22 November 2008
World’s best descend on Rotorua
18 August 2006
By Helen Twose: Te Waha Nui Online
Rotorua comes alive with the spinning of wheels as the world mountain biking championships rolls into town.
New Zealand mountain bikers are bubbling with anticipation as the 2006 world mountain bike championships rides into Rotorua this month.
A purpose-built venue on Mount Ngongotaha will host more than 700 international mountain bikers at the International Cycling Union event. An expected 20,000 spectators will attend from August 22 to 27.
With the premier event being run on New Zealand tracks for the first time, BikeNZ has taken the opportunity to send a 72-member squad to compete. In the past the national cycling organisation has sent between 15 and 30 member teams to the predominantly northern hemisphere-based competition.
BikeNZ team manager Rachel Smith says despite the larger team size there was a “huge battle” for the final places with almost all the team travelling to gain overseas experience.
“The athletes chose the best races in New Zealand or best opportunities overseas to impress the selectors,” she says.
For many of the seasoned athletes who compete on the elite European and North American circuits, a world championship on home soil is a rare chance to compete in front of parents, family and friends, says Smith.
Former Commonwealth Games cyclist Sadie Parker-Wynyard agrees. “This is the world champs. This is the one and only shot at becoming a world champion.”
Parker-Wynyard says she agrees with the policy of the elite riders gaining overseas experience before selection for the team.
She says when she first made the New Zealand team to go to the world championships after being placed fourth in the national championships, the level of international competition “was too big a step”.
Parker-Wynyard says that while the local team go in as the under-dogs, having local support “when you’re wanting to give up on a climb” or familiar faces cheering as riders come round a corner will boost the team.
“To have a big crowd yelling at you, you’re just not going to back off. There is nowhere on that course you can hide, so it’s a huge advantage,” says Parker-Wynyard.
EVENT GUIDE
Cross Country
Riders race a 5.9km course for two hours, including a 320 metre vertical climb up Mt Ngongotaha. Each lap will be completed in around 20 minutes, with the top guys predicted to make the tough climb in under eight minutes. Cross country riding combines technical riding with endurance fitness.
Four Cross
Four riders race elbow-to-elbow on a 500 metre downhill track, with BMX- style jumps and berms. Races take less than a minute and the 13-metre tabletop jump will see riders flying up to 20 metres in the air. Fast and furious spectator friendly action.
Downhill
Riders clad in body armour will complete a series of jumps, off camber corners, huge drop-offs, and a 9-metre gap jump. Racing the clock down the 2.2km course will take the top riders under three minutes to descend 330 vertical metres. Not for the faint-hearted.
Trials
Technical skills rule in this event where riders complete a tricky obstacle course. Points are accumulated by the number of times riders touch the ground. The winner is the person with the least points. Spectators can expect to see riders skillfully “hopping” their bikes over rocks, logs, and man-made obstacles.
Links:
- UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships, Rotorua 2006
