Mountain Bike New Zealand

Hanlen Fires to 2nd at BMC Racing Cup, Solothurn, Switzerland

Chris — Sun, 06 May 2012 23:22:33 +0000

Whakatane’s Karen Hanlen secured a stunning 2nd place at the latest round of the BMC Racing Cup is Switzerland over the weekend. In difficult conditions on a drying but still challenging race course and against many of Europe’s best athletes Hanlen put together a fantastic race, ultimately only two seconds from winning. Switzerland’s Esther Suss prevailed in a sprint finish.

Suss Leads Hanlen Last Corner

After the start, four women had formed the lead group by the end of the fourth of six laps. From there, Hanlen took command of the race at the front and quickly opened up a gap at the beginning of the penultimate lap, but this was soon closed down by Suss. “I told Karen it’s better if we work together,” Suss said. “Especially on the flat sections, where the track goes through the town of Solothurn.” During the last lap the duo distanced themselves from the rest of the field and headed toward the finish line locked closely together. However, Suss knew exactly where to attack with intimate knowledge of the Solothurn course having won here before, and passed Hanlen 300 meters before the finish to hold on for the win.

Hanlen is understandably very happy with this result: “Yeah, I’m so pleased, and a really nice confidence boost for next weekend – although I won’t get complacent as it’ll be all on!” The ‘next weekend’ is the third round of the UCI World Cup in Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic, where Hanlen will again line up with Wellington’s Rosara Joseph to continue the enthralling contest these two athletes are having on the world stage this year.

Last straight, Suss over Hanlen

Other New Zealand athletes also competed at Solothurn, with Samara Sheppard (Wellington) 19th in the Elite Womens race. In the Elite Mens race, Rotoura’s Dirk Peters was right back into the international racing groove with a very strong 24th at this third race of his 2012 European campaign. Sam Shaw, also from Rotorua didn’t kick on as well, with a DNF in the tough conditions.

Brief Results, BMC Racing Cup, Solothurn

Elite Women

Esther Suss (SWI) 1:43:18 1st; Karen Hanlen (NZL) 1:43:20 2nd; Irena Kalentieva (RUS) 1:43:54 3rd; Samara Sheppard (NZL) 1:53:48 19th.

Elite Men

Nino Schurter (SWI) 1:37:13 1st; Moritz Milatz (GER) 1:37:16 2nd; Christoph Sauser (SWI) 1:37:38 3rd; Dirk Peters (NZL) 1:44:47 24th

Full Results Elite Women

Full Results Elite Men

Hanlen Battles to 18th at UCI Mountainbike World Cup Round Two, Houffalize, Belgium

Chris — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 20:40:57 +0000

Karen Hanlen (Whakatane) fought her way to an 18th at the latest round of the World Cup overnight in Belgium. Houffalize played host to Europe’s first World Cup this season and drew huge fields in all categories – the Elite and Under 23 races especially resembling world championship quality competition.

London Olympic hopefuls Hanlen and Rosara Joseph (Wellington) were swallowed by the 94 strong pack in an aggressive start loop, both finding themselves positioned in the 30s going into the first full lap of four. Hanlen regained her composure during that first full lap and started picking off riders at a steady rate, while also improving her circulating speed on the always challenging Houffalize race course. An 18th place finish just reward for her perseverance, which included the 3rd fastest last lap of the race.

Joseph struggled to follow suit, and by race end hadn’t made any in-roads into the position she needed to work back from after the start loop, eventually finishing back in 38th.

After two rounds of the World Cup, Hanlen now holds down a respectable 9th place in the overall standings.

Elite Women, Houffalize brief results

Catherine Pendrel (CAN) 1:31:15 1st; Julie Bresset (FRA) 1:32:03 2nd; Maja Wloszczowska (CZE) 1:32:39 3rd; Karen Hanlen (NZL) 1:36:01 18th; Rosara Joseph(NZL) 1:39:37 38th

Rotorua athletes Sam Shaw and Samara Sheppard also raced at Houffalize, in the Under 23 Men’s and Women’s events on Saturday. Sheppard started well but couldn’t maintain her top ten position to fade to 15th. Shaw also suffered from poor position after the start loop of the 118 strong U23 Men’s race, but worked his way with typical graft past 38 riders during the four lap race to finish 60th.

