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Wrap-Up: Real Insurance All Mountain Cup Round 3 at Stromlo Forest Park, ACT

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Written by Tony Scott

Super D - Friday

The Real Insurance All Mountain Cup was at the halfway point as it rolled into the ACT. Jenni King (VIC) sat unbeaten in any race in the women's racing, and Andy Blair held the lead in the men's based on some very consistent performances. In Mt Buller, we saw the return to the season of two of our top cross-country riders, Dan McConnell (VIC) and Bec Henderson (ACT), and both sent signals to the field with some great results. The Stromlo round saw the return of one of our most successful riders of the last decade, four-time and reigning National Champion, Chris Jongewaard (SA), just to add some intrigue to what was already destined to be a great weekend of racing.

With the All Mountain Cup being an innovation for this season, riders have after two rounds adjusted to the new formats. The first change is the addition of Super D as a Friday race, and second the substitution of Point-to-Point racing on the Sunday at the expense of the Short-Course format. The final change is that rounds are now won through a "general classification" system that involves adding up the times of riders in all three events.

Friday's Super D was scheduled for 4pm, and all present were glad it wasn't scheduled for any earlier. At 3:40pm a large storm arrived, and all present witnessed torrential rain batter Stromlo. Thankfully, the storm was an isolated cell, and it passed within 20 minutes. Given no rider had yet taken to the course, a fair race was had with all riders confronting the now vastly different conditions. Interestingly, the Elite field was already at the top of the hill (apparently hiding in the transport buses, not that they'll likely admit to that), and thus they could not make the obvious tyre choices that could have slightly accommodated for the now drenched track.

Jongewaard's first appearance was a characteristically explosive one, he came down the track  mid-pack to set a time (9:57.6) that would never be bettered - he would also be the only rider to crack the 10 minute barrier.

Jongewaard said of the conditions: "There were a few puddles out there, it was hard to know which were deep, shallow or slippery. I had a few sketchy moments, but I did my best to get down as fast as possible". Jongewaard is known for his excellent performances in all cross-country disciplines as well as on the road, and he was happy with the race today to start the year: "It's always good to get a win on the board early in the season, whether it's Cross Country, Super D or Short Track".

Joshua Carlson (NSW) came into the race undefeated in Super D in the season, and he finished second only to Jongewaard (10:01.4). Carlson doesn't have a poker face, and the usually jovial rider was visibly disappointed that he'd missed out on the third win by only 3.8 seconds. With plans to race Super D in some of the biggest races in the US in 2012, he has high expectations of himself in the format. He spoke of the challenges of the Stromlo Super D course "There are so many corners, you have to be nice and sharp". Speaking of his race, and clearly judging by his own lofty standards: "I had a pretty ordinary run, I had no snap today, it just wasn't my day".

Third-placed powerhouse Paul Van De Ploeg (VIC) had hideous luck in the Super D in Mt Buller, with two flat tyres costing him not only a good Super D result but also a good general classification result for the whole weekend. Van De Ploeg had a much better better experience in Stromlo. "The course was very wet, a lot of puddles, but I pulled my run together towards the end", said Van De Ploeg.

In the women's side of racing, much buzz was around the predicted performances of local-girl Bec Henderson. Stromlo is her home track, and she takes pride in performances on it. Henderson was named the 2011 Cycling Australia Female Mountain Biker of the Year for 2011, an award that brings with it expectations. Former recipients include Olympians Mary Grigson (2000 & 2001), Lisa Mathison (2004) and soon-to-be Olympian (in BMX) Caroline Buchanan (2008-2010).  

Henderson delivered, winning in a time (11:06.0) that would be 11 seconds in front of the field. She said "I'm stoked with that, I did a practice run earlier and I wasn't happy with the way I was riding - the course was so slick (dry)". Henderson spoke of the rain actually helping her performance: "After the rain I felt comfortable on the track, and with a bit of moisture it was so much fun to ride".

Looking ahead to the Olympic year with riders vying for a potential place, Henderson kept her focus short-term for now: "It's a big year ahead for us, I'm having fun and racing well, I'd really like to give Jenny (King) a run in for her money in the XC tomorrow".

Second place in the Elite Women's race went to Jenni King (VIC), who started the day undefeated in all events across the season and will be one to watch in Saturday's Cross-Country Olympic racing. Tory Thomas (VIC) was in third.

In the U23 Men, Kyle Ward (NSW) took the win in the men's race from Jack Haig (VIC) and Trenton Day (NSW). Like Henderson, Ward also spoke of the rain helping his race "It was fun, the rain kept the track a little bit tacky and I could drift a little bit more". Ward finished in an outstanding time that would have placed him fourth in the Elite field. Amy Austin (NSW) won the women's U23 race from Jacinta Aitken (NSW).

