Australians place 14th in World Championship XC Team Relay

Photos: Matt Rousu and Piper Albrecht

The Team Relay has changed from a 5 rider to a 6 rider race. It needs to involve a male and female rider from Elite, U23 and U19. Australia's team was made up of:

Dan McConnell
Zoe Cuthbert
Ruby Dobson
Katherine Hosking
Sam Fox
Jack Ward

Matt Rousu was track side with his camera and gave us some good intel as well.

'Therelay was good and the Aussies all rode really well. Obviously we would have placed better if Bec rode but she has bigger fish to fry this week.'

There are benefits to doing the relay, as it can blow out the cobwebs and clear soem race nerves. It also lets you see the course at race pace. But it still burns a match.

'The race itself was pretty topsy turvy, well even more topsy turvy than usual. It looked like France and Italy were going to duke it out all race long until the junior French woman Tatiana Tournut crashed and snapped her seat off.'

'It looked like she was continually hitting her leg and was clearly in pain. Kudos to her for completing the lap, rider of the day material.'

This crash changed the lead at the front, as Matt details.

'This opened the door for Switzerland who started pretty slow but just kept moving up through the field all race before the one and only Nino Schurter took them to gold. Italy held onto 2nd and once again the USA show just how good they are at relay racing coming in 3rd.'

The Team Relay is a gruelling event. Just because you do one lap doesn't make it easy – it means you empty the tank – and the mix of riders makes it pretty wild. Who remembers seeing Zoe Cuthbert being chased down by Nino Schurter in Lenzerheide in 2018? What a race!

'Every Aussie rider mentioned they were just gassed at the end,' Matt added. 'Sam Fox said the last descent was interesting with jelly arms and legs. Jack Ward put his hand up for the U19 mens role and rode the 7th fastest junior time to keep us in the mix.'

'Zoe was caught in traffic for most of her lap, continually changing positions with those around her but still managed the 8th fastest Elite woman's time. Ruby Dobson had her first international race and was battling with top U23 World Cup winning riders in her lap, a stellar performance! Katherine Hosking had to contend with Anne Terpstra, Caroline Bohe, Hayley Batten and a charging Pierre de Froidmont during her lap, not easy watching the Worlds best climb past you… Dan the man brought us home with classic McConnell style, the heart and soul of the xc team. 14th in the World!'

Full results are available on the UCI website.

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Downhill Practice
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