The next World Cup round will be held at Nove Mesto na Morave in Czechoslovakia in four weeks time.

Full Results Houffalize

2012 MTB World Championships Long List Released

Chris — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:01:56 +0000

MTBNZ is pleased to announce the Long List of athletes for the 2012 UCI Mountainbike World Championships, being held in Leogang, Austria at the end of August.

Under 19 Cross Country

Anton Cooper – Woodend, Nigel McDowell – Rotorua, Sam Gaze – Cambridge, Craig Oliver – Christchurch, Tom Filmer – Nelson, Brett Stokman – Taupo, Mary Gray – Dunedin, Amber Johnson – Rotorua, Samantha Hope – Dunedin

Under 23 Cross Country

Dirk Peters – Rotorua, Brad Hudson – Christchurch, Tom Bradshaw – Wellington, Matt Waghorn – Palmerston North, Sam Shaw – Rotorua, Adrian Retief – Auckland, Samara Sheppard – Rotorua, Sasha Smith – Auckland

Elite Cross Country

Carl Jones – Rotorua, Mike Northcott – Tokoroa, Rosara Joseph – Wellington, Karen Hanlen – Whakatane, Katie O’Neill – Rotorua

Under 19 Downhill

Leo Sandler – Nelson, Louis Hamilton – Rotorua, Reece Potter – Takaka, Jake Robinson – Rotorua, Lawrence Cawte – Rotorua, Tom Burns – Dunedin, Dan McCombie – Dunedin, Sophie Tyas – Auckland

Elite Downhill

Justin Leov – Dunedin, Brook MacDonald – Napier, Cam Cole – Christchurch, Sam Blenkinsop – Wanganui, Matt Scoles – Alexandra, George Brannigan – Hawkes Bay, Wyn Masters – New Plymouth, Kieran Bennett – Nelson, Matt Walker – Kawerau, Sarah Atkin – Wellington, Harriet Harper – Nelson, Sophiemarie Bethell – Auckland, Madeline Taylor – Napier, Veronique Sandler – Nelson, Amy Laird – Christchurch

Anton Cooper wins at Pietermaritzburg World Cup Season Opener; Downhill – Kiwis Solid

Chris — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 18:33:30 +0000

Woodends’ favourite son Anton Cooper carried on his Mountainbike World Cup winning ways overnight in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa at the season opening round. After winning the last two World Cup rounds of 2011, Cooper made short work of the Cascades MTB Park Junior Mens race to win comfortably by four and a half minutes. Now racing for the Trek World Racing Team, Cooper delivered a performance that is more than familiar to his New Zealand counterparts – getting away to an early lead with an unleashing of serious power from the start gun, and then stretching that lead throughout the rest of the four laps with sheer pace and technical riding prowess. Cooper gave the rest of the Junior field absolutely no opportunity to challenge at the front of the race with a typically dominant performance. A happy Cooper will now return to NZ and look forward to rejoining the TWR team later in the World Cup series.

Pietermaritzburg Podium

Results Pietermatizburg World Cup XCO Junior Men
Anton Cooper (NZL) 1:09:48 1; Victor Korestzky (France) 1:14:17 2; Nicolas Sessler (Brazil) 1:15:42 3.

PMB Rocks, No Problem

Downhill Elite Men – Kiwis Solid

The Elite Mens Downhill race was also run overnight at Cascades MTB Park. Renowned on the World Cup circuit as a tough course due to a sustained flat section through the middle stages of the descent, the four New Zealand athletes competing didn’t fire as well as they hoped at this first round of the series. Justin Leov (Trek World Racing, Dunedin) was the best performer in 17th, with Brook MacDonald (MS Mondraker, Napier) in 19th. MacDonald had a very heavy fall in qualifying on Friday after over jumping one of the massive features towards the bottom of the course, and while the effects of that crash could have been a lot worse, for the 2009 Junior World Champion this is a solid start in his quest to repeat his regular podium appearances of 2011. George Brannigan (Devinci Global, Hawkes Bay) and Sam Blenkinsop (Lappierre International, Wanganui) raced to 40th and 58th respectively, Blenkinsop in his first race back after recovering from a broken leg earlier this year.

