New Zealand riders dominated the UCI Oceania MTB Championships cross-country in Queensland.
Kiwi riders won both female and male titles in elite, under-23 men, and under-19 men and women races to record an outstanding sweep for the visitors at the Mt Cotton course, south of Brisbane. National champion Anton Cooper leads a 21-strong New Zealand contingent across the Tasman for the 2024 UCI Oceania MTB cross-country championships in Queensland. The event carries continental ranking points, as elite kiwi riders chase qualification for the Paris Olympics, with New Zealand in a close battle to qualify two male riders for cross-country, along with a qualifying slot for females. After facing wet conditions during the track walk and training sessions on Friday, the weather was in favour of athletes and trail builders alike. Exposed to plenty of sunshine throughout the weekend, the Taniwha trail in Rotorua’s Whakarewarewa forest was in pristine condition for the first Crankworx event of the year, marking both the kickoff of the Crankworx World Tour and the exhilarating 10-year anniversary of Crankworx Rotorua. Some of the world’s top athletes gathered to compete on the iconic volcanic soil of Aotearoa. Teenage MTB World Champion, Erice van Leuven is expecting a testing time when she sports her rainbow jersey at the Torpedo7 MTB National Championships in Queenstown this weekend. The Under-19 Downhill World Champion believes her competition among the junior gravity riders at Coronet Peak on Sunday will be akin to a world cup contest. Van Leuven will compete against fellow kiwis Poppy Lane and Sacha Earnest, who joined her on the world championship podium in Glasgow last year.
Two rainbow jerseys amid a bunch on international professionals will be on display at the 2024 Torpedo7 MTB National Championships at Coronet Peak in Queenstown this weekend. There are 270 riders who will contest the two-day championships with cross-country races on Saturday, ahead of downhill competition and the second national short-track XCO titles on Sunday. It is the second straight year that the championships have ventured south, with the Queenstown MTB Club providing support for the Coronet Peak organisation and the Cycling New Zealand events team.
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