Claire Baxter races through the
rough terrain of the Mountain
Bike track.
Day Two—Adelaide’s Chris Jongewaard has won the National Mountain Bike Championships at Mount Beauty in Victoria by an insurmountable margin.
The reigning champion, who recently competed at the Bay Series criteriums, broke away from the group to take a strong lead, leaving rivals in his dust.
“Doing the Bay Crits (criteriums) definitely helped me here today as it was the same sort of effort required here today,” he told MTB Media.
Athens Olympian, Sid Taberlay followed through in second place, unable to keep up the pace which saw him in first place the previous day.
In a mad dash to the finish line, Melbourne’s Chris Winn scraped through to place third, with Canberra’s Dylan Cooper following in fourth position.
Both Mr Taberlay and Mr Jongewaard are hot contenders for positions at the Games.
Perth’s Jill Burston dominated the women’s competition, pulling ahead early and claiming the number one finish.
Melbourne’s Niki Fisher was the second place finisher, coming in just one second ahead of Mount Beauty local Tory Thomas.
Winners of both the men’s and women’s competition gain automatic selection for the Games. Australia will field three competitors in each of the men’s and women’s Mountain Bike competitions.
The Commonwealth Games Mountain Bike competition will take place at the State Mountain Bike Course at Lysterfield Park on 23 March.
Day One--Tasmanian Sid Taberlay sped past Adelaide’s Chris Jongewaard with two laps to go to beat the reigning champion.
“I’m happy with how the form’s going and hopefully form can continue from here,” Mr Taberlay told ABC Sport.
Sydney’s Josh Flemming came in third, keeping himself firmly in selectors’ sights for a Games placement. Mr Flemming, also an Athens Olympian, scored second place at the Games selection trials in Lysterfield.
In the women’s competition, Melbourne’s Dellys Starr took first place ahead of fellow Melburnian Claire Baxter. Tory Thomas, a Mount Beauty resident, followed through in third.
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