Mountain Bike Olympians, Anton Cooper and Sammie Maxwell chalked up their 10th and 5th cross-country national titles respectively in Rotorua today.

Cooper returned to the winner’s podium after spending much of last year out with illness to lead home the elite men’s competition while Maxwell dominated the women’s competition after recovering from illness last week.

The pair of kiwi professionals will now head across the Tasman for the UCI Continental Series in Canberra ahead of the Oceania Championships as the lead-in to the start of the UCI World Series in Brazil.

Cooper, who rides for the Lapierre Racing Unity professional team, edged away from Auckland’s Matthew Wilson on the second lap- and continued to extend his lead, winning in 1:34:09 in dry and warm conditions in the Whakarewarewa Forest. He finished 1m37s clear of Wilson with Taupo’s Coen Nicol nearly 3mins back in third.

“I didn’t know what to expect today, having not raced at this level for quite a while. I knew my form in training had been quite good but translating that to race performance is a different thing,” said Cooper.

“I felt strong all day and Matt (Wilson) was super-strong. I was able to attack him over the top on the second lap and kept on it from there.

“Ten elite national title is pretty special, and five in the age categories so I have a few of these jerseys now and hopefully it is not the last one.”

It was more emphatic for Maxwell, the Decathlon Ford professional, who was in a class of her own to win in 1:32.49 with former national champion Josie Wilcox from Nelson 6:42 back in second with Christchurch’s Marie Laurie a further two minutes in arrears in third.

Maxwell was pleased with her fifth national elite title, at just 23 years of age, and after recovering sufficiently from illness last week.

“The body was feeling alright but the energy levels were lacking a bit, so I am happy to walk away with the Fern again,” said Maxwell.

“We have some good UCI points for us in the Continental Series in Australia next weekend before a final training black ahead of Oceania Champs and then the start of the international series. So I am pretty excited.”

The national championship focus switches to downhill tomorrow with the XCO riders likely to also contest the XCC sprint event in Rotorua.

Results, XCO National Championships:

Female, Elite: Sammie Maxwell (Decathlon Ford, Taupo) 1:32.49, 1; Josie Wilcox (Nelson) at 6:42, 2; Marie Laurie (Christchurch) at 8:55, 3.

U15: A Junge (Christchurch) 44:31, 1; A Naismith (Jafa Kids) at 2:27, 2; K Nasmith (Jafa Kids) at 2:29, 3.

Under-17: B Stewart (Taupo) 1:11.08, 1; S Archer (Wanaka) at 21s, 2; N Wallace (Rotorua) at 44s, 3.

Under-19: K McMillan (Te Miro) 1:17.30, 1; J Junge (Christchurch) at 1:35, 2; D Copeland (Tauranga) at 13:28, 3.

Male, Elite: Anton Cooper (Lapierre Racing Unity, Christchurch) 1:34.09, 1; Matthew Wilson (Auckland) at 1:37, 2; Coen Nicol (Taupo) at 2:58, 3.

Under-15: G Fisher Taupo) 1:00.19, 1; I Wilson (New Plymouth) at 2:08, 2; H Skerman Manawatu) at 2:18, 3.

Under-17: L Gear (Rotorua) 1:09.51, 1; W Talbot (Christchurch) at 4:29, 2; S Lawson (Auckland) at 5:44, 3.

Under-19: J Climo (Te Miro) 1:21.42, 1; F Adams (Te Miro) at 4:08, 2; T Mollison (Rotorua) at 8:50, 3.