonia Foote (Taupo) 59:37, 2; Merrin Brewster (Otago) 1:01:59, 3.

Masters 3: Sarah Beadel (Rotorua) 1:08:19, 1; Rowena Geisreiter (Otago) 1:10:12, 2.

Male, Under-15: Cam Anderson (Marlborough) 48:57, 1; Finn McKenzie (Marlborough) 51:15, 2; Joe Millington (Auckland) 51:40, 3.

Under-17: Coen Nicol (Taupo) 45:30, 1; Maui Morrison (Te Miro) 45:32, 2; Max Preece (Rotorua) 45:42, 3.

Under-19: Ethan Rose (Christchurch) 1:10:32, 1; Jacob Turner (North Canterbury) 1:13:37, 2; Luke Kivell (Tauranga) 1:13:50, 3.

Elite: Anton Cooper (Christchurch) 1:20:54, 1; Josh Burnett (Southland) 1:25:11, 2; Cameron Jones (Nelson) 1:26:06, 3.

Sport: Seamus O’Donnell (Nelson) 1:05:21, 1; Darren Hurst (Canterbury) 1:17:01, 2.

Masters 1: Brent Miller (Christchurch) 1:01:50, 1; Jason Thomsen (Queenstown) 1:01L41, 2; Jeremy Inglis (Christchurch) 1:06:32, 3.

Masters 2: Dayle McLauchlan (Nelson) 1:02:58, 1; Brent Goddard (nelson) 1:03:53, 2; Jonathan Brown (PNP) 1:05:17, 3.

Masters 3: Neil Sutherland (Christchurch) 1:06:44, 1; Jason McCarty (PNP) 1:07:13, 2; Wade Jennings (PNP 1:07:25, 3.

Downhill:

Male, Elite: Sam Blenkinsop (Canterbury) 2:24:957, 1; Sam Gale (Nelson) 2:27.973, 2; Tuhoto-Ariki Pene (Rotorua) 2:29.697, 3.

Under-19: Ethan Blanchard (Auckland) 2:34.343, 1; Guy Johnston (Rotorua) 2:35.603, 2; Riley Adlam (Queenstown) 2:35.823, 3.

Under-17: Lachlan Stevens-McNabb (Rotorua) 2:33.160, 1; Toby Meek (Queenstown) 2:33.470, 2; Alex Wayman (Canterbury) 2:40.530, 3.

Under-15: Seth Stylie (Auckland) 2:45.330, 1; Ryan Hastings (Rotorua) 2:47.933, 2; Wyatt McNab (Rotorua) 2:48.587, 3.

Female:

Elite: Shania Rawson (Rotorua) 3:10.527, 1; Ashley Bond (Rotorua) 3:39.680, 2;

Under-19: Jessica Blewitt (Queenstown) 3:08.293, 1; Kalani Muirhead (Queenstown) 3:25.103, 2; Caitlin Titheridge (Mid Canterbury) 3:26.137, 3.

Under-17: Abby Ross (North Otago) 3:29.487, 1; Etianne Graham (Rotorua) Rotorua) 5:32.937. 2.

Caption: The double champions Sam Blenkinsop (credit: Cameron McKenzie) and cross-country Antpon Cooper, (Credit Jemmy Wells)