The downhill part of the World Cup now takes a long break before the next round in Val di Sole, Italy at the start of June, where a fully fit Cam Cole will also make a World Cup return from injury joining teammate Blenkinsop.

Results Pietermatizburg World Cup DHI Elite Men
Greg Minaar (RSA) 3:57.98 1; Aaron Gwinn (USA) +0.632 2; Michael Hannah (AUS) +0.994 3; Justin Leov (NZL) +8.579 17; Brook MacDonald (NZL) +9.036 19; George Brannigan (NZL) +14.515 40; Sam Blenkinsop (NZL) +18.106 58.

Full Results Pietermaritzburg World Cup

Issued for MTBNZ Performance

Hanlen Fires to 8th at Mountainbike World Cup, South Africa

Chris — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 20:58:09 +0000

Whakatane’s Karen Hanlen raced to a stunning 8th at the first round of the 2012 UCI Mountainbike World Cup in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa overnight. In a world class quality field of competitors, containing every Olympic nations top Elite cross country athletes Hanlen put herself in a position to not only challenge for the race lead, but to claim a result that will allow her to build on what has already been a form summer.

Hanlen leading Joseph at Oceanias

After winning every national level event in New Zealand this summer, including the National and Oceania Championship titles Hanlen travelled to South Africa with building form on her side. This first World Cup of 2012 has been her first opportunity since the 2011 World Championships to benchmark her rapid progress in this sport against the world’s best – and at the end of the first lap Hanlen was not only in the lead group on course, but outright second. Lining up beside Hanlen on the fourth row of the start grid was Wellington’s Rosara Joseph, and with the London Olympics forefront in both athletes minds also a very clear understanding of the importance of performing well in Pietermaritzburg.

Hanlen’s aggressive start rocketed her into contention at the front of the field, and after the second lap and some settling on the very technical race course she solidified a position behind the lead group of 8th, which she protected and held through to the end of the five lap race. Hanlen had been targeting a breakthrough into the top 12 at this first World Cup, and was delighted to finish inside the top ten and only 2:17 behind the race winner, Maja Wloszczowska (Poland). Joseph meanwhile worked steadily away after a slower start, and recovered course position to eventually finish 11th and 3:05 down on the winner.

Hanlen returns to Whakatane on Wednesday to continue preparations for the next Mountainbike World Cup event at Houffalize, Belguim on the 14th April where she will again line up against Joseph at this World Cup venue – one which both athletes are very familiar with.

Results Pietermaritzburg MTB World Cup:
Maja Wloszczowska (Poland) 1:34:01 1; Emily Batty (Canada) 1:34:05 2; Catharine Pendrel (Canada) 1:34:24 3; Karen Hanlen (NZL) 1:36:18 8; Rosara Joseph (NZL) 1:37:06 11.
Full Results

Issued for MTBNZ Performance

Oceania Mountainbike Championships, Final Day Wrap: Cross Country Eliminator and Downhill

Chris — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 09:36:55 +0000

The 2012 Oceania Mountainbike Championships finished today with the Downhill and Cross Country Eliminator races in the Whakarewarewa Forest in Rotorua. Weather was very changeable, with just enough rain falling on and off all day to keep competitors guessing and gambling with the variable conditions. Competition was tough, and the strong international presence was felt again today in both feature races.

Cross Country Eliminator – Taberlay and Quin take the Titles

Evergreen Sid Taberlay (Australia) won the Mens XCE event today ahead of the best New Zealanders on a very tough circuit in the knock-out format race – on a course that rewarded a good dose of nerve on the downhill section, and a strong pair of legs and a tolerance to sprinting burn on the uphill. Taberlay was beaten for outright honours by Switzerland’s Patrick Luthi, who was ineligible for the title having Swiss residency. Tauranga’s Vanessa Quin, the 2004 World Downhill Champion made a successful return to MTB racing with a win in the Women’s race, and loved every second of the experience. Quin revelled in the dirt racing atmosphere and clearly enjoyed herself with this new dirt criterium style event, and expressed a strong desire to chase some more events in a sport that saw her international career span several years through the late 90s through to 2006.

