Results: Winners Edge MTB Championship Race
Neil de ste Croix (Fast Forward Bicycle Works) capped his 2013 off-road season by taking the championship title ahead of Jean-Sebastian Lareau and Che’quan Richardson (FFBW) in the Winners Edge Mountain Biking Championships held this morning [Mar 24] at Ferry Reach.
Champion de ste Croix saw early race leader Dominique Mayho (Madison) forced out with a flat tire on the fifth of six laps, removing one major competitor. Mayho had held a lead of more than one minute after two laps but this quickly evaporated with the puncture.
Mark Hatherley (Winners Edge) had suffered a puncture earlier in the race as did Phil Trussell (Madison) so that the battle for the top place was left for de ste Croix and Lareau. But by half way through the race the gap between the two was a minute and the determined victor didn’t give an inch to his rival.
In the Junior Male race, Deshi Smith (Pictured above – Team Tokio) road away from his competitors early on but flatted on his fourth lap. Being well-prepared, he was able to make the repair on course and, with a charging Daniel Hetzel coming within sight, Smith rejoined the competition and held on for a comfortable five minute gap to Hetzel in second.
Gabriella Arnold (WE) was the repeat Junior Female winner ahead of Tristan Narraway (Tokio) and Jessie Godfrey (FFBW) with Victoria Davis having to abandon the race following a crash. The Open Female category was uncontested, leaving the championship title vacant for the first time in many years.
Also held today were non-championship races for junior riders. Leading home the 13-16 race was rising MTB star Robin Horsfield (Somersfield) while Cristian Roque (WE) bested the rest of the 12 and Under group.
National Champion titles were awarded from the major races of the day and the titles now sit with Che’quan Richardson (Male Open), Gabriella Arnold (Junior Female) and Deshi Smith (Junior Male).
Full race results [PDF] follow below, enlarge for greater clarity:
- Photo courtesy of Greg Hopkins
