New Zealand riders competing in the Australian national mountain bike Championships earned mixed results in Canberra last weekend. Eleven of New Zealand's most promising junior and two elite female cross country athletes competed at Stromlo Forest Park on the outskirts against Australia's best. All, who were part of the Mountain Bike New Zealand Athlete Development Programme, enjoyed the chance to race on the same course that will be used for the 2009 World Mountain Bike Championships in September.
In the Under 19 junior men's race, Adrian Retief raced to a solid plan within a group of four riders trying to chase down winner Michael Baker. He was rewarded for his efforts with third place, while Rotorua's Sam Shaw was two minutes back in fifth. But attrition struck two of NZ's brightest talents; Patrick Avery withdrew on his second lap due to a possible broken wrist after a nasty crash while challenging for the race lead and Dirk Peters gambled on a lightweight set of race tires which punctured on the first lap and again later on the third lap.
