The 600m vertical drop Fringed Hill course on Nelson's backdrop had been eagerly anticipated by the New Zealand Mountain Bike Cup competitors for some time. In what is a rare opportunity to race on such a long course, the level of competition in all categories showed a quality and depth which represents the strength of this popular sport in New Zealand.
Friday's practice day was tough - Trek World Racing's Justin Leov summed up the approach needed for such a draining challenge.
"Again it's super hot here, and there's dust a foot deep covering a lot of the steeper sections of the course," said Leov. "Arm pump was an issue today and managing energy tomorrow will be key. It's going to be a sketchy race run in these conditions and over five minutes for the winning time I'd say."
Leov's prediction on time wasn't far off, but sub-five minute race run times became the revised target when six riders went quicker than that benchmark after their first opportunity to post seeding times against the clock.
Leov seeded quickest in the Elite Men's category with times extremely tight given the massive race course, and Brook MacDonald (MS Evil) was nipping at his heels only fractions of a second off his pace.
Leov backed his fast seeding time up in the race run, going three seconds quicker and holding off a pack of quality riders for the win. 2007 Junior World Championship bronze medalist Mat Scoles (Cingolani Protone) rode to his best result of the season to finish second, and 2009 Junior World Champion MacDonald was right in the mix again this week in third.
In the elite women's race, Harriet Harper (Santa Cruz) couldn't convert her fast seeding time to a race win after failing to finish, with Emilie Siegenthaler (Scott 11) seizing the opportunity to win at this Nelson double header.
Junior under 19 winner Reuben Olorenshaw impressed all weekend to crush his competition, and continues to show the kind of form through this series that may signal a big future in the sport. Seeding fifth quickest from all competitors, Olorenshaw raced to an overall sixth in his race run which deservedly placed him in the prize money pool among vastly more experienced elite riders.
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Elite Men
1
Justin Leov
0:04:46.46
2
Matthew Scoles
0:04:48.41
3
Brook Macdonald
0:04:50.49
4
Nathan Rankin
0:04:52.38
5
Cam Cole
0:04:55.87
6
George Brannigan
0:04:56.16
7
Kieran Bennett
0:05:02.10
8
Edward Masters
0:05:03.16
9
Gerard Wolfe
0:05:03.17
10
Rupert Chapman
0:05:06.29
11
Hayden Lee
0:05:06.92
12
James Dodds
0:05:07.22
13
Hajime Imoto
0:05:07.68
14
Reon Boe
0:05:09.63
15
Ewan Doherty
0:05:10.48
16
Joseph Nation
0:05:10.66
17
Sam Baker
0:05:11.06
18
Tim Mackersy
0:05:13.05
19
Daniel Mailink
0:05:13.69
20
Matt Walker
0:05:16.76
21
Daniel Heads
0:05:20.49
22
Thomas Jeandin
0:05:20.90
23
Richard Leacock
0:05:22.75
24
Reuben Miller
0:05:26.88
25
Freddie King
0:08:28.59
26
Tom Matthews
0:09:52.46
DNF
Dan Sims
Row 26 - Cell 2
DNS
Rob Venables
Row 27 - Cell 2
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Elite Women
1
Emilie Siegenthaler
0:05:56.02
DNF
Harriet Harper
Row 1 - Cell 2
Swipe to scroll horizontally
