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Results and Reports for April 13-14, 2002

Australia

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Tasmanian MTB state series

Trevallyn, April 13, 2002

By Sam Denmead
Tasmania wrapped up its MTB summer season yesterday, April 13, 2002, with the final of four state series events. (A fifth was unfortunately cancelled.) This double points round was held at Trevallyn in Tasmania's northern city of Launceston.

A strong field of around 60 entrants made their way from all corners of the state to the event, pleasing race organisers, the Dirt Devils, of Hobart.

Launceston turned on the weather with a gorgeous sunny 20 degree day. The course itself was a combination of long, dry, energy sapping uphills and fast and furious rocky technical descents. Much of the race was on firetrails but had some fast windy singletrack thrown in for good measure.

Cross Country
In the expert men, asserting his mountain biking dominance was Australian champion Sid Taberlay. Sid won the event hands down from his nearest rival, rising star Jai Crawford. Two punctures saw would-be third placer, Mark Leis, relegated to fifth, and finish his fourth lap on foot. Potential forth placer, Simon van der Aa, lasted about 90 seconds before his tyre side wall burst sending him back to the start to watch from the sidelines.

These mechanical disasters opened the way for local rider, Trevor Innes, to finish third. Due to double points being awarded this placing resulted in a shake up of the overall winners with Trevor taking home the third place trophy behind Sid Taberlay and Jai Crawford. Sid's final round victory was not enough to see him take the overall winners trophy, he was beaten outright by Jai Crawford on points.

Of coming second to Jai, Sid said, "It didn't worry me, I didn't go in two of the races'. When asked about his current form, Sid said he was happy to finish far enough ahead to not feel pressured, "I haven't done much training lately as I've had the flu and I really felt like I was working on the big uphill".

In the sport men category, a strong field battled it out with Sam Thompson riding well despite a heavy fall early on and finished up third in the state titles overall. First place overall went to Scott Clements with newcomer Simon Barnes taking the second place trophy.

Youngest entrant, 10 year old, Jack Pitt, completed a good lap of the course with his Dad, Andrew Pitt, blitzing the field in the veterans cross country.

In the juniors, Simon Dance performed well, continuing his consistent cross country performance this summer. Awarded overall winner, he was given a good run for his money by Will Short coming in second and Rob Rolls not far behind in third.

In the women's category, newcomer, Sam Jesney pipped the experienced Eleanor Paterson for second place overall. Sam finished second in the women's sport category yesterday with Eleanor the sole expert competitor. Overall cross country winner was Cathy McAuliffe who did not even compete yesterday due to race organising commitments.

Down Hill
Cathy also added a trophy to her collection for second place overall in the women's downhill event just behind Sam Jesney in first place on points.

The down hill event yesterday produced some great results from an upcoming field of enthusiastic young riders. In the sub-junior category, brothers Sam and James Jackson battled it out for second and third places but overall, it was Brendan Sumpton, although he didn't beat the Jackson brothers in the final round, took the winners trophy for his three firsts during the season.

The juniors flew down the rocky course, some leaving major skin behind on the trail. Caine Kannon has kicked some serious junior butts this season with a huge points total and was presented the series junior winners trophy. Coming in behind him were Martyn Fry and Jarrod Sampson.

Expert downhillers Stuart and Simon French also tussled for places overall and their tie for second on points may see a fight for who gets pride of place on the mantelpiece. Outright winner was the consistent Dale Barker. On the day, a turn for the books saw James Potter flying on the downhill to beat both Stuart and Simon and finish the final race of the series with a winner's grin and a funky Dirt Devils t-shirt too.

On a final note, good luck wishes go to Sid Taberlay, Jai Crawford and Mark Leis who will be mixing it up with mountain biking's best in World Cup races in Europe this May. It's great to see three Tassie boys doing so well and this well-deserved opportunity should speak volumes to the international MTB scene about Tasmanian mountain biking. We wish Sid well with his Commonwealth Games team selection endeavours.

Results

Cross Country
 
Expert Men
 
1 Jai Crawford
2 Sid Taberlay
3 Trevor Innes
 
Sport Men
 
1 Scott Clements
2 Simon Barnes
3 Sam Thompson
 
Veterans Men
 
1 Andrew Pitt
2 Richard Medhurst
3 Bill Chilvers
 
Junior boys
 
1 Simon Dance
2 Will Short
3 Rob Rolls
 
Sub-junior boys
 
1 Nathan Earle
2 Jack Pitt
 
Women
 
1 Cathy McAuliffe
2 Sam Jesney
3 Eleanor Paterson
 
Downhill
 
Expert Men
 
1 Dale Barker
2 Simon French/Stuart French
 
Sport Men
 
1 Sam Thompson
2 Patrick McEldowey
3 Al Pinkard
 
Junior boys
 
1 Caine Kannon
2 Martyn Fry
3 Jarrod Samson
 
Sub-junior boys
 
1 Brendan Sumpton
2 James Jackson
3 Sam Jackson
 
Women
 
1 Sam Jesney
2 Cathy McAuliffe