Australian MTB ChampionshipsKooralbyn, Australia, February 17, 2001Men - Rowney gets his thirdOlympian, Paul Rowney, 30, set up his win in the Volvo Cross Country National Mountain Bike Championships this afternoon at Kooralbyn, Queensland by leading out with the quickest lap of the day. Just 16 seconds separated three time National Champion, Rowney from two time World Cup Champion and fellow Olympian Cadel Evans after 6 laps. Evans had reduced Rowney’s lead from 30 seconds to 17 during the last lap and had Rowney in sight. Following the race, Rowney said, "That was the hardest race of my career. Cadel made it so hard for me I was just counting the hills to the finish." Rowney now joins an elite group of two other men with three consecutive National Cross Country Titles. "To win three in a row is something special. It's awesome but I feel a bit worse for wear now." When Cadel started charging on the 5th lap I had to ride the fifth lap like my first lap. I was really worried. I didn't think I could hold it," Rowney admitted. "My mum flew up today and I didn't want to let her down," added Rowney.
Women - Grigson for fourOlympic mountain biker, Mary Grigson 29, broke a national cycling record by winning her fourth consecutive title in the Volvo Cross Country National Championships 2001 today. After a sixth place in the Olympics, Grigson said she wanted to prove she could win at Kooralbyn. "It's been a long time in coming," explained Grigson following the race after losing the title twice prior. "Now to have it is great. I would love to win it next year but at the same time the field of women is really strong, and you have to ride really hard to get the jersey." Dellys Franke came second just 2min 18 sec behind but clear of Olympic mountain biker, Anna Baylis. Grigson was the only place getter of the day who rode and won the Pheonix Hot Lap on Friday in preparation for this type of racing format in Europe later in the season. "Yes, we have to get used to doing one hard lap for seeding the next day. It was good to get this experience in Australia. ResultsExpert Men - 6 laps 1 Paul Rowney (Eastern Suburbs) 2.03.38 2 Cadel Evans 0.16 3 Craig Gordon (WSMTBC) 5.01 4 Josh Fleming 5.34 5 Perren Delacour (SORCC) 6.45 6 Garth Hennessy (Wollongong MTB) 8.53 7 Simon Bishop 9.00 8 Paul Redenbach (Footscray) 10.06 9 Mark Leis (Dirt Devils) 15.37 10 Phil Orr (Ballarat/Sobos) 15.49 11 Saul Britton (Wollongong) 18.16 12 Craig Findlow (Alice Springs CC) 18.38 13 Jay Stockwell (Hamilton) 19.02 14 Matthew Fleming (SORCC) 20.12 15 Brian Sing (Dirtriders) 21.39 16 Chad Gossert (Norwood) 22.59 17 Joerg Scheiderbauer (Austria National team) 23.59 18 David Greening (Razorback Rangers) 25.49 19 John Claxton 31.31 1 lap behind 20 Gregory Saw (Uni) 21 Adrian Proietti (Astra) 22 Ed Holinger (Dirtriders) 23 Andrew Wegener 2 laps behind 24 Christopher White (Astra) 25 Scott Finlay (Gold Coast MTB) 26 Shaun Lloyd (Southside RATS) 27 Gerard Warrillow 28 Adam Bennett 29 Scott Colquhoun (Dirtriders) 3 