Results Oceania Cross Country Eliminator

Downhill – Atkin Remains Unbeaten, Scoles Breaks his Title Drought

The largest field of entrants this 2012 summer took on the Whaka Downhill course for the afternoon race. Seeding showed that the Australian challenge was going to be the strongest in the Junior U19 Mens race, and that is exactly the way the race panned out. Local hopes rested with Louis Hamilton and Jake Robinson, who know this hill and the course itself intimately, however they were beaten by an ecstatic Brent Smith (Australia) albeit by the slimmest of margins. Smith knew he had raced clean and fast from his 5th seed position, and his time held right through for his first Oceania Championship title.

In the Elite Womens race, Sarah Atkin (Lower Hutt) added the Oceania title to her stellar 2012 achievements, ahead of a disappointed Gabby Molloy (Rotorua) who lost just enough time with a mid course crash to prevent her challenge taking her to the win.

The Mens Elite race was a cracker. Napier’s Brook MacDonald was a late entry to the race, after confirming late flights to the first UCI World Cup in South Africa for Monday. 2009 Junior World Champion MacDonald held a massive advantage with the quickest seeding time, but couldn’t improve on that time during his race, while four other athletes did. Matt Walker (Kawerau) set the benchmark time from a deep seed position, and Wyn Masters (New Plymouth) locked in his best result of this summer with a third. Only Alexandra’s Matt Scoles had the pace to better Walker’s time. Scoles, who raced a quality season in Europe last year that saw him finishing in top ten positions during late season World Cups, and winning everything he raced at the next tier of competition in Italy has been on a steady upward rise in this sport since working his way back from injury after his 2007 Junior World Championship bronze medal. The Oceanias Championship title this year represents a real coming of age for the Alexandra builder, his first major title win in this sport in New Zealand at an Elite level.

Results Oceania Downhill

Event hosts, the Rotorua MTB Club were extremely happy with how the Oceanias ran this year, with the quality of race courses and the level of competition evenly matched. MTBNZ thanks RaboDirect and Nature Valley for their sponsorship and support of the 2012 Oceania Mountainbike Championships, and wishes those athletes embarking on northern hemisphere racing campaigns all the best for the rest of 2012.

Oceania Mountainbike Championships Day 2, Cross Country Wrap: Hanlen and McConnell Double up Championship Titles

Chris — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 07:59:02 +0000

Cross Country racing took place at the Oceania Mountainbike Championships today in the Whakarewarewa Forest in Rotorua. The multi-lap, Olympic format races drew a strong presence from Australia, and at the end of the day across the six UCI categories (U19, U23 and Elite) Australian athletes claimed two championship titles while New Zealand athletes kept four for their own.

In the morning age group category races the best athletes this summer all came together again to try to claim the coveted Oceania titles. Form athletes took wins today, with stand-out performances coming from especially the three Masters Men category winners. Karl Patterson admitted having a very strong premonition of winning this event overnight, and for the ex-Elite downhiller following through on that for the win was an empowering experience, taking the Masters 30-40 title. Rotorua legend Garth Weinberg owned the Masters 40-50 category, and Wellington’s Ian Paintin, like Weinberg followed through on his recent National Championship win to also take the Oceanias 50 plus win.

The afternoon races were a feast of action, and national pride was on the line through U19, 23 and Elite races.The Under 19 Mens race delivered a breakthrough win for Rotorua local Nigel McDowell, after Sam Gaze had to withdraw due to a collision at the end of the first lap, with a ruined drivetrain. McDowell was pushed all the way by Nelson’s Tom Filmer and Australia’s Ben Bradley, and he held on for a very popular win. Another Rotorua local, Amber Johnston won the Womens Under 19 race.

