Harry to take on the world

YOUNG mountain-biking protégé Harry Nichols will take a leap into the unknown next month when he looks to take down some of the best junior talent in the world.

Nichols, 19, heads to Canada for the sixth round of the Enduro World Series, where he will ride on some of the most famous sprints, climbs and descents the sport has at Whistler.

While it is not the first time the teenager from Margate will compete in the series — last April he finished eighth when Tasmania held a round — it will be his first time tackling a Canadian course that he describes as among the best in the world.

“I am pretty keen to go over there and ride some new trails … I’ve been riding in Tassie heaps, it feels like I have ridden everything now,” Nichols said.

“This is the first one this year I am competing in and the only one planned at the moment.

“I have always wanted to go to Whistler, it is arguably the best place for mountain biking in the world.”

The event involves seven gruelling stages totalling around 65km, with certain sections of the course timed.

And while Nichols is still slightly bothered by some discomfort in his wrists following a nasty fall at the recent national championships, he will not let it stop him from putting his best foot forward.

“There are certain parts of the loop that are timed. The whole loop by itself is not raced or timed, just each race stage is timed and they add all the times up at the end,” Nichols said of how the competition works.

“I had a pretty big crash and hurt both my wrists and I am still recovering now from it, but once you get some adrenalin going it stops the pain … I just don’t want to fall on it again.”