MTB

Games medallists head mountain bike team for world championships

By Cycling New Zealand

Commonwealth Games medallists Anton Cooper and Sam Gaze will head a 30-strong New Zealand team to the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships.

The championships for both cross-country and downhill will be staged at Vallnord in Andorra from 1 to 6 September.

The elite cross country riders are chasing qualifying points and selection to the Rio Olympics, while the gravity riders are looking to again force their way into contention.

Cooper, the Commonwealth Games gold medallist, was the best of the Kiwi cross-country riders at last year’s world championships, finishing sixth in the under-23 race, but compatriot Gaze, who won the silver medal at Glasgow, has been in top form this year finishing fifth and seventh in the opening two rounds of the under-23 category of the World Cup.

Queenstown’s Kate Fluker enjoyed a top-20 finish in the last round of the World Cup after finishing 25th at the world championships in Hafjell, Norway last year.

The New Zealand downhill riders are headed by the trio of world class professionals. They are headed by former Wanganui rider Sam Blenkinsop, who was in top form for fifth at the World Cup in Fort William, Scotland last weekend riding for new team Norco Factory, after finishing seventh in Hafjell last year.

Brook MacDonald (Trek World Racing) was the leading Kiwi on the podium in fifth at last year’s worlds, and will again be a contender along with his fellow Hawkes Bay rider and current national champion George Brannigan, who was ninth at Fort Williams.

Another heading to Andorra in form will be Taranaki’s Wyn Masters, on the back of his 11th placing in Scotland.

The New Zealand team is:

Cross country, men:

Under 23: Sam Gaze (Specialized, Cambridge), Anton Cooper (Cannondale Factory Team, North Canterbury), Ben Oliver (North Canterbury), Jack Compton (Wellington), Craig Oliver (North Canterbury).

Under 19: Paul Wright (Wanaka), Nathan Johnston (Rotorua), Harrison Mudgway (Tauranga).

Women, elite: Karen Hanlen (Whakatane), Kate Fluker (Queenstown).

Under-19: Jemma Manchester (Auckland), Shannon Hope (Dunedin).

Downhill, men:

Elite: George Brannigan (Trek World Racing, Hawkes Bay), Sam Blenkinsop (Norco Factory Team, Wanganui), Brook MacDonald (Trek World Racing, Hawkes Bay), Wyn Masters (Team Bulls, New Plymouth), Matt Walker (Rotorua), Rupert Chapman (Christchurch), Edward Masters (New Plymouth).

Junior: Connor Sandri (Oamaru), Jack Humphries (Palmerston North), Cole Lucas (Hamilton), Matt Lawton (Queenstown), Gareth Burgess (Rakaia), Mathew Gillan (Queenstown), Kim Newton (Nelson).

Women, elite: Alana Columb (Queenstown), Sophie Tyas (Auckland), Veronique Sandler (Nelson), Amanda Monk (Whakatane).

Details:www.cyclingnewzealand.co.nz