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Wildside MTB - NE

Tasmania, Australia, January 19-22, 2008

Photos

Stage 7 - January 22: Hells Gates, 36km

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Images by Rick Eaves Photography

• Sid Taberlay went for a gutsy solo breakaway along Ocean Beach, but he was beaten by a puncture in 2008.
• Wildside 2008 champion Adrian Jackson sits safely in the chasing pack on Ocean Beach knowing that breakaway leader Taberlay would not be able to overhaul him. Speedster Dan McConnell (Vic) and Tasmanian Ben Mather take a turn in the wind.
• Tassie Grant Rowbottom looks to be feeling the pinch as the pace quickens along Ocean Beach.
• A media helicopter gets a great view of riders streaming along the 34km long Ocean Beach near Strahan yesterday.
• Not everyone busts a gut on the last day. Kristy Douglas (Tas) and Neil Kinder (Vic) find Hells Gates far more pleasant than it's reputation suggests.
• A fisherman lands a salmon at Macquarie Heads, near Strahan, as Wildside competitors stream past on their quest for the day 4 finish.
• This fisherman had a little extra entertainment.
• Two racers distracted by a fish.
• A rider goes over the bars but finds a soft sand landing on day 4 of Wildside. Luckier than some!
• Hugh Murray Walker of NSW leads one of several chasing packs along Ocean Beach yesterday. Beautiful Mt Heemskirk is in the background.
• Garry Clark, 62, from Albany, West Australia, became a hero to many on this year's Wildside. With only months to live and eight months of chemotherapy on his inoperable brain tumour as preparation. He rode the 2008 Wildside with a strength and goodwill that was truly uplifting.

Stage 6 - January 21: Granville Harbour, 22 km

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Images by Nic Deka /www.wildsidemtb.com

• Adrian Jackson held his lead in the GC today.
• Sid Taberlay took another stage win, but it won't be enough to make up his deficit in the overall.

Images by Rick Eaves Photography

• Catherine McKay of NSW, a veteran women's competitor launches from a motorcross jump near the end of the Zeehan Time Trial section.
• Talented Tasmanian Keith Macqueen is mad enough to ride a singlespeed bike for the full four days of Wildside...
• ...this is also the second time he has donned a Borat mankini to protect him from gravel rash.
• Young Victorian tyro Daniel McConnel smashed Taberlay's Zeehan Time Trial record.
• Riders take in the spectacular view of Ocean Beach as they descend into Trial Harbour during a cruising stage.
• There are normally about fifteen people at Trial Harbour. The more than 450 Wildsiders readying for a mass start in the shack town created something of a biblical scene.
• Tasmanian Douglas Miller rides a treacherous gravel downhill near the end of the Spray Tunnel Time Trial stage on day 3 of Wildside.
• Craig Rosevear comes over the verge of a steep climb near the end of the Spray Tunnel Time Trial.
• Paul Karis of NSW digging for the finish of the Spray Tunnel time trial in Zeehan.
• Jack Mullally of Queensland gets the technique right through the motocross course at Zeehan. Wildside Time Trial stage.
• Jason McAvoy from Canberra literally jumps Tasmanian Gavin Wakefield near the end of the time trial stage in Zeehan.
• Riders rolling contentedly towards the wild coast of Trial Harbour on the post time trial cruise.
• Gravel rash!

Stage 4 - January 20: Montezuma Falls, 35km

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Images by Nic Deka /www.wildsidemtb.com

• Adrian Jackson is the new GC leader after stage 4.
• Ben Mather finishes the stage and now sits in second overall in the GC.
• Sid Taberlay overcame punctures in recent stages to win stage 4.

Stage 3 - January 20: Sterling Valley, 14km

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Images by Rick Eaves Photography

• Time to rise and shine.
• The clouds are lifting - a good sign.
• There is lots of preparation to be done before today's racing.
• On the Sterling Valley rainforest stage, Victorian Matthew Patten guns it into the tricky downhill.
• Nikolas Preece (Tas) on the technically difficult descent, Sterling Valley stage.
• Getting ready.
• Team talk against the backdrop of Western Tasmanian mountains on day 2 of the Wildside.
• Five times champ Sid Taberlay contemplates his diminished chances prior to day 2 racing. A puncture on day one virtually put a fifth title out of reach.
• Tullah, beautiful morning, on day two of the Wildside.
• Race leader Adrian Jackson (Vic) flying through the rainforest on day 2 of Wildside.
• Tamanian Ben Mather (2) tells the lunch crowd at Rosebery how he grabbed the Sterling Valley stage with a gutsy ride.

Stage 2 - January 19: Que River, 19km

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Images by Rick Eaves Photography

• Sid Taberlay at Que River. He says he's just cruising but he's still a good chance for a fifth Wildside title.
• Riders stream through an alpine meadow S-bend shortly after the stage one start near Cradle Mountain.
• Tasmanian Kim Curtis flying through the rainforest on the Que River competition stage.
• Campbell Junior, from New Zealand, suffered a puncture fifteen seconds after the start of the race... luck of the Kiwis anyone?
• Stephanie Russel from Western Australia gleefully eyes the finish of her first Wildside stage at Cradle Mountain.
• Open competitor Alan Bolton, from Victoria, gets some air near the stage one finish at Cradle Mountain.
• Riders emerge from amidst giant myrtle forest on the Que River competition stage.
• Nathan Wilson of Victoria bursting through the Que River rainforest stage.
• One rider, one photographer.
• Five times Wildside champ and multi Australian XC champ Sid Taberlay... that's him on the car as well!
• Racers compete for the hole shot at the start of the stage.
• Tasmanian Stuart Keep is one of Sid Taberlay's up-and-coming challengers in Wildside 08.
• A rider is concentrating fully.

Stage 1 - January 19: Cradle, 16km

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Images by Rick Eaves Photography

• It was a wet start to Wildside at Cradle Mountain yesterday.
• Overseas riders got a kick out of seeing an extroverted echidna... It wandered right through the middle of the morning muster of 450 plus riders at Cradle Mountain.
• Andre Vogel of Queensland burning up a Tasmanian Alpine meadow track on stage one of Wildside.