News

Brosnan and Hannah the Champions in the Real Insurance Gravity Cup

Sunday, 4th March 2012

Written by Tony Scott

Troy Brosnan (SA) and Tracey Hannah (QLD) have won the 2011-12 Real Insurance Gravity Cups in the Elite DownHill category.

Read more: Brosnan and Hannah the Champions in the Real Insurance Gravity Cup

Blair and King win the Real Insurance All Mountain Cup

Sunday, 4th March 2012

Written by Tony Scott

Andrew Blair (NSW) and Jenny King (VIC) have won the season-long Real Insurance All Mountain Cup in the Elite categories.

Read more: Blair and King win the Real Insurance All Mountain Cup

Taberley and Gorrell ride to Cross Country wins in the Real Insurance All Mountain Cup at Awaba

Saturday, 3rd March 2012

Written by Tony Scott

Sid Taberley (TAS) and Lindsay Gorrell (NSW) rode strongly through exceptionally challenging conditions to take the wins in the second stage of the Real Insurance All Mountain Cup at Awaba today. 

Read more: Taberley and Gorrell ride to Cross Country wins in the Real Insurance All Mountain Cup at Awaba

Brosnan, King and Blair in the box seat as Real Insurance Australian MTB Season reaches peak in Newcastle

Thursday, 1st March 2012

Written by MTBA Media

All eyes will focus on the best mountain bikers in the country racing in the final round of the Real Insurance Australian Mountain Bike Season in Newcastle this weekend (March 2-4).

The season that began in Perth in November has travelled to Thredbo, Mt Buller and Canberra, through all kinds of challenging terrain and conditions.

The revamped Real Insurance Australian MTB season was divided into two halves for season 2011/12, with the Gravity Cup encompassing the DownHill side of the sport, and the All Mountain Cup providing the stage for the cross-country riders to battle on.

In the men's side of the Real Insurance Gravity cup, reigning dual Junior World Champion and newly-crowned National Champion Troy Brosnan (SA) is leading the season by a dominant 79.5 points from former triple Elite World Champion Sam Hill (WA).

With 120 points on offer for the Gravity Cup in Newcastle, Brosnan will be the clear favourite to take the Cup, a phenomenal achievement in his rookie season in Elite.

2006 Junior World Champion Tracey Hannah (QLD) has already won the women's Gravity Cup with a safe151 point leads. And while the recently crowned National Champion will not be present due to international commitments, she will leave both the mountain bike community and her competitors in awe of her flawless undefeated season in her return to the sport.

Michelle Crisp (NSW) and Trudy Nicholas (ACT) sit in a close second and third respectively, and are expected to have a great battle in Newcastle.

In the All Mountain Cup, experience is shining throug with two of Australia's senior riders currently in the lead, with Andrew Blair (NSW) holding a 33 point lead from 2004 Olympian Sid Taberley (TAS).

With 80 points up for grabs, Taberley would need to find some of his best form to attempt to reel-in Blair, who after an excellent first two rounds of the series reconfigured his goals and has focussed on maintaining his lead to win the Cup. Talented Josh Carlson (NSW) will be racing to defend his third and possibly push for a second-place with  some excellent results.

Jenni King (VIC), will be racing in the green and gold stripes after winning her first National Championship last weekend in Adelaide. It's not as if King needed more confidence coming in to Newcastle, as she has also wrapped up the Real Insurance All Mountain Cup with an unassailable lead of 125 points.

King is having the summer that most athletes only ever dream of, winning 8 out of 11 Elite National races she has entered, and will be racing in Newcastle to put the icing on the cake of her best ever season.

Every second will count for resurgent Jodie Willet (QLD) and Jenny Fay (IRL), sitting in second and third place in the season respectively. Willet is a slender 9 points in front of Fay.

Racing will be take place at Awaba Mountain Bike Park, a purpose built facility at Mount Fork Road Cooranbong.

This is the first time that a round of the Real Insurance Australian MTB Season has been held in the Hunter region, with the excellent reputation of the Awaba tracks and the growing reputation for mountain biking in the Hunter combining to make for an exciting weekend.

All Awaba trails have excellent vantage points with trail-side access. With dynamic viewing and free entry, the general public are welcome to come and see the most skilled riders in the country battle it out for the Real Insurance Australian MTB Season.

Friday will see a Cross-Country time-trial to kick-start the All Mountain Cup, with All Mountain riders then racing on Saturday an Olympic-format cross-country race and finishing on Sunday with a 25km point-to-point race. Gravity Cup riders will complete seeding runs on Sunday afternoon with racing taking place on Sunday. 2011/12 Australian MTB Season website here:

Event Details:
 
Real Insurance All Mountain & Gravity Cup Rounds 4
March 2-4, 2012
Awaba Mountain Bike Park
Onley State Forest, Cooranbong NSW
Schedule (PDF)  |  Course Maps  |  Official website
 
Thursday Night Registration and Entry session
Will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Wharf Road Newcastle from 7 - 9pm in the Breakwater Boardroom.
 
