National Champ Outclasses Olympians
National Cross Country rider, Chris Jongewaard from Adelaide, won the National Mountain Bike Series round held in Geelong today. Despite unexpected rain, Jongewaard led from the first of five laps winning in an overall time of 2.hours 9 min 17 sec. A top class field was assembled including three Olympians, Beijing’s Dan McConnell (Bruthen) and Athens Olympians Sid Taberlay (Hobart) and Josh Flemming (Bendigo).
Jongewaard was unchallenged throughout the race and surprised himself after recently returning from a five week lay off.
“I just went out and wanted to have a good workout. I did fade in last three laps,” admitted Jongewaard. “My front brakes went so I just took it easier on the downhills.”
Jongewaard said the granite tracks at the You Yang’s Regional Park held up surprisingly well despite the deluge.
“It was horrendous conditions but it’s probably the track I would rather ride in the wet,” Jongewaard said. “The conditions didn’t affect the race results overall.”
Second was Aiden Lefmann (Brisbane) and third was Under 23 rider Nathan Haas (Canberra). Jongewaard now takes over the series lead after winning the first round in Adelaide. Haas takes the series lead in the Under 23 division.
Melbourne‘s Katherine O'Shea from Port Melbourne won the elite women’s race proving her growing ability. The 29 year old only started cycling after taking part in a talent identification program. Now O’Shea is one of five women riders in the "Dirt Roads to London” program aimed a developing depth in Australia’s mountain bike riders. Prior to this O’Shea was a softball representative.
Second was Brisbane's Jodie Willett and third was Jo Wall (Bendigo). Wall and O'Shea are both members of the "Dirt Road to London" program as well as hailing from Bendigo and members of the newly formed TORQ team.
The women raced over four laps of the 6.1 km circuit. O'Shea's time was 1 hour 59 min and 48.7 sec a full one minute ahead of Willett. However Willett retains the series lead after winning the first round and placing second in the next two rounds.
There are five national series events with the remaining two being held in Mt Buller at the end of January and Hobart at the end of February. The national championships over Australia Day weekend will be held on the 2009 World Championships course in Canberra.
Sharon Payne
Media Manager
Mountain Bike Australia
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Originally Posted by Curlz12
