Kiwi mountain bikers converge on Austria’s iconic Leogang Bikepark for a UCI World Series triple-header comprising downhill, cross-country, and enduro competition this weekend.
There are 39 kiwi riders entered for the first of two triple-header events this season, and the last of five consecutive weekends of UCI MTB World Series action.
Currently 11 New Zealand riders are among the top-10 on overall points and three in podium positions in the UCI Whoop World Series across the three disciplines.
Sammie Maxwell (Decathlon Ford) leads the women’s cross-country points going into round four, and is fourth on the short track points table.
Alexandra’s Cooper Millward (Yeti Development NZ) is second in the junior enduro ranks after two runner-up efforts, while the Specialized Gravity pair of Charlie Murray and Winni Godfrey are each seventh overall in their respective elite competition.
It has been an exciting start for kiwi gravity riders where Hawkes Bay teenager Tyler Waite is currently second overall in the junior men, while fellow kiwis Jonty Williamson (Christchurch – Yeti Fox) is fifth and Oli Clark (Kaikoura – MS Racing) ninth overall.
In the junior women’s ranks, Tauranga’s Eliana Hulsebosch (Santa Cruz Syndicate) is fourth and Rotorua’s Bellah Birchall (Team High Country) sixth, while there was an exciting top-10 for two-time world junior downhill medallist, Sacha Earnest in her rookie year as an elite.
Leogang will provide a litmus test for gravity riders on the super-fast Speedster downhill track over 2.25kms and 500m of elevation change. It features seemingly never-ending hairpin bends including the famed wallrides, giving way to tight tree-lined section and jumps.
The enduro course comprises a mix of flat-out bike park trails and alpine, super enduro, plus rough-and-ready stages with 15.9km of timed runs over six stages and 55kms of liaison including chairlifts, with overall climbs of 5200m and a high-point of 2100m.
The cross-country course is a challenging mix of natural and man-made trails featuring technical sections, root-filled forests, exposed rocky mountainsides, and fast, thrilling downhill sections.
It is a busy weekend with elite downhill qualifying on Friday from 10.30pm (NZ time) with junior qualifying at 12.15am (Saturday), followed by the second stage of elite qualifying at 1.30am – all NZ time.
Action moves to short track cross-country from 1.45am Saturday through to the elite men at 4.10am (NZ time).
Downhill titles will be decided from 10.30pm on Saturday for junior women followed by junior men from 11pm, elite women from midnight and elite men from 1am (Sunday) – again all NZ time.
The enduro competition will be decided with start at 6pm NZ Time on Sunday through to 5am on Monday, before cross-country completes the action with under-23 women from 7pm Sunday, under-23 men from 9pm, elite women from 11pm and elite men from 1am Monday (NZ Time).
The New Zealanders competing are:
Downhill:
Male, Elite: Nico Arnold (Wanaka), Angus Ferguson (Christchurch), Sam Gale (Nelson), James Macdermid (Hamilton), Toby Meek (Queenstown), Tuhoto-Ariki Pene (MS Racing, Rotorua), Lachie Stevens-McNab (Trek Factory, Rotorua), Luke Wayman (Continental Atherton, Christchurch).
Female, Elite: Jess Blewitt (Cube Factory, Queenstown), Sacha Earnest (Trek Factory, Auckland), Jenna Hastings (Pivot Factory, Rotorua).
Male, Junior: Seppy Binsbergen (New Plymouth), Malik Boatwright (High Road, Queenstown), Oli Clark (MS Racing, Kaikoura), Rory Meek (Queenstown), Sterling Stevens-McNab (Rotorua), Tyler Waite (Yeti Fox, Clive), Jonty Williamson (Yeti Fox, Palmerston North).
Female, Junior: Bellah Birchall (High Country, Rotorua), Indy Deavoll, Kate Hastings (Rotorua), Eliana Hulsebosch (Santa Cruz Synd, Tauranga).
Cross-country:
Male elite: Anton Cooper (Lapierre Racing Unity, Christchurch), Sam Gaze (Alpecin-Deceuninck, Cambridge).
Female, Elite: Sammie Maxwell (Decathlon Ford, Taupo).
Male Under-23: Bailey Fredericksen (Mondraker NZ Academy, Whakatane), Coen Nicol (Taupo), Ethan Rose (Trek Future, Christchurch).
Female, Under-23: Amelie Mackay (Christchurch).
Enduro:
Elite women: Winni Goldsbury (Specialized Gravity, Christchurch), George Swift (Yeti-Fox, Nelson).
Elite men: Oliver Jenkins-Jablonski (Christchurch), Edward Masters (Pivot Factory, New Plymouth), Joe Millington (Yeti NZ Development, Rotorua), Charles Murray (Specialized Gravity, Wanaka), Lachie Ross (Upper Hutt), Matthew Walker (Pivot Factory, Kawerau).
Junior men: Cooper Millward (Yeti Development NZ, Alexandra), Eli Robertson (Motueka), Marcus Sayers (Yeti Development NZ, Rotorua).