Two top-10 elite placings for emerging teenagers Sacha Earnest and Luke Wayman highlighted New Zealand performances in the downhill finals in France for the second round of the Whoop UCI MTB World Series today.
Earnest (Trek Factory), 19, and Wayman (Continental Atherton), 18, both finished 10th in the elite finals on a challenge and blown-out downhill test at Loudenvielle in the French Pyrenees.
It was the first top-10 finish for the teenagers in elite racing as the rising New Zealand talent continued to make their mark among the gravity racing fraternity.
Earnest, the two-time junior world championship medallist, is in her first year in elite company. She was the only kiwi to make it through the double qualifying system, producing a solid performance for her 10th place, 18 seconds behind winner Gracey Hemstreet (Canada).
Only two New Zealand riders made it through double qualifying for the elite men’s final, the first for Wayman, the 18 year old from Christchurch.
He produced a strong run on the challenging course, where speed was vital in the opening flat section before giving way to a demanding and twisting section through the forest. Wayman finished just 5.314s behind winner Jackson Goldstone and a good return for the young professional riding for the respected Continental Atherton team.
Fellow kiwi Tuhoto-Ariki Pene (MS Racing), who qualified with an impressive run, finished 22nd after a mistake on the bottom part of the course after he was fastest in the initial open section.
The sole podium for kiwi riders was with Hawkes Bay teenager, Tyler Waite with his second runner-up finish in the junior men’s final where he is now second in the overall standings. Waite, the Yeti-Fox professional from Clive, was just half a second behind winner Bode Burke (USA).
The dry and dusty track produced some holes in the racing line that caught out some riders, notably Kaikoura’s Oli Clark, the MS Racing teenager, who was fastest on the junior men’s course when he flatted his front wheel which ended his hopes.
There were strong performances from Queenstown teenage pair of Rory Meek and Malik Boatwright (Team High Country) who finished sixth and eighth respectively with Palmerston North’s Jonty Williamson (Yeti Fox) 11th.
Rotorua 17-year-old Bellah Birchall (Team High Country) was the best of the kiwis in the junior women’s final, finishing fourth just 0.6s outside the podium.
Outstanding Tauranga rider Eliana Hulsebosch (Santa Cruz Synd) was the fastest on the course near the end of her run, until she fell but remarkably recovered to complete the course in fifth with Queenstown’s Indy Deavoll, 17, finishing sixth.
There is no time to rest bodies nor bikes, with the gravity riders heading to the famed Leogang MTB Park in Austria for the next round of the World Cup next weekend, joining enduro and cross-country riders in a massive weekend.
Results:
Elite men: Jackson Goldstone (CAN) 3:13.192, 1; Amaury Pierron (FRA) at 1.537, 2; Jordan Williams (GBR)at 2.971, 3. Also NZ riders: Luke Wayman (NZL, Christchurch, Continental Atherton) at 5.314, 10; Tuhoto-Ariki Pene (Rotorua, MS Racing) at 9.545, 22.
Elite women: Gracey Hemstreet (CAN) 3:39.179, 1; Valentina Holl (AUT) at 3.169, 2; Tahnee Seagrave (GBR) at 8.902, 3. Also: Sacha Earnest (NZL, Auckland, Trek Factory) at 18.796, 10.
Junior men: Bode Burke (USA) 3:16.640, 1; Tyler Waite (NZL, Clive, Yeti-Fox Factory) at 0.537, 2; Max Alran (FRA) at 0.0605, 3. Also NZers: Rory Meek (Queenstown) at 5.628, 6; Malik Boatwright (Queenstown, Team High Country) at 6.192, 12; Jonty Williamson (Palmerston North, Yeti-Fox) at 7.049, 11; Oli Clark (Kaikoura, MS Racing) DQ (flat tyre).
Standings: Max Alran 105, 1; Waite 100, 2; Till Alran (FRA) 68, 3. Also NZers: Williamson 60, 5; Clark 45, 9; Boatwright 44, 11.
Junior women: Lina Frener (AUT) 3:50.230, 1; Rosa Zierl (AUT) at 1.445, 1; Matilda Melton (USA) at 1.486, 3. Also NZers: Bellah Birchall (Rotorua, Team High Country) at 2.540, 4; Eliana Hulsebosch (Tauranga, Santa Cruz Synd) at 10.482, 5; Indy Deavoll (Queenstown) at 11.658, 6.
Standings: Frener 110, 1; Zierl and Melton 85, equal 2; Hulsebosch 80, 4; Birchall 55, 6; Deavoll at 30, 8.