Cross-Country Olympic (XCO) - Saturday

With Stromlo delivering a fantastic day, and the Canberra Off-Road Cyclists club delivering a blindingly fast track, a great day of cross-country racing was in store. The track was relatively short too, in the same perfect way that tracks at world cups and world championships usually are. Shorter tracks result in riders being assigned higher lap numbers (in this case, the Elite Men were to complete seven and the Elite Women had six), which makes for more exciting racing for riders and spectators alike.

The Elite Men started at a furious pace, with Dan McConnell leading the pack from the line and onto the start section. The race quickly developed a lead group of 4, with McConnell, Paul Van Der Ploeg, Sid Taberlay and Chris Jongewaard putting a small gap between themselves and the field early in the race, and staying together for some time. Lap after lap this foursome came through, sometimes in a different order, but all together and looking strong.
 
2008 Olympian McConnell was the first rider in the group to make a significant move on Lap 5. This move would ultimately prove decisive, and not only give him the win but also served to separate the top 4. McConnell talked about this: "I felt fairly strong early on, I was struggling a bit early on technically, but I put it together on the climb - I was able to open up a bit of a gap and then hold them off on the descent".

With the return of Jongewaard, the field seen at Stromlo will likely be a mirror image of the field we'll see at the upcoming Subaru National Championships. Talking to this, McConnell said: "It's good to have everyone here who'll be at Nationals, and to come home with the win is a positive sign".

Paul Van Der Ploeg, riding in only his second Cross-Country race in the Elite Field is proving quickly that he belongs, and belongs on the podium. Van Der Ploeg placed himself in the top 4 early and finished with an excellent second-place in only his second XCO race in Elite. He said: "It was another really good race. A bit more pack racing, at one point the front 4 of us were separated by only 2 seconds, so it was also very exciting racing".

When asked about how he felt to be mixing it up with some of our most well-known racers, Van De Ploeg reflected: "I remember when I was in U15 or U17 watching Chris (Jongewaard) and Sid (Taberlay) race race in (the National Season in) Eildon so it's really good to be up there with them and fighting it out for the podium". One can only wonder how many of the current crop of U17 & U15 riders are watching the Elite racing and seeking inspiration from the explosion of Van De Ploeg onto the Elite scene.

Sid Taberlay is almost the elder statesman of the Elite field, and has been mountain bike racing at a National level for 15 years. Third was a good result for Taberlay today given he had to stop on course to rectify mechanical issues: "I guess I took a couple of laps to find a bit of a rhythm and get going. After closing the gap to the front 3 riders I had a little bit of a mechanical issue that I had to stop to fix, and then I had to close the gap again".

In the Elite Women's race, Canberra local young gun Bec Hendseron was determined not to have to ride through the field as she did in Buller. With this in mind, she blasted off the start to take a commanding lead for the first two laps, starting a pace fast enough to almost stun the rest of the field. "I wanted to have a good strong start, to try riding off the front, I wanted to go out hard and put the pressure on the other girls" said Henderson.

Tragedy struck during lap two, with Henderson having the first of what would eventually be 4 tyre-issues during the 6 lap race. "I'm not sure, I must have been a bit rough through a couple of the rock sections on the longer descent. I changed the front tyre (in the technical zone), and then the back went flat". Henderson would end up in a credible fourth despite spending much time stopped working on her bike.

Jenni King was second to Henderson for the first two laps, and rode on to the win after riding past a stationary Henderson during one of the mechanical issues. While dominant on paper, today felt tough to King: "I really struggled with that course actually, it's kind of a power course, I think Bec would have had a really good day, I was a bit lucky to get the win today".

The win is somewhat amazingly King's seventh win from the eight starts during this Real Insurance All Mountain Cup season. Taking an understated approach, King said "It's good to see my form is pretty good two weeks out from the National Championships".

Katherine O'Shea, the reigning National Champion finished in second place. "Positions changed quite a bit, Jenni Fay and I had a really good battle - it was pretty much a sprint race every fire road, and it was a good track out there". Jenny Fay (IRL) would end up in third, and also talked of the to-and-fro battle with O'Shea: "It was pretty hard actually, I wasn't expecting such a fast race, it was so close with Katherine, we had quite a fun race".

In the Under 23 Male category, Luke Fetch (VIC) had a sprint-finish win by 0.4 of a second from Robbie Hucker (VIC), with Jack Haig (VIC) in third place. In the women's Under 23, Amy Austin (NSW) had a confident win from Jacinta Aitken (NSW).

In the youngest of the international categories, the Under 19 Male, Billy Sewell (NSW) rode his way to a win by over a minute from Ben Bradley (TAS) and Benjamin Forbes (QLD). In the Under 19 Female race, Holly Harris (NSW) won from Emily Parkes (NSW) by just under a second after a race-long battle culminating in a sprint finish. Local rider Kyna Millan (ACT) finished in third place.

