Trek Factory Racing Tear Stromlo Apart

Round four of the Subaru MTBA National MTB Series moved to Canberra for the start of this weekend. The dust, the rock, and the heartache of the World Cup XCO course was being dragged out of retirement to put mountain bikers to test. The course is loved by some, loathed by others. As some Canberrans put it, “yeah, we could ride those trails – but we don’t. They’re just not fun.”

The inclusion of sections like Cardiac Arrest, Hammerhead and The Three Sisters put fear amongst some riders, and despondence amongst others.

Canberra mountain bike power-duo Rebecca Henderson and Daniel McConnell monopolised the course at Mt Stromlo today.

After just one lap, Henderson had put a 32 second gap between herself and the rest of the field, which was led by Peta Mullens, who was in the Series Leader’s Jersey.

This lead more than doubled to 1 minute 10 seconds after lap two, and by lap three, her lead had virtually guaranteed her the win, Henderson regaining the Series Leader jersey in the process.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better result or a better ride for me,” Henderson said. “It’s a really challenging and technical course, which works in my favour and obviously I’ve got a bit of extra time to practice on it being a home course. I’m really trying to peak for the Oceania Championships, that’s pretty important to me, and then the National Champs.”

Jenni King  rode consistently to maintain a third place position for the entirety of the race, while Jodie Willett and Em Parkes battled it out in the final few laps, with Willett finishing the victor in the battle for fourth. Parkes had raced much of the morning in 4th, a fantastic effort.

In the U19’s, Sarah Tucknott secured victory in the heat ahead of Ebony Tanzen.

Once again, of notable mention is local 13 year-old rider Zoe Cuthbert (ACT), who rode to another Under 15 Women’s gold medal, finishing her second and final lap ranked 7th outright across all women’s fields.

The Elite Men did battle at midday, riding the same number of laps as the Elite Women due to the ever increasing heat, with McConnell gunning it from the start to complete the first lap in just 12 minutes 19 seconds.

Riding in front of current Series Leader Scott Bowden, McConnell created a gap early that would never be breached, riding to yet another win as the other riders battled for their spot on the podium.

“It was the first hot day we’ve had for a few weeks so it was a bit of a shock to the system,” said McConnell. “I really wanted to set my own pace and go out really hard, then sort of hold onto it and then get into some good lap times in the back half of the race.

“I had a fairly aggressive set up,” he added. “I was running the 36 tooth chain ring on the front, which is pretty hard on the climb so it was really important to me to dictate the pace and not be in a bunch, which is harder, but it all panned out really well.”

At the half-way mark, Bowden and Brendan Johnston were neck and neck, and they would stay this close until the final corner of the race.

A tough sprint that would last the length of the finish straight saw Johnston secure the silver in front of Bowden who retains the Subaru Series Leader jersey. Fourth place went to 2014 Subaru National Series winner Cameron Ivory with Andy Blair recording fifth.

Series Leader Liam Jeffries took out gold to record his third Subaru National Series round win a row in the Under 19s, followed by Luke Brame and Alex Lack.