Rotorua teenager Kate Hastings has earned a breakthrough podium in the latest round of the UCI MTB World Series Downhill in Italy today.
The 17-year-old claimed third placing in the junior women’s final at the fourth round of the world cup on the infamous Black Snake downhill track at Val di Sole.
Hastings, who won a European Downhill Cup race last weekend in Austria, is the younger sister of former junior downhill world champion and current Pivot Factory elite, Jenna Hastings.
Qualifying second fastest, Hastings was strong on the top half of the course before powering home impressively on the bottom half to finish just 2.780 seconds behind winner and series leader, Rosa Zierl from Austria.
It marked another outstanding display for kiwi downhill junior women with four riders in the top eight in the final. Rotorua’s Bellah Birchall from Team High Country was fifth; in-form Tauranga rider Eliana Hulsebosch (Santa Cruz Syndicate) seventh and Queenstown’s Indy Deavoll eighth.
Hulsebosch is second in the overall standings behind Zierl, with Birchall fifth, Hastings now seventh and Indy Deavoll 10th.
Four-time elite national champion, Jess Blewitt (Cube Factory, Queenstown) again showed she is in world-class form with fifth placing in the elite women’s final, to follow on from fifth in Leogang, to move her inside the top 10 overall.
Fourth out of the starting gate, Blewitt was brilliant on the bottom half of the run to claim the top spot on the Hot Seat where she remained until the final three riders.
Compatriot Sacha Earnest (Trek Factory), in her rookie season, finished 14th in the final.
While the junior men did not podium this round, there were three kiwis in the top seven led by Hawkes Bay rider Tyler Waite (Yeti-Fox) who looked to be adding to his two podiums this year. He took the lead with a consistently fast run until pipped by the Alran brothers and American Asa Vermette to finish fourth by a slim margin.
Waite remains second on the overall standings with last-round winner Oli Clark (MS Racing, Kaikoura) fifth today and fifth on the standings, while Jonty Williamson (Yeti-Fox, Palmerston North) was seventh today and sixth on points.
There were no kiwis to qualify in the elite men, which was won by outstanding young Canadian Jackson Goldstone.
There is a two-week break for downhill riders before the fifth round of the world cup, in the Alps at La Thuile Valle D'Aosta.
Action on the final day of competition at Val de Sole tomorrow features the fifth round of cross-country.
Results:
Finals, Downhill Junior Women: Rosa Zierl (AUT) 4:15.628, 1; Aletha Ostgaard (USA) at 0.612s, 2; Kate Hastings (Rotorua, NZL) at 2.780, 3. Also NZers: Bellah Birchall (Team High Country, Rotorua) at 8.778, 5; Eliana Hulsebosch (Santa Cruz Synd, Tauranga) at 19.919, 7; Indy Deavoll (Queenstown) at 21.369, 8.
Standings after 4 rounds: Zierl 205, 1; Hulsebosch 150, 2; Ostgaard 125, 3. Also NZers: Birchall 120, equal 5; Hastings 85, 7; Deavoll 55, 10.
Junior Men: Till Alran (FRA) 3:42.095, 1; Max Alran (FRA) at 0.500, 2; Asa Vermette (USA) at 1.669, 3. Also NZers: Tyler Waite (Yeti-Fox, Hawkes Bay) at 2.568, 4; Oli Clark (MS Racing, Kaikoura) at 7.741, 5; Jonty Williamson (Yeti-Fox, Palmerston North) at 8.845, 7.
Standings after 4 rounds: Max Alran (FRA) 205, 1; Tyler Waite (NZL) 175, 2; Till Alran (FRA) 168, 3. Also NZers: Oli Clark 140, 5; Williamson 110, 6; Malik Boatwright 70, 11;
Elite women: Marine Cabirou (FRA) 4:10.310, 1; Valentina Holl (AUT) at 1.271, 2; Monika Hrastnik (SLO) at 1.881, 3. Also: NZers: Jess Blewitt (Cube Factory, Queenstown) at 2.233, 5; Sacha Earnest (Trek Factory, Auckland) at 19.250, 14.