New Zealand mountain bikers have their final chance to impress for world championship selection in the latest round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Italy over the weekend.
There are 46 kiwi riders competing in downhill and cross-country at the famed Val di Sole courses in northern Italy, with selections to be confirmed for the historic world championship in Glasgow in the coming weeks.
There are seven New Zealanders currently in the top-20 on overall standings. In cross-country, Anton Cooper is 13th and Sam Gaze 17th in elite men with Sammie Maxwell fifth and Matthew Wilson 18th in their respective under-23 rankings. In gravity racers, Jess Blewitt is 12th in elite women, Tuhoto-Ariki Pene is 19th in elite men and Erice van Leuven sixth in junior women, although she is a non-starter this weekend as she recovers from a crash at Leogang.
There are 28 kiwi gravity riders competing, with 18 in the elite men’s category, six in junior men, with two each in elite and junior women’s categories. In cross-country men, there are four elite and seven under-23 males; while there is one elite and five under-23 females.
Val di Sole is one of the toughest courses for both downhill and cross-country, with the gravity test over the infamous Black Snake track that is extraordinarily challenging, over 2.4km with 540m of elevation loss that peaks at 40 percent, along with some massive jumps.
The cross-country track is extremely rugged with a mix of rock gardens, big corners and significant rough, off-camber natural segments. The laps are 4.3km with an elevation of 200m per lap, with a technical first half and faster, more open second half.
Competition gets underway on Friday (NZ Time) with qualifying for juniors in downhill from 1.45am (NZT), with attention turning to the cross-country short track from 3.30am (NZT).
Action moves to downhill on day two with juniors racing from 10.45pm on Friday (NZT); elites in qualifying from midnight ahead of the elite short-track cross-country from 3.45am Saturday (NZT).
Day three focusses on downhill elite semifinals from 8.45pm Saturday and finals from 11pm for females and midnight for males.
Action moves to cross-country on day four with the Under-23 races from 6.30pm on Sunday, elite females from 11pm and elite males from 130am on Monday.
New Zealand entries are:
Downhill, Elite Men: Nico Arnold (Wanaka), Josh Barry (KiwiDH), Cameron Beck (KiwiDH), Sam Blenkinsop (Crestline), George Brannigan (NS Bikes UR), Gareth Burgess (Queenstown), Cameron Clemett (KiwiDH), Sam Gale (Nelson), Finn Hawkesby-Browne (Virus NZ Team), James Macdermid (The Alliance), William Macdermid (the Alliance), Brook MacDonald (MS Mondraker), Ed Masters (Pivot Factory), Wyn Masters (GT Continental), Toby Meek (MS Mondraker), Tuhoto-Ariki Pene (MS Mondraker), Lachlan Stevens-McNab (MS Mondraker), Matthew Walker (Pivot Factory), Alex Wayman (The Alliance).
Elite Women: Jess Blewitt (GT Continental), Kalani Muirhead (Wanaka).
Junior Men: Josh Bonnar (KiwiDH), Angus Ferguson (Christchurch), William Harvey (KiwiDH), Ryan Hastings (KiwiDH), Joe Millington (NZ MTB Academy), Ty Muirhead (KiwiDH).
Junior Women: Sacha Earnest (KiwiDH), Caitlin Flavell (The Alliance).
Cross-Country, Elite Men: Anton Cooper (Trek Factory), Sam Gaze (Alpecin Deceuninck), Ben Oliver (MitoQ), Sam Shaw (Rotorua).
Elite Women: Mary-Ann Moller (Taranaki).
Under-23 Men: Caleb Bottcher (Palmerston North), Adam Francis (Palmerston North), Bailey Frederickson (Whakatane), James Officer (Team Talley’s), Ethan Rose (Team Talley’s), Jacob Turner (Team Talley’s), Matthew Wilson (Team Talley’s).
Women Under-23: Annabel Bligh (Team Talley’s), Mia Cameron (Team Talley’s), Amelie Mackay (Team Talley’s), Sammie Maxwell (NZ MTB Academy), Ruby Ryan (Rotorua).