National champion Sammie Maxwell earned her first podium and Oceania champion Anton Cooper fought back for his first top-10 of the season at the UCI Mountain Bike World Series in Leogang, Austria today.
Auckland’s Matthew Wilson (Team Talley’s – NZ MTB Collective) joined the top performances with an impressive 10th placing in the U23 Men’s race on the final day of round three of the series which focussed on four cross-country races up the super-steep climbs in Leogang.
Taupo’s Maxwell, 21, the two-time overall elite national champion, worked her way through the pack from the second row start. While Denmark’s Heby Sofie Pedersen cleared out, the kiwi rider pushed hard in a small group, before a final battle with Swiss rider Ginia Caluori over the closing two laps.
Maxwell, the NZ MTB Academy rider, climbed superbly to push in front of her rival and held her off in the sprint finish for second.
This follows two top-10 finishes in previous World Cups and sees her move up to fifth overall in the championship standings.
“The performance was really good today. I was really happy with my performance and mentality,” said Maxwell.
“The steep climbs worked in my favour. I made the most of those sections so I could go to the front and control the pace for the decent which is probably where the girls around me were making time. So the ability to use those steep climbs was my biggest factor.
“It is always crazy coming from New Zealand. You spend your whole season training but you honestly have no idea where you stand. So coming here and to hold your own against some top riders is important.
“This is a good confidence-boost, especially seeing the progress from eighth, to sixth to second – I am more stoked about that progress than just the podium itself.”
The final race saw Cooper hoping to take advantage of his front-row start following eighth place in the short-track race earlier in the week.
However he broke his saddle only 100m after the start, managing to ride for two laps before coming in to make the change to replace the seat and seat-post. Cooper pushed on up the steep climbs to move up to eighth over the last two laps for his first top-10 of the season for the Trek Factory professional.
Swiss rider Lars Forster held off Luca Schwarzbauer (GER) for the win with several leading riders including champion Nino Schurter, not in contention over the Leogang course.
The result sees Cooper rise to 13th on the world standings.
Auckland’s Matthew Wilson had another strong performance in the junior men’s race, finishing 10th, less than two minutes behind winner Adrian Boichis (France).
The Team Talley’s-NZ MTB Collective rider produced a strong performance on the tough Leogang course, which boasts the steepest climbs on the circuit, riding consistently in the top-10 throughout in an encouraging performance against the best under-23 riders in the world.
He has moved up to 18th overall in the world cup standings for junior men.
Canterbury teammate Ethan Rose was best of the rest of the kiwi riders in 33rd place, 4:15 down on the winner.
There is little break for mountain bikers with both downhill and cross-country riders in the next round of the UCI World Series in Val di Sole, Italy in two weeks.
Results:
Cross-country – u23 women: Heby Sofie Pedersen (DEN) 1:05.09, 1; Sammie Maxwell (NZ MTB Academy – Taupo) at 1:08, 2; Ginia Caluori (SUI) at 1:10, 3. Other NZers: Mia Cameron (Team Talley’s) at 7:36, 31; Ruby Ryan (Rotorua) at 10:40, 51; Amelie Mackay (Team Talley’s) 1lap, 56; Annabel Bligh (Team Talley’s) 2laps, 61.
u23 men: Adrian Boichis (FRA) 1:06.54, 1; Dario Lillo (SUI) at 12s, 2; Luke Wiedmann (NED) at 38s, 3. Also NZers: Matthew Wilson (Team Talley’s - Auckland) at 1:57, 10; Ethan Rose (Team Talley’s – Christchurch) at 4:15, 28; Caleb Bottcher (Rotorua) at 7:51, 66; Jacob Turner (Team Talley’s - Christchurch) at 10:35, 86; Adam Francis (Palmerston North) at 11:09, 89; James Officer (Team Talley’s – Taupo) at 2laps, 109; Bailey Fredericksen (Whakatane) at 2laps, 111.
Elite women: Puck Pieterse (NED) 1:16.38, 1; Mona Mitterwallner (AUT) at 38s, 2; Laura Stigger (AUT) at 56s, 3. Also NZ: Mary-Ann Moller (Wellington) at 3laps, 75.
Elite men: Lars Forster (SUI) 1:17.41, 1; Luca Schwarzbauer (GER) at 14s, 2; Ondrej Cink (CZE) at 23s, 3; Also NZers: Anton Cooper (Trek Factory – Christchurch) at 1:21, 8; Ben Oliver (MitoQc- North Canterbury) at 10:57, 78; Sam Shaw (Rotorua) at 1lap, 93.