XCO and Pump Track Racing On Day Five

The Cross-Country Olympic (XCO) made its first appearance of the 2021 AusCycling Mountain Bike National Championships at Maydena Bike Park with the country’s rising stars shining on Friday.

The first XCO national jersey of the Championships saw the up-and-coming generation in the under 17 category showcase their skills on the brutal climbing course prepared at the newly built Tasmanian venue.

The field of 26 Under 17 riders quickly strung out on the first of the four laps, with Western Australian Jack Ward and Harry Doye (VIC) taking a stranglehold on the race in an early breakaway.

The duo traded plenty of bulldust before Ward made the decisive breakaway on the final climb of the race to pick up the gold.

Ward celebrated the win with his coach Anna Bayliss who represented Australia in mountain biking at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Gomes.

Doye added silver to his XCC gold, while Eddie Willis (NSW) rounded out the podium.

Solid fields also lined up in the Masters Men’s and women’s cross-country category.

The day wrapped up with a massive crowd to watch the pump track finals which saw more than 60 riders across the men’s and women’s discipline race.

Pump track is a circuit of rollers, banked turns and features designed to be ridden completely by riders "pumping"—generating momentum by up and down body movements, instead of pedalling.

After a series of elimination heats it came down to Ryan Gilchrist (NSW) and Remy Meier-Smith (NSW) for the elite men’s crown, with Gilchrist igniting the crowd up with a ripping performance to claim the gold medal.

Australian team representative Harriet Burbidge-Smith (ACT) had to contend with Zoe Cuthbert (ACT) in the women’s elite final.

But it was Burbidge-Smith’s experience in the format that proved too strong for the cross-country rider as she went one better than her silver at last year’s National Championships.

PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY

Masters 6 rider Lindy Loose didn’t let her lack of mountain bike experience hold her back from conquering the Maydena mountain at her very first National Championship.

The South Australian admitted there were plenty of nerves on the start line but buoyed on by her fellow riders took on the dusty chute on the downhill section of the final descent riding her way to a maiden gold medal.

QUOTES

JACK WARD – Under 17 Men XCO

“I was just trying to push the whole way.”

“On the final lap on the first climb I made a gap and just tried to hold on till then.

LINDY LOOSE – Masters 6 Women XCO

“This is my first National Championship, and I thought the course would be so technical, but I just got through and showed myself I could race a technical course and I am so chuffed.”