Mountain Biking: Gaze wins Olympic spot for New Zealand

Sam Gaze (far right) on the podium after finishing third in the men's under 23 section of the UCI Mountain Biking World Cup in France last month. Photo / Twitter

Sam Gaze has won the hotly contested men's cross-country mountain bike berth in the New Zealand Olympic team for Rio.

The Commonwealth Games silver medallist has secured the sole spot ahead of the man who beat him in Glasgow, Anton Cooper.

Cooper, who's also the under-23 world champion, wasn't considered for selection on medical grounds.

Gaze beat Cooper at the national championships at the start of the year and currently leads the under-23 world cup standings.

Trent Jones has also been named to attend his first Olympics and will be New Zealand's lone BMX rider in Rio.

Jones has taken over as the country's leading male BMX rider since the retirement of Beijing and London Olympian Marc Willers.

The selection of the two riders brings the New Zealand Olympic team to 103.