laps behind 30 Nathan Russell 31 Alwyn Miller (Inverell) 32 Justin Stockwell (Hamilton) 4 laps behind 33 Luke Preston (Bendigo) 34 Jordan Vogel (Gold Coast MTB) DNF Anthony Oloman (Toowoomba) DNF Scott Gregory (NRG) DNF Luke Stockwell Expert Women - 4 laps 1 Mary Grigson (Canberra Cycling) 1.39.31 2 Dellys Franke (Broadford/Seymour) 2.18 3 Anna Baylis (Caulfield Carnegie) 5.20 4 Jaci Low (Norwood) 8.47 5 Wendy Walker (Western Sydney) 10.30 6 Claire Baxter (HCYC) 16.45 7 Ann Yew 18.38 8 Jane Scheer (Cooma) 21.31 9 Maria Papadopoulos (SORCC) 25.10 DNF Tina Crowe (Inverell Wheelers) Under 23 Men - 6 laps 1 Sid Taberlay (Dirt Devils) 2.13.17 2 Murray Spink (Dirtriders) 2.37 3 Ian Longville (Melville Fremantle CC) 5.18 4 Brent Miller (Canberra CC) 6.40 5 Andrew Molan (Broadford/Seymour) 7.55 6 Matthew Smith (Kenmore Cycles) 11.59 7 Warwick Griffiths (Gold Coast MTB) 13.55 8 Brett Buckland (Dirtriders) 14.38 9 Jon Odams (SORCC) 15.20 1 lap behind 10 Todd Lorenz (AMBC) 11 Jared Graves (Gold Coast MTB) 12 Rhys Pollock (Albury/Wodonga) DNS Tim Mumford (Victor) U19 Men - 4 laps 1 Trent Lowe (Dirtriders) 1.30.38 2 Peter Hatton (SORCC) 1.20 3 Ben Johnson (SCCC) 2.35 4 Daniel Van Der Ploeg (Team Mt. Beauty) 3.38 5 James Meadley (Canberra CC) 4.27 6 Aiden Lefmann (Manly) 5.24 7 Paul Werner (Preston) 6.46 8 Jeremy Clark (Preston) 9.46 9 Aaron Kemps (Bundaberg) 13.02 10 Michael Skroblin (UNI) 15.15 11 Brendan Kay (North Brisbane Dirt Dogs) 16.23 12 Paul Carrigan (CATS) 17.05 13 Shawn Garraway (Lismore) 29.46 14 Sam Adam (Murwillumbah) 34.21 Sports Men - 3 laps 1 Brad Davis (Bundaberg) 1.14.39 2 Peter McLean 2.06 3 Shane Scott (Port Stephens CC) 2.07 4 Chris Cooke (Cycleogical) 3.36 5 Ken Cini (Gold Coast MTB) 4.05 6 Neville Bird 5.00 7 Matthew Gracie (St. George) 5.01 8 John Hardwick (Illawarra CC) 6.17 9 Wayne Smith (Gold Coast MTB) 8.08 10 Jason Rowe (Toowoomba Bikeline) 8.33 11 Gary Purtell 8.56 12 Gary Smollen 9.49 13 Andrew Mallett (Bundaberg) 10.27 14 Craig Northway (Southside RATS) 11.06 15 Faron Young 11.27 16 Peter Janssen (Kenmore Cycles) 12.28 17 Jody Waters (Gold Coast MTB) 12.40 18 David McDonald (Coffs Harbour) 14.35 19 Stuart Bushell 15.29 20 Shane Osborne (Southside RATS) 15.31 21 Greg McIntyre 17.04 22 Paul Adams (North Brisbane Dirt Dogs) 19.05 23 Vaughn Caseley 19.27 24 David May (Cycleogical) 20.42 25 Darren Perry 26.01 26 Ben Ewins 27.07 27 Steve Wenzel (Southside RATS) 44.12 1 lap behind 28 Steve Perry DNF Jeff Rooney (Western Sydney) Under 19 Women - 2 laps 1 Lisa Mathison (Southside RATS) 52.46 2 Erin Stoklasa (NRG) 13.42 3 Megan Hall (North Brisbane Dirt Dogs) 22.54 Sports Women - 2 laps 1 Vanessa Gordon-Smith (Coffs Harbour) 1.01.46 2 Nicci Ansley (Bayside Hillbillies) 4.16 3 Alisha Houghton (Western Sydney) 4.42 4 Kristel Osborne (Southside RATS) 9.35 5 Mary Young (Southside RATS) 26.05 Vet Women - 2 laps 1 Sharon Heap (Gold Coast MTB) 56.17 2 Lindy McNaught (Southside RATS) 12.40 3 Leesa Brown (Gold Coast MTB) 17.15 4 Gillian Duncan (Southside RATS) 19.27 |