Auckland’s Matthew Wilson in action on the way to victory in the men’s elite cross-country in Taupō. Photo / MTBNZ
Auckland’s Matthew Wilson in action on the way to victory in the men’s elite cross-country in Taupō. Photo / MTBNZ
Paris Olympian Sammie Maxwell turned up the heat on home turf to dominate the second round of the Mountain Bike New Zealand National Series in Taupō on Sunday.
Mountain Bike New Zealand is promoting a three-round national series for both cross-country and downhill which leads to the national championships in Rotorua next month.
Maxwell, who overcame Australian star Rebecca Henderson to win the opening round in Dunedin last weekend, produced a dominant display in Taupō on Sunday.
The Decathlon Rockrider Ford Team professional was in a class of her own, powering away to win in 1h 30m 39s to finish more than 10 minutes clear of former national champion and now weekend warrior, Josie Wilcox (Nelson) with Canterbury’s Annabel Bligh a further eight minutes behind.
Maxwell opened a one-minute gap on the opening lap and extended it to three minutes on lap two, five on lap three and pushed to seven minutes on lap four extending even further to the finish of the five-lap race.
“I love coming to these series as the community is great, especially racing here at home,” Maxwell said. “The heat today was good practice for Brazil [World Cup] and I am stoked with the form and happy to take the win again.”
Maxwell will line up at Cambridge for the final round next week before “giving the roadies a run for their money” at the national road championships in Timaru; then off to Canberra to compete and returning for the nationals in Rotorua as final preparation for the world series in Brazil.
And what are the major advantages of racing at home today?
“I will see if I can con Dad into washing the bike tonight.”
The elite men’s race was the exact opposite with Auckland rider Matthew Wilson out-kicking local Taupō rider Coen Nicol on the final lap to claim the honours.
The pair could not be separated throughout five laps of the elite men’s race before Wilson made his move on the main climb on the last lap to sprint home in 1h 37m 35s with Nicol 12 seconds behind after an impressive display.
This extends an outstanding run of form for Wilson, the 2023 national champion, who finished runner-up on general classification in the Tour of Southland road race; second in the national cyclocross championships and NZ MTB XCO race, and third in the Whaka 100 MTB race in Rotorua before Christmas.
“It was a bit of a rude awakening to do XCO again as I have not done too much intensity lately and that showed but I was able to find a bit of extra juice in the tank on the final lap to get away,” Wilson said.
“I waited until the final lap and stepped on it on the final climb and got a gap.
“I will set myself now for the final round next week in Te Miro and then on to the national in Rotorua.”
In the female category, Kayley McMillan (Morrinsville) won the Under-19 class from Kāpiti’s Millie Donald; the Under-17 category went to Taupō’s Bianca Stewart from Harlow Adams (Hamilton) and the Under-15 to Rotorua’s Cate Phipps.
In the male races, James Climo (Hamilton) took out the Under-19 class from Fletcher Adams (Matangi); Levi Gear (Auckland) dominated the Under-17 race and George Fisher (Taupō) prevailed in the Under-15.
There were challenges for the gravity fraternity in their second round at the superb facility at Coronet Peak.
The scorching summer produced a dry and dusty track for practice, but significant overnight rain made for a wet and challenging surface today. After some hard work, the track was readied and provided a different test for the seeding and race runs on a soft surface.
Ireland’s Ronan Dunne was fastest in the elite men in 2h 44m 76s just ahead of star Kiwi and top qualifier, Lachlan Stevens-McNab who was just 15/100ths of a second behind from Tuhoto-Ariki Pene.
“It was a sic weekend here at Coronet Peak – it was so fast and full-on,” said Dunne. “Happy all weekend and I put down a good run and happy to take the win. There’s no better spot to be than here in Queenstown.”
Jenna Hastings zooms down the slopes at Coronet Peak to win the women’s downhill. Photo / MTBNZ
Rotorua professional Jenna Hastings, the former Under-23 world champion, was the leading elite rider in 3h 13m 02s ahead of Under-23 world medallist Sacha Earnest, in her first elite race, with Canada’s Bailey Goldstone third.
“It went from dry and blown out to quite tacky and they worked on the track which saved a lot of people I think,” Hastings said. “It was fun and I was happy.
“The aim is to stay healthy this year which I haven’t had a good go at for the last three years. Have fun make myself proud and do my best which would be great for 2025.”
Fastest in the finals was U19 winner Eliana Hulsebosch, the young Tauranga rider who turned heads in the World Cup this year, which has led to her being signed to crack professional team, Santa Cruz Syndicate.
Hulsebosch clocked 3h 10m 45s to win the U19 honours ahead of Bellah Birchall and Roisin McGuinness.
“It was a very good run and I got things quite smoothly especially on the new bike, getting it dialled in and able to push it. The track was a rough one with the holes.
“I am so hyped to be on the dream team – Santa Cruz Syndicate. It still seems so surreal, when I put on my jersey and look at my bike.”
In the U19 men, Hawkes Bay rider Tyler Waite was fastest in 2h 46m 39s ahead of Rory Meek and last week’s winner Oli Clark – and was third-quickest overall.
“The course was so rough by the end of the day after being pretty moist in the morning. It was fast and I was happy with the win in my age group.”
