Sheppard, Cooper dominate champs
The winning start to the season continued for Commonwealth Games-bound Anton Cooper and Samara Sheppard in the crosscountry racing at the mountainbike national championships in Wanaka on Saturday.
Cooper, from Canterbury, and Sheppard, from Wellington, not only defended their men’s and women’s titles, but backed up their respective wins in the recent Oceania Championships in Dunedin.
The cross-country competition was moved from the initial course at Cardrona following heavy snowfalls that accompanied Cyclone Gita last week.
The hastily prepared course at Wrights Farm, Hawea Flats received the thumbs-up from the riders, with the short, punchy hills providing a real test.
Cooper made the best of the start to build a 13 second advantage after the first of six laps over rising star and fellow Commonwealth Games rider Ben Oliver.
From that point the world No 7 was in a class of his own, pushing on to win in 1hr 20min 54sec, with just under three minutes back to Oliver and Eden Cruise, in his first year in the under-23 category, third overall in 1:25.27.
‘‘It was a fairly smooth day and I was able to ride my own race. I got a wee gap at the start and from there I had a steady pace. I focussed on not making any mistakes and to get to the line in one piece,’’ said Cooper.
It proved similar for Sheppard who pushed hard on the opening lap to stretch to a 50 second advantage, and the in-form rider kept up her fast pace over the five laps to win in 1:24.11.
Queenstown’s Kate Fluker, working her way back into the top level after a lengthy injury break, was second over five minutes behind with Auckland’s Charlotte Rayner third overall and winner of the under-23 division.
‘‘Today was fantastic. It is a different type of track today – quite punchy and the hills were a lot shorter. I enjoyed the challenge. It was different to we have had all season and it went perfectly to plan,’’ said Sheppard.
‘‘I managed to be first into the single track and I tried to ride it quite aggressively for the rest of the race.’’
Both elite winners now head to South Africa to prepare for the opening round of the UCI World Cup before returning to prepare for April’s Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast.
Sunday’s focus moves to downhill at the Cardrona Mountain Bike Park, starting with timed seeding runs from 11am and racing from 1pm.