Sam Fox dethrones eight-time Oceania Champion in Queenstown

Sam Fox became the first Australian in 10 years to claim the elite men’s cross-country title with a stunning performance while Connor Wright cleaned up in the junior men at the Oceania Championships in Queenstown, New Zealand on Saturday 22 March.

In under 23 events Ethan Rose (New Zealand) went back to back and Marie Laurie (New Zealand) took gold.

Connor Wright and Kayley McMillan (New Zealand) claimed their first Oceania crowns in the under 19 category.

Fox is just the second Australian in 10 years to stand on the top step of the elite men’s podium, with Anton Cooper (New Zealand) winning every edition since 2016.

The last Australian was Daniel McConnell in 2015.

The duo were closely matched at the beginning of the seven lap race. The New Zealander had a small lead as they started the second lap and built it to over 30 seconds with three laps completed.

Sam Fox on his way to winning elite men's Oceania XCO title.

It was on lap four that disaster struck for Cooper, who had long reigned supreme at the Oceania Championships.

A flat tyre cost him his lead and allowed the Australian to take the advantage.

Fox finished just shy of a minute clear to add the elite crown to his under 19 title from 2017.

Cooper finished with silver and Samuel Shaw (New Zealand) completed the podium.

“It has been a busy couple of weeks, I finished up our National titles in some pretty torrential conditions and came straight home and back to work with Cycleways for the last few days, so I didn’t really get to touch the bike until course recon yesterday ,” Fox said of his successful two weekends that saw him claim the Australian championship last weekend.

“The fun is fast adage is really paying off.

"Had a lot of momentum from the last year of training professionally and kind of carrying that through with less volume.

Obviously that momentum will drop off as the training volume does as well but riding the wave for now,” he said.

Elite men's Oceania podium

Maxwell confirmed her status as Oceania’s top female cross-country rider with another dominant display in the elite women’s race.

Maxwell, a former under 23 world champion opened a lead of nearly one and a half minutes and continued to put the power down over the rest of the race taking the title by nearly 15 minutes on her closest competitor Zoe Cuthbert (Australia), with Mary Gray (New Zealand) completing the podium.

The under 23 men’s race was close competition between two-time defending champion Rose and 2024 under 19 silver medallist Harry Doye (Australia).

They were closely matched over the first two laps before Doye put in a surge on lap three to take a small lead. It was short lived before Rose upped the pace and stormed ahead and race to the finish to claim gold and make it three in a row.

Bronze went to Reuben Page-Brown (Australia).

After finishing second a year ago, Laurie claimed her first under 23 Oceania title adding to her under 19 crown from two years ago.

The rising Kiwi star who won the first round of the Continental Series was in a league of her own finishing the opening lap two minutes clear of her closest rival and building an unassailable lead.

Silver went to Ella Menigoz (Australia) with Amelie Mackay collecting back-to-back bronze medals.

Australia’s Wright earned his first Oceania title with a stellar performance in the under 19 men’s race.

Wright a two time winner in the 2025 Oceania Continental Mountain Bike Series was tightly matched with silver medallist Fletcher Adams (New Zealand) over the first lap before he pulled away on the second and rode his own race to the finish, nearly two minutes clear of Adams.

James Climo (New Zealand) who was the overall winner of the Continental Series finished third.

"A tough race with the New Zealand boys close on my tail and kept me pushing all the way to the end,” Wright said on the challenging course and competition,” Wright said.

McMillan added further success to her name in 2025 by dominating the under 19 women’s race.

At the conclusion of five laps, she took gold over five minutes clear of compatriot Millie Junge in silver and Annie Kleywegt (Australia) with bronze.

Results – Full Results

Elite Men
Gold: Sam Fox (Australia)
Silver: Anton Cooper (New Zealand)
Bronze: Samuel Shaw (New Zealand)

Elite Women
Gold: Sammie Maxwell (New Zealand)
Silver: Zoe Cuthbert (Australia)
Bronze: Mary Gray (New Zealand)

Under 23 Men
Gold: Ethan Rose (New Zealand)
Silver: Harry Doye (Australia)
Bronze: Reuben Page-Brown (Australia)

Under 23 Women
Gold: Marie Laurie (New Zealand)
Silver: Ella Menigoz (Australia)
Bronze: Amelie Mackay (New Zealand)

Junior Men
Gold: Connor Wright (Australia)
Silver: Fletcher Adams (New Zealand)
Bronze: James Climo (New Zealand)

Junior Women
Gold: Kayley McMillan (New Zealand)
Silver: Millie Junge (New Zealand)
Bronze: Annie Kleywegt (Australia)

Photo Credit: Blissfield Photography