Ussher lines up for 14th Coast crossing
The women’s one day event features fourtime winner Elina Ussher who is competing in her 14th straight Coast to Coast along with a strong mix of experienced New Zealand and international athletes.
‘‘Elina Ussher is again number one in the race having won it numerous times before,’’ race director Glen Currie said. ‘‘She knows the course and has strength in all disciplines so will be difficult to beat.’’
Ussher feels like she has had a good build up, taking it easier after an intensive period of racing in China in September and October and competing in the Pioneer sixday mountain bike stage race in November.
‘‘I only started my Coast to Coast training just before Christmas, so it’s been relatively short build up but a little bit more intense than in the past.’’
Currie thinks Simone Maier is arguably currently the strongest female competitor in New Zealand across all disciplines, saying that she has not been able to win the Longest Day before – she has finished second and third – will make her ‘‘super hungry for it this year.’’
Like Ussher, Maier has had her shortest build for the event but says she is feeling good about it. ‘‘I’ve had no injuries or sickness so I feel good about Saturday,’’ she said. ‘‘I have trained well for it and I feel I’m ready to race hard and enjoy the scenery along the way. I want to race my own race and have fun and then the result will take care of itself.’’
How Swedish adventure racing champion Marika Wagner can perform in her first attempt is a question race officials and her fellow competitors are wondering.
Wagner has an impressive resume that includes winning last year’s Åre Extreme Challenge, Scandinavia’s first and oldest multisport adventure race that doubles as the Open European Multisport Championship. She has performed well in mountain biking and is a strong runner but is more at home racing as a team so how she adapts to racing solo as in individual will be watched with interest.
Currie expects Wagner to follow Ussher and Maier through the challenging mountain run in the hope of potentially upsetting them later in the day, but thinks her lack of course knowledge may be a decisive factor.