In the Under 23s, Australia’s Rebecca Henderson was too strong for the New Zealand challenge, while in the Under 23 Mens race, Rotorua’s Dirk Peters again showed the aggression and raw desire for winning he has finely developed this summer for another Championship win.

The Elite races were pure excitement. New Zealand’s male athletes couldn’t stay with the pace set by Australia’s best exponents of this brutal sport, with Dan McConnell winning this years Oceania title, to add to his Australian National Championship win earlier this summer. Rotorua’s Carl Jones was the best of the New Zealanders with 5th place. In the Elite Women’s race, the head to head contest between Rosara Joseph (Wellington) and Karen Hanlen (Whakatane) drew a large crowd, with an increasing understanding forming of the pure quality of these two athletes. The two were stuck tightly together through the first three laps, both having some issues with a very difficult technical section of the course. However, as she has done several times this summer already, Hanlen applied the blowtorch on the third lap, gapping out to a lead that she stretched and then protected through to the win. Hanlen, like Australian McConnell doubled her championship haul with this Oceanias win, adding this to her 2012 National Championship title. Both Hanlen and Joseph now pack up for the long trip to South Africa for the first round of the UCI World Cup next weekend, where they will continue their rivalry in the lead-up to potential selection for the London Olympics.

Tomorrow is the final day of Oceanias competition, with the Downhill race taking place in the afternoon, after Cross Country Eliminator racing is run at lunchtime.

Oceania Cross Country Results

Oceania Mountainbike Championships Day 1, Super D Wrap: Sam Shaw Cleans Out

Chris — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 08:27:46 +0000

The first day of Oceania Mountainbike Championship action finished today in the Whakarewarewa Forest in Rotorua. The afternoon Super D event was run in brilliant conditions, with a varied, quality field taking on some of Whaka’s best and most well-known trails. A wide range of racers were represented, with several of NZ’s top Cross Country athletes getting a chance to stretch their legs against some of the areas best trail riders and downhillers before racing the XCO tomorrow.

U23 local Sam Shaw won the Senior Mens race in style in the quickest overall time of the evening. Shaw had dealt with some mechanical issues during practice, but raced a clean, calculated run to outpace his competition on a course that turned out to be a superb test of fitness and nerve. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed athletes contained a vast amount of combined experience between them – Byron Scott (Auckland), Craig Pattle (Rotorua) ex Elite and international class downhill athletes, and John Kirkcaldie (Taupo) returning from a six year retirement after a stellar career on the US NORBA circuit. Shaw was more than a match for their experience however, and a five second margin was his buffer for the inaugural Oceanias Super D.

Raewyn Morrison (Kapiti) had already claimed the National Championship Super D title earlier this summer, and added the Oceania Senior Womens title to her swag today in Rotorua. Morrison withstood a strong challenge from Auckland’s Sasha Smith, taking a solid ten second win. Other category winners of note were Jamie Nicoll (Nelson) who like Morrison added the Oceania title to his National Championship title in the Masters 30-40, and locals Pete Calnan (Masters 40+) and Connor Hamilton (Juniors) winning well in their respective classes.

Tomorrow’s Cross Country racing features a very strong Australian presence, with major challenges in store for New Zealand’s best multi-lap athletes across all categories. Racing starts at 10.30am for age group categories, with the U19 Men/Women, and U23 Women racing at a rescheduled time of 1pm, with the Elite Men/Women, and U23 Men racing at 3pm.

Oceania Super D Results

Oceanias XCO Schedule Change

Chris — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 17:14:59 +0000

A change has been made to the afternoon race schedule for Saturday’s XCO race day. U19 Men, U19 Women and U23 Women will now start at 1pm, with the Elite Men, Elite Women and U23 Men starting at 3pm.

The Commissaires communique is here, with a revised timetable here.

2012 UCI Oceania Mountainbike Championships About to Launch

Chris — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 07:28:28 +0000

The 2012 edition of the southern hemispheres most important mountainbike race is all set to go this weekend, in the Whakarewarewa Forest in Rotorua. The RaboDirect Oceanias event, presented by Nature Valley returns to New Zealand every second year, and its status continues to grow as the highest level domestic mountainbike event for all of the Oceania countries represented.