U19 Men
1
Reuben Olorenshaw
0:04:55.96
2
Daniel Franks
0:05:03.40
3
Reece Potter
0:05:10.15
4
Nick Bygate
0:05:17.52
5
Zach Baker
0:05:21.18
6
Hunter Jenkinson
0:05:22.92
7
Louis Hamilton
0:05:23.88
8
Jake Robinson
0:05:23.94
9
Mat Prior
0:05:28.11
10
Kurt Mcdonald
0:05:28.76
11
Tim Adams
0:05:28.79
12
Dan Mccombie
0:05:29.08
13
Warrick Trompetter
0:05:33.46
14
Brandon Ransfield
0:05:34.77
15
Joel Tunbridge
0:05:39.64
16
Lukas Chalmers
0:06:36.91
17
Lloyd Jenks
0:07:13.03
18
Mark Shillingford
0:08:03.39
19
Ricky Hamilton
0:09:06.56
20
Adam Mcclintock
0:09:50.75
DNF
Ben Brakenridge
Row 20 - Cell 2
DNS
Alex Faulkner
Row 21 - Cell 2
Swipe to scroll horizontally
U17 Men
1
Kurt Summerfield
0:05:25.06
2
Josh Mccombie
0:05:31.29
3
Harry Chapman
0:05:34.46
4
Michael Melles
0:06:02.03
5
Andy Wilson
0:06:13.50
6
Jake Paddon
0:06:21.15
7
Alfie Simmons
0:06:26.25
8
Cameron Hancox
0:06:28.37
9
Raphael Kammlein-Cutler
0:06:30.43
10
Toby Walker
0:06:32.56
11
Lewis Mcewan
0:08:00.40
12
Alex Collings
0:08:20.22
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Senior Men
1
Bryn Dickerson
0:05:00.59
2
Jake Boylett
0:05:05.05
3
Tom Winwood
0:05:09.19
4
Nick McConachie
0:05:12.75
5
Jimmy Pollard
0:05:13.33
6
James McConachie
0:05:16.93
7
Kurt Lancaster
0:05:17.73
8
Dominic Stulen
0:05:18.70
9
Leighton Kirk
0:05:23.04
10
Adrian Loo
0:05:27.10
11
Nick Mead
0:05:27.45
12
Carl Edmondson
0:05:27.71
13
Kieran Thompson
0:05:31.06
14
David Balderstone
0:05:32.20
15
Orion Daley-Coers
0:05:32.92
16
Cam Johnson
0:05:34.52
17
Allie Diamond
0:05:40.17
18
Jon Stout
0:05:47.18
19
Tristan Ratcliff
0:05:47.81
20
Russell Paver
0:05:48.31
21
Ben Tyas
0:05:50.34
22
William Mathieson
0:05:52.75
23
Guy Hewitt
0:05:59.92
24
Mike Reader
0:06:01.52
25
Oscar Tatom
0:06:11.04
26
Bungeye Mathews
0:06:22.43
27
Scott Taylor
0:06:27.19
28
Lindsey Rush
0:06:36.13
29
Brandon Sbordone
0:06:45.31
30
Jeff Austin
0:09:13.70
DNF
Tyrone Price
Row 30 - Cell 2
DNF
Olly Morris
Row 31 - Cell 2
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Master 1 Men
1
Derek Winwood
0:05:13.48
2
Hayden McKay
0:05:16.84
3
Boyd Grinstead
0:05:27.61
4
Ricky Pincott
0:05:31.51
5
Craig McGinnity
0:05:35.01
6
Nick Sutcliff
0:05:40.06
7
Shaun Hodges
0:06:05.65
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Master 2 Men
1
Darryn Henderson
0:05:53.81
2
John Baddiley
0:06:20.46
3
John Boylett
0:06:23.86
4
Sean Cox
0:07:17.43
5
Vaughan Love
0:07:23.12
6
Mike Stylianou
0:07:38.70
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Hardtail Men
1
Scott Bedford
0:05:58.05
2
Ben Walker
0:09:26.67
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Open Women
1
Amanda Pearce
0:06:55.71
2
Pippa Holdom
0:08:22.79
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Junior Women
1
Sophie Tyas
0:06:05.02
2
Sarah Atkin
0:06:08.21
3
Veronique Sandler
0:06:49.37
4
Phoebe Coers
0:08:31.46
Swipe to scroll horizontally
U15 Boys
1
Connor Sandri
0:06:19.16
2
D J Holmes
0:06:54.75
3
Hayden Melles
0:06:59.41
4
Joshua Botting
0:07:52.39
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Sweeper
1
George Diver
0:06:38.40
DNF
Johannes Neumeier
Row 1 - Cell 2
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!