Point-to-Point - Sunday

Despite Sunday's race ultimately deciding the winner of the weekend, Day 3 brings a different feel to the village. Maybe it's the fact that the stress of Saturday's XCO is over, or maybe riders are just a little tired from the two days of racing? Whatever the reason, on Sunday everything seems a little more relaxed - until the gun goes off that is.

In the Men's, McConnell carried his form from Saturday's win in the Olympic Cross-Country (XCO) race, starting hard off the front and then maintaining his first place throughout the race. "It's good to back up after yesterday, it was a little bit harder today with some fatigue in the legs". He spoke of his strategy "I was able to get away on the climb, and I knew a fair few of the tracks well so I was able to ride it pretty smoothly to the finish".

McConnell's win gave him the win the in the general classification for the round - he is the winner of Round 3 as he was in Round 2. He said: "My weekend kicked off well with the Super D, I rode it pretty conservatively. Yesterday I won my pet event (the XCO), and I was able to put some time in coming in to today, where I attacked from the start".

His general classification win, in conjunction with the dominant ride in the XCO on the Saturday, likely makes him the rider to beat in the National Championships in a fortnight in Adelaide "My form should be pretty good for that, I still think the race is looking fairly open but I'm looking forward to it".    

Second place went to evergreen Sid Taberlay (SA) who spoke of the challenging Stromlo trails: "I've always struggled a little bit here in Canberra, it's just the surface, there's a fine line between being upright and being on the ground". Looking at the bigger picture with the Australian and International seasons both building, Tablerlay said: "It was good today, I'm starting to find some form which is good with nationals in a couple of weeks and the first world cups a few weeks after that".

Paul Van Der Ploeg (VIC) capped off a strong weekend with a third place in the point-to-point. Speaking to him, one clearly sees his single-minded focus on the fast end of the field: "It was a good race out there today, Macca (McConnell) rode away from me, and for a while I was accidentally blocking Sid but through the Feed zone but he gassed it and I was fairly tired after yesterday's effort".

Many are keen to see how the young-gun will go in his first National Championships race in the Elite field. His plans between now and then: "A good week of training this week and then I'll taper, it's a good track for me there, I've always had fairly consistent races in Adelaide".

Andrew Blair (NSW) maintains his overall season lead, "It's always fun to race at home, I had some pretty good form and really enjoyed the racing". His focus is now on winning the overall season "I'm focusing on the series, trying to retain the lead, so I need to be consistent".   

In the Elite Women's race, Bec Henderson (ACT) was pressured the whole way by Jenni King (VIC) but came away with the win. After the disappointment of 4 flat tyres in Saturday's racing, Henderson said "It doesn't quite make up for yesterday, but it's good to get a win on the board and know that my form's good enough to compete with the other girls".

Henderson spoke of her race: "I had a bit of home track advantage, but Jenni was probably riding better than me, she was well and truly holding my wheel on the technical corners". The key move for the race happened on a climb as it often does. "After the feed zone, there was a steep long fire-road, she (King) put the pressure on so I counter-attacked and that's where I got away".

Jenni King, the dominant Female rider for the whole season finished in second place today to Henderson but had her third consecutive season round win: "It was fantastic, I came to Canberra expecting Bec Henderson to be tough to beat on her home course, she's also in flying form at the moment, to be racing against her and to win overall is really good".

Looking forward to the last round in Awaba, King, who has won 7 from 9 events so far is understandably positive: "I'm pretty confident going into the final round that I can win the series overall, and that was the aim, to be consistent".

Katherine O'Shea (VIC), the reigning Cross-Country National Champion had a challenging race to secure third place: "It started pretty intense, a few attacks but it was a good course, I really enjoyed it".

In the Under 23 Male Point-to-Point race, in the male's Jack Haig (VIC) had a close win from Robbie Hucker (VIC) with Trenton Day (NSW) in third. Hucker won Round 3 overall, while Luke Fetch (VIC) maintained his overall lead in the season. In the Under 23 Females, Amy Austin (NSW) won Point-to-Point race and also took the overall win for the round from Jacinta Aitken (NSW). With her win, Austin also moved into the season lead.

Looking to the Under 19 Male race, Billy Sewell (NSW) took the Point-to-Point win and the win for the overall weekend from Ben Bradley (TAS) and Benjamin Forbes (QLD). With the win, Sewell also takes over the series lead. In the Female category, Emily Parkes (NSW) won the Point-to-Point and the weekend overall from Karuna Henderson (ACT), she too with this weekend's win assumes the mantle of season leader.  

The final round of the Real Insurance All Mountain Cup is at Awaba on March 2-4. All race information from this weekend and for the whole season is available at the Real Insurance 2011/12 Australian MTB Season website.