The appointment of the Altherm Mountain Bike National Championships to Dunedin and host club Mountain Biking Otago, headlines the announcement of the mountain bike event calendar for the 2020 season.
Cycling New Zealand, Mountain Bike New Zealand (MTBNZ) and Cycling New Zealand Schools have worked in collaboration to establish the event calendar which includes the Altherm MTB National Championships, the MTBNZ National Event Series, featuring the North Island and South Island Cross-country Championships and rounds of the popular National Downhill Series, and the Cycling New Zealand Schools Mountain Bike Championships.
Cycling New Zealand CEO Jacques Landry said it was exciting for New Zealand’s premier mountain biking event to head to the South Island again, to be held on the weekend of 24 -26 January 2020.
“We are delighted to be heading to Dunedin and our team are looking forward to working with Mountain Biking Otago to build on the success of the 2019 event in Rotorua.
“We know the capability of the club and are buoyed by the strong support we have received from them, and the city as a whole. We’re confident of delivering a world-class experience for all riders.”
This will be the first time in over a decade that the National level event has been held in Dunedin who have more recently hosted the Oceania Championships and a number of schools championships.
The six MTBNZ events are spread across the country, with an even split between the North and South Islands.
The first two rounds of the downhill series will be on consecutive weekends in Bluff (Southland MTB Club) and Coronet Peak (Queenstown MTB Club) in January, before venturing north to Rotorua (Descend Rotorua) and Dome Valley in Auckland (AKDH Club) on consecutive weekends in February. The South Island Championships will be held in January in Timaru (South Canterbury MTB Club) and the North Island cross country Championships held in February in Arapuke (Manawatu MTB Club) again.
Chris Arbuckle, President of MTBNZ, said it was awesome to work with affiliated clubs across the country again to host rounds of the MTBNZ National Series, with historic (Bluff and Coronet) and new locations (Timaru) now hosting events.
“The aim of the MTBNZ event series is to support our clubs to gain event capability to build their resources and deliver national-level events.
Cycling New Zealand Schools Chairman Brynn Gilbertson shared Arbuckle’s excitement in both the quality and number of clubs putting their hand up to be involved in sanctioned events at all levels.
“All three sanctioned Schools events received multiple expressions of interest. We are delighted to be award events to both new and returning hosts who we are confident will continue to deliver great racing, riding and social experiences for our school's riders.
“Schools cycling has shown incredible growth over the past few years so it’s fantastic that we have clubs putting their hand up to experience hosting these larger events.”
Bike Methven (Methven) and PNP (Wellington) have been recognised for their work in 2019 with confirmation that the South and North Island events will be returning to these respective clubs and venues in March.
The Cycling New Zealand Schools National Mountain Bike Championships will be hosted in the Northland town of Paihia, less than three hours north of Auckland, in partnership with Waitangi MTB Park, Kerikeri MTB Club and Sport Northland who will be offering cross-country, enduro and downhill events at the community mountain bike park designed by Jeff Carter from Southstar Trails.
There were no applications received for a National Marathon Championships.
An announcement regarding the venue and date of the Oceania Championships and Enduro National Championships will be made by the end of October.
Full calendar:
Altherm MTB National Championships – Mountain Biking Otago (Dunedin) - 24-26 January 2020
MTBNZ National Series DH 1: Southland MTB Club (Bluff, Invercargill) – Sunday 12 January 2020
MTBNZ National Series DH 2: QMTBC (Coronet Peak, Queenstown) – Sunday 19th January 2020
MTBNZ National Series DH 3: Descend Rotorua (Rotorua) – Sunday 9th February 2020
MTBNZ National Series DH 4: AKDH (Dome Valley, Auckland) – Saturday 15th February 2020
MTBNZ North Island XCO Championships - Manawatu MTB Club (Arapuke) – Sunday 2nd February 2020
MTBNZ South Island XCO Championships - South Canterbury MTB (Timaru) – Sunday 19th January 2020
Cycling New Zealand Schools North Island MTB Championships – PNP MTB Club (Wellington) – 28-29 March 2020
Cycling New Zealand Schools South Island MTB Championships – Bike Methven (Methven) - 27 – 29 March 2020
Cycling New Zealand Schools National MTB Championships – Kerikeri MTB Club (Waitangi) – 3 -4 October 2020