All new entries made on Thursday - Saturday  to the Real Insurance All Mountain and Gravity Cups in Awaba will be accepted at the discounted pre-entry cost = a massive 25% discount of the full entry fee.

Troy Brosnan and Tracey Hannah reign supreme at the Subaru Specialized 2012 Australian MTB Championships

Monday, 27th February 2012

Written by Stuart Plant

Troy Brosnan (SA) and Tracey Hannah (QLD) both had outstanding races to win the Subaru Specialized 2012 Australian MTB Championships this afternoon at Eagle MTB Park in Adelaide.

Local Brosnan, the reigning dual Junior World Champion, and was competing in his first championship-level race in the Elite field. He’s been dominating the Elite field during the National season races, and today was almost business-as-usual for the young professional. 

Speaking on how it feels to win his first Australian Championship, Brosnan said: “I’ve always wanted to win it in Elite and to do it in my rookie year, it’s pretty amazing”. On winning at home: “Massive that my friends & family are here, it’s the icing on cake”. 

With only one rider on track at all times, Brosnan could hear the information from the start about all who went down the track in front of him. “It was a bit daunting to hear Sam’s time, I knew I needed to have the perfect fun. I tried to stay calm and hung it all out there”. 

Brosnan’s transition from Junior to Senior has been astonishing. He spoke now of enormous but yet completely realistic goals for his first year in the Elite international field. “This win is a huge confidence builder going into the World Cups, I’m now heading to the first World Cup in South Africa aiming for the win”. 

Second-placed Sam Hill (WA) has been steadily progressing from an injury-affected year in 2011 and came away from the Championships happy with his form. 

“My race was good in the loose and dusty conditions, a good weekend overall”, said a positive Hill.

He brushed off any talk of his injuries “I’m feeling pretty good, my shoulders aren’t giving me any real trouble, I’m feeling healthy, looking forward to the international season”.

Hill, when asked about the challenges being laid down by his team-mate and friend Brosnan, said “There’s no stress, it’s been good battling in the National Season, and I’m looking forward to racing at Awaba again next weekend”. 

The podium was rounded out by Rhys Willemse (QLD) in a time of 2:01.92.

Former Junior World Champion Tracey Hannah last won the Australian Championship back in 2008, and barely competed again until late 2011. In what has been a comeback that any athlete could only dream of, Tracey today continued her dominance of the sport since her return at this week’s Subaru Specialized Australian Championships.

Tracey was streets ahead of the Australian women’s field, and also finished in front of international legend and US National Champion Jill Kintner (USA) and Shelly Flood (VIC) on her way to the title.

Hannah was ecstatic “It feels amazing, it just couldn’t be better”.

Knowing Kintner was so close in the seeding runs, Hannah said “I adjusted a few things today and tried to get as much speed as I could. I had a lot of determination on my side, pedaling wherever I could”. 

Hannah has had the ideal preparation for her assault on the World Cups: “I want to be as calm as I can, not be too overwhelmed and I’ll be aiming for a top 5 at the first World Cup in South Africa”.

In the Under 19 racing, as the clouds closed in so did Connor Fearon speeding through to defend his U19 title taking his 4^th championship win (since U17’s) in 2:02.15. 

“In defending my title I definitely felt more pressure but each win the win feels so much better after all the training’

Connors’ family have been supportive throughout and key to the overall running of such a successful event.

‘Now I’m competing along with the Elite in the World Championships, I really hope my training places me into the top 30. Connor finished a notable fourth outright on the day and surely has a promising future ahead.

For the women, Under 19 rider Danielle Beecroft was racing without competition, but Beecroft is fast in her own right and focused on an assault on the world season in 2012. Beecroft’s time of 2:25.01 when compared to the Elite Females racing on a wetter, faster course would have still placed her in the top 3. 

‘I really would have wanted to cut my time by a further 2 seconds from my seeding time. ‘My ultimate goal and dream is to win a World Cup.’ 

Van der Ploeg and Henderson take cross-country short course crowns at the Subaru Specialized 2012 Australian MTB Championships

Sunday, 26th February 2012

Written by Mark van Aken

Paul van der Ploeg and Rebecca Henderson have taken the cross-countryshort course crowns at the Subaru Specialized 2012 Australian MTB Championships today at Adelaide’s Eagle MTB Park.

Read more: Van der Ploeg and Henderson take cross-country short course crowns at the Subaru Specialized 2012...