Large kiwi contingent named for UCI MTB World Championships
Forty-one riders from New Zealand have been confirmed to compete in respective 2024 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships on both sides of the Atlantic in the coming weeks.
There are 27 riders to compete in cross-country, short track and downhill world championships in Pal Arinsal, Andorra later this month, staged in the municipality perched in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain.
The cross-country team is led by Paris Olympians Sammie Maxwell (Decathlon Ford) and Sam Gaze (Alpecin Fenix), with a large group competing in downhill, led by current junior world champion Erice van Leuven.
The championships run from 26 August to 1 September with e-mtb world championships and XCO team relay on 26 August; Junior women and men’s downhill on Thursday 29 August; junior women and men XCO on Friday 30 August followed by short track (XCC) for under-23 and elites; elite women and men downhill on Saturday 31 August and under-23 and elite cross-country on 1 August.
There are 11 riders named for the UCI Enduro World Championships at Val di Fassa in Trentino, set in the Italian Dolomites, with both EDR and E-EDR races set for 14 September. The team is led by current series world No 3 ranked Charles Murray, the Specialized rider from Christchurch, and experienced Nelson LIV Cycling star Rae Morrison.
There is interest in the appearance of current junior downhill world champion Erice van Leuven, who has had world cup success with enduro in the past, and plans to take on the enduro worlds after downhill.
New Zealand has three riders heading to the UCI MTB Marathon Cross-Country World Championships in Snowshoe, West Virginia USA from 21-24 September.
They are led by Oceania marathon champion Samara Sheppard, who was sixth in the marathon world championship race in Scotland last year.
The New Zealand teams are:
Cross-country (XCO), Junior women: Millie Donald (Kapiti Coast). Junior men: Hunter Adams (Hamilton), Eddie Adams (Alexandra), Fletcher Adams (Hamilton).
Under-23, male: Ethan Rose (Christchurch, Trek Future)
Elite female; Sammie Maxwell (Taupo, Decathlon Ford). Elite male: Sam Gaze (Cambridge, Alpecin Fenix).
Downhill (DH), junior male: Luke Wayman (Christchurch, Gravity Cartel), Oli Clark (Kaikoura, Union Sinter), Seth Stylie (Wanganui, The Alliance), Tyler Waite (Hawkes Bay, Yeti-Fox Factory), Oliver Nicholls (Ashburton), Rory Meek (Queenstown, MeekBoyz Racing), Ryan Hastings (Rotorua). Reserves: Wyatt Stevens-McNab, Rennie Falconer.
Female: Sacha Earnest (Auckland, Trek Factory), Bellah Birchall (Rotorua), Eliana Hulsebosch (Tauranga, Union), Erice van Leuven (Wellington, Commencal les Orres).
Elite male: Wyn Masters (New Plymouth, Gravity Cartel), Toby Meek (Queenstown, MeekBoyz Racing), Lachlan Stevens-McNab (Rotorua, Union), Tuhoto-Ariki Pene (Rotorua, MS Intense), Sam Blenkinsop (Christchurch, Zerode), George Brannigan (Hawkes Bay, Kenda NS Bikes UR), James Macdermid (Hamilton, The Alliance). Female: Jess Blewitt (Queenstown, Cube Factory), Jenna Hastings (Rotorua, Pivot Factory).
Enduro (EDR): Male: Matt Walker (Kawerau), Brady Stone (Marin, Nelson), Dylan Waghorn (Feilding), Charles Murray (Specialized, Christchurch), Edward Masters (Pivot Factory, New Plymouth), Nils Heiniger (Christchurch), Lachie Ross (Upper Hutt), Joe Millington (Yeti-Fox, Rotorua).
Female: Rae Morrison (Nelson, LIV Racing), George Swift (Nelson, Yeti-Fox), Erice van Leuven (Hutt Valley, Commencal les Orres).
Marathon XCO: Cameron Jones (Nelson), Caleb Bottcher (Palmerston North), Samara Sheppard (Wellington).
Selected but withdrawn: MTB XCO and DH: Anton Cooper, Ben Oliver, Kate Hastings, Poppy Lane, Brook Macdonald, Kalani Muirhead. EDR: Matthew Fairbrother, Jenna Hastings (Rotorua). Marathon: Josie Wilcox (Nelson), Ruby Ryan (Rotorua)