MTB

Columb recovers to win on hometown Queenstown course

By Sports Media NZ

Rising New Zealand gravity rider Alanna Columb had to withstand two crashes on her way to winning the downhill title at the Stonewood Homes Oceania Mountain Bike Championships in Queenstown today.

Columb, who lives in Queenstown, managed to recover sufficiently to win by just 18/100^th of a second at the Queenstown Bike Park situated at the spectacular Skyline.

It followed the successful defence of her New Zealand downhill title at Wanaka last weekend.

After posting a dominant 4:35.40 time in the seeding run, Columb decided to push harder in today’s race, hoping to take more than 10 seconds off that time.

“The track had changed a lot and was quite a bit rougher,” Columb said. “I had a small crash early and then got caught unexpectedly and had a pretty big crash near the end of the run. I broke my peak on the helmet and everyone thought it was quite funny because I had to finish basically blind.

“Even with the big crash I thought I would be in with a chance. I would have beat myself up if I didn’t win.
“Overall though it is two wins in two weeks which is a good confidence boost. I’ve got a few bumps and bruises so I will rest up and recover and then look forward to the World Cup circuit.

“The focus for me in the next few weeks will be to chase some sponsorship support so I can do the whole circuit this year.”

Columb, a former motocross rider who has only been in the sport three years, was never further back than 12^th in World Cup and World Championship competition last year and is hoping a full campaign will see her push into the world’s top-10 downhill riders.

In the final, she was timed at 4:50.61 to edge out Rotorua based Ronja Hill-Wright (4:50.79) with Australia based Kiwi Victoria Armstrong third in 5:13.48.

It was a double celebration for the Columb family with brother Scott finishing second in the Masters division, ironically edged out by less than a second for the win by former seven time New Zealand champion Nathan Rankin (Levin).

Porirua’s Bryn Dickerson, the second to last rider, claimed the elite men’s honours when he set the time to post at 3:51.84, nearly three seconds quicker than his seeding run.

Hot favourite George Brannigan, the 2015 national champion and Commencal Vallnord professional, recovered from a crash but had to settle for second in 3:54.37.

Local gravity rider Reon Boe set the early standard at 3:56.91, which was 16 seconds quicker than his seeding run, before he was pipped for a place in the top three by Rotorua based Australian  Sean McCarroll by just 0.4 seconds.

Queenstown riders continued to prosper with Simon Read winning the junior men in 3:57.5, Sam Robbie won the under-17 in 4:06.64, Cameron McLeod took out the Masters 3 division and Kathy Morris the senior women.

Attention turns to the cross-country tomorrow with Australia’s world number eight ranked Daniel McConnell defending his title against kiwis Anton Cooper and Sam Gaze while Australian Rebecca henderson, ranked 19^th in the world, defends her women’s title against home town star Kate Fluker.

Downhill provisional results:
Elite men: Bryn Dickerson (Porirua) 3:51.84, 1; George Brannigan (Hawkes Bay) 3:54.37, 2; Sean McCarroll (Rotorua) 3:56.54, 3; Reon Boe (Queenstown) 3:56.91, 4; Max Warshawsky (Australia) 3:57.85, 5.
Elite women: Alanna Columb (Queenstown) 4:50.61, 1; Ronja Hill-Wright (Roto5rua) 4:50.79, 2; Victoria Armstrong (Australia) 5:13.48, 3; Agata Bulska (Christchurch) 5:17.44, 4.
Junior men: Simon Read (Queenstown) 3:57.50, 1; Cole Lucas (Hamilton) 4:01.82, 2; Ben Karalus (Nelson) 4:04.10, 3.
Senior men: Reuben Olorenshaw (Nelson) 3:54.30, 1; Philippe Ricard (Canada) 4:01.65, 2; Troy Stewart (Alexandra) 4:03.85, 3.
Under-17 boys: Sam Robbie (Queenstown) 4:06.64, 1; Boaz Hebblethwaite (Christchurch) 4:08.89, 2; Anton Cousins (Wanaka) 4:33.37, 3.
Under-15 boys: Finn Parsons (Rotorua) 4:16.00, 1; Finn Hawkesby-Browne (Christchurch) 4:21.23, 2; Blake Ross (Auckland) 4:28.13, 3.
Masters 1: Nathan Rankin (Levin) 3:58.46, 1; Scott Columb (Queenstown) 3:59.19, 2; Tom Lamb (Queenstown) 4:12.67, 3.
Masters 2: Nicholas Sutcliffe (Christchurch) 4:34.00, 1; Ross Flexman (Auckland) 4:59.35, 2.
Masters 3: Cameron McLeod (Queenstown) 6:27.44, 1.
Senior women: Kathy Morris (Queenstown) 5:08.89, 1.

Details: www.cyclingnewzealand.nz