Rotorua is no stanger to hosting high level international mountainbike events – last hosting the Oceanias as a lead-in event to the 2006 World Championships. Many of the same organising crew are involved for local hosts the Rotorua Mountainbike Club, and a great deal of pride is taken with ensuring the event is up to scratch and worthy of the support of Oceania’s best mountainbike athletes. Tremendous local support has kicked in behind the club this year, with major backing also coming from the Rotorua District Council – always on board for anything mountainbike related in this riding destination.

Action begins in earnest on Friday, with the Super D event taking place during the afternoon and early evening. Best described as a downhill endurance event, Super D commonly draws the best cross country and downhill exponents together on a course that evens out the playing field for both. This is only the second time Super D has been run at a national level in New Zealand – trialled recently and successfully at the National Championships in Nelson at the end of January. The Oceania Super D has also drawn Taupo’s John Kirkcaldie out of retirement – Kirkcaldie was a trailblazing downhill racer in the late 90′s and early part of this century, retiring from competition at the conclusion of the Rotorua World Championships. A multi-time NORBA champion, the lure of Rotorua and competiton couldn’t be resisted, and the racing community will welcome back one of their own this Friday.

Saturday is Cross Country race day, with plenty at stake for Oceanias U19, U23 and Elite athletes after age group categories have raced in the morning. The Oceania ranking points on offer at this event always give the athletes a big boost going into the World Cup season, and several of Australia’s top multi-lap exponents have travelled to Rotorua to try to wrest those ranking points away from New Zealand’s best on their home turf. Being deep into Olympic qualification for both countries adds another dimesion to the competiton, and especially in the Elite Womens race, where the head to head rivalry between National Champion Karen Hanlen and Beijing Olympian Rosara Joseph will be front and centre again. Australia’s Chris Jongewaard and Paul van der Ploeg return to New Zealand this summer, having raced at the first NZ MTB Cup event in Dunedin mid January, but bring with them Lachlan Norris, Sid Taberlay and Daniel McConnell – creating a formidable challenge for Mike Northcott, Carl Jones and the rest of New Zealands top Elite Men. Guam’s Derek Horton may be the dark horse in this field, and some brutal racing will sure to be on offer. Also worth following will be the Under 23 Mens event – National Champion Dirk Peters leads New Zealands charge, with a number of quality athletes also making the trip from Australia.

Sunday is Downhill race day and a strong field will have had a day and a half’s practice under their belts before racing against the clock at 2pm. George Brannigan and Matt Scoles will lead the New Zealand challenge, Brannigan fresh off a win at the final round of the NZ MTB Cup. While several of New Zealand and Australia’s top World Cup athletes are not in Rotorua, already off shore prepping for next weekends first World Cup event the quality of Oceanias Downhill competiton is still very high. Several athletes who have been making podiums throughout the NZ MTB Cup this summer are racing, and the likes of Kieran Bennett, Reuben Olorenshaw, and Wyn Masters should provide more than enough pace at the top of the Elite field to provide a block against the Australian racers. Sarah Atkin will be aiming to keep her stunning unbeaten record intact this weekend in the Elite Womens race, and the Under 19s will provide major excitement with several top Australian and New Caledonian athletes aiming to upset the New Zealanders in the Whaka Forest.

Running during the lunch break of Downhill competition is the Cross Country Eliminator event. Four riders head to head around a 650m long cross country style course, in a knock-out style format is all action. Like the Super D, this event was trialled at the recent National Championships and Rotorua has a challenging course ready for action on Sunday. Just as with Kirkcaldie’s return in the Super D, the Eliminator has drawn another top athlete out of mountainbike retirement – this time 2004 World Champion Vanessa Quin, who has been dabbling with track racing in between raising a family for the last few years. Quin has been missed around the mountainbike circuit since her retirement from the sport, and will be unreservedly welcomed back in Rotorua.