MTB

Kiwi mountain bikers impress in World Cup in Germany

By Cycling New Zealand


Anton Oliver manoeuvres his way down the technical descent in the
under-23 race at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Albstadt, Germany. 
Credit: Andreas Dobslaff/Cannondale.


New Zealand mountain bike stars Sam Gaze and Anton Cooper enjoyed top-10 finishes in the second round of the UCI World Cup in Germany overnight.

It was also a much improved effort from national champion Kate Fluker who finished in the top-20 in the elite women’s race after an aggressive start in Albstadt, a demanding course noted for its testing climbs along with narrow and technical descents.

Gaze, who was fifth in the opening round in the Czech Republic last week, finished seventh just over two minutes behind winner Pablo Rodriguez (ESP). The Cambridge rider was pushed back to ninth early on but forged his way forward to a respectable seventh placing.

Cooper, the Commonwealth Games champion, was looking to bounce back from his 20th placing last weekend. The North Canterbury rider started aggressively from further back on the grid, forcing his eighth on the first lap before settling in 10th place and finishing strongly to be just under a minute behind Gaze.

“It was a much much better ride. I am very happy to be on the rebound. It’s onwards and upwards from here,” Cooper said.

Wellington’s Jack Compton finished in 50th and North Canterbury’s Ben Oliver in 54th, while Rotorua’s Amber Johnston was 45th in the junior women’s race.

Fluker from Queenstown faced a tough assignment at Albstadt, starting back in 48th on the grid after failing to finish in the opening round.

The national champion impressed with an aggressive start, jumping six spots in the first lap, nine in the second and 10 in the third lap to push up to 23rd placing. She managed to hold her pace from there to finish 20th, five minutes down on winner Jolanda Neff (SUI).

Superstar Julien Absalon (FRA) won his record 30th World Cup title in the elite men.

The crosscountry World Cup takes a break until the third round in Switzerland on 4 July, giving way to the gravity riders to compete in the second round of the downhill world cup at Fort William, Scotland this weekend, following by Leogang, Austria next week.

Details: www.cyclingnewzealand.co.nz