News

Blair and King take honours in round one of the All Mountain Cup

Category: News

Published Date

Written by Paul Aubrey

Andrew Blair (NSW) and Jenni King (VIC) claimed the overall individual victories in the first round of the All Mountain Cup at the 2011/12 MTBA National Series at Perth’s Goat Farm at the weekend. 

The All Mountain Cup saw the country's best riders cover three events over two days - Cross Country Olympic (XCO) format, Cross Country eliminator (XCE) and Super D formats, with the time being combined from all stages to determine the final general classification. 

After Saturday's Cross Country Olympic (XCO) format, Sunday commenced with, XCE, which had riders seeded in a time trial followed by exciting side-by-side elimination racing.  The first two riders in each heat progressed to the next round, culminating in a final of four riders.  The second event of the day was Super D, a downhill time trial.

The opening XCE seeding time trial saw close racing across all grades.  The fastest time of the morning was set by elite rider Joshua Carlson (NSW – 2min 12 sec), who edged out flying U23 rider Cameron Ivory (NSW - 2:15) and Sid Taberlay (TAS - 2:18). Jenni King continued to dominate the women’s field setting a time 2:37.  The tightest racing was in the undecided U17 Male category; local rider Reece Tucknott (WA) started on the front foot by recovering 5 seconds of his 20-second deficit to leader Hamish Prosser (ACT).

The four-rider heats proved for interesting racing across all categories.  Jenni King was quick off the line and lead from start to finish to take out victory in the elite women’s category ahead of Sarah Holmes (SA) and Jodie Willett (QLD).

In the U23 men, Mitchell Codner (NSW) demonstrated his preference for short format racing, taking a convincing win ahead of Luke Fetch (VIC) and Sebastian Jayne (NSW).  In the closely contested U17 category, both Hamish Prosser and Reece Tucknott failed to take advantage of the time bonuses on offer.

The elite men’s category saw exciting racing across all heats.  Sid Taberlay failed to qualify for the final after crashing in the semi-final.  Ben Henderson, Joshua Carlson, Peter Hatton and Andrew Blair all lined up for the final dash around the 1.0 km course.  Carlson got the jump off the line and was never challenged; he comfortably took victory ahead of Ben Henderson and Peter Hatton.

The afternoon’s Super D was a time trial from top to bottom, along a steep and challenging 2.0 km course.  The elite riders were tipped to come in just below the 4-minute mark.  Only Joshua Carlson was able to sneak inside the mark with an impressive time of 3:56. Carlson was one of the few riders in the elite field with international experience in the Super D format and lived up to the pre-race favorite tag.  Local rider Dave Nairn(WA) took second ahead of Ben Henderson (ACT).

There were no surprises in the elite women’s field; Jenni King continued her weekend of domination taking out the Super D.  On Saturday she “had no idea what Super D was” but it made no difference.  The race for second place was very close with Jodie Willett just edging out a fast finishing Rosemary Barnes for third.

The fastest U23 rider was Jack Haig (VIC), Cameron Ivory came out in front of Mitchell Codner for second by under a second.

After a tough weekend of racing it was Saturday XCO that decided the podium for the All Mountain Cup.  In all elite categories the XCO winner walked away with the All Mountain Cup series leader plate.  Luke Fetch will be the rider to watch in the U23 category throughout the season.  Both Blair and King had strong performances that bode well for the remaindered on the All Mountain Cup.

Blair had a nervous day of race, “I was relieved to take the overall victory.  The Super D and eliminator were short but potentially dangerous disciplines.  I was really happy to make it into the final of the eliminator, it was a good way to not just be completely conservative and get our there and have some fun racing.”

The Super D was a high stakes race, a crash or puncture could have devastating consequences.  Blair was “definitely scared about keeping it upright in the Super D, I was just happy to get down and post an OK time and not take too many risks.”

The next round of the All Mountain Cup is at Mt Buller on the 21^st and 22^nd of January.

Overall General Classification

Elite Male

   1. Andrew Blair NSW  1:47:35.12

   2. Sid Taberlay TAS  1:49:04.56

   3. Joshua Carlson NSW  1:50:36.43

   4. Ben Henderson ACT 1:53:03.83

   5. Nick Both NSW 1:54:06.98

   6. Craig Cooke WA 1:56:51.88

   7. Jarrad Burrell WA 1:58:02.46

   8. James Kennedy WA 1:59:41.76

   9. Andrew Fellows QLD 2:00:07.94

  10. Ivan Jeffery NSW 2:08:21.13

Elite Female

   1. Jenni King VIC 1:46:37.95

   2. Jodie Willett QLD 1:51:14.46

   3. Jenny Fay NSW 1:55:52.63

   4. Rosemary Barnes ACT 2:04:34.03

   5. Sarah Holmes SA 2:13:31.19

   6. Claire Garcia-Webb WA 2:14:19.38

Under 23 Male

   1. Luke Fetch VIC 1:32:01.6

   2. Mitchell Codner NSW 1:34:34.72

   3. Michael Crosbie VIC 1:37:14.35

   4. Cameron Ivory NSW 1:39:48.44

   5. Robbie Rhodes WA 1:40:47.93