In what was a weekend of few surprises, Team Torq rider Dan McConnel and current Australian National Champion and Tasmanian local Rowena Fry have taken out the first round of the Australian National Cross-Country series held in Glenorchy, Hobart at the weekend. Few would have bet against the pair who look likely favourites to take line honours at the Australian National Championships to be held in Adelaide in a little over a months time.
Up and coming stars Paul Van Der Ploeg and Bec Henderson took out the U/23 event in style, placing 5th and 4th respectively in the Elite category overall.
But the big talking points of the weekend were unfortunately not about the racing, rather the restructuring of firstly the commitment of Cycling Australia to the long term future of mountain biking and the new format of the National series.
The devastating decision of Cycling Australia to withdraw funding from the elite level of mountain biking effective immediately was clear, with numbers obviously down on previous opening editions mainly due to the now defunct Discovery Tasmania team, who bore the brunt of this brutal and rash decision. The up-beat atmosphere around the race site and determination of the riders themselves was positive enough for any spectator to leave with the impression that CA have clearly made a massive error. Fantastic rides from not just the winners, but some of our lesser known riders who seemed out to prove a point were particular highlights perhaps showing that the sport has a much brighter future than previously thought, with many carrying on the same form which led Australia to it's best ever World Championship results no more than three months prior.
Of course the fact that Tasmania is such a bloody long way to go could well be a contributing factor, or the re-jigging of the format for the 09/10 series. MTBA have seen fit to delete some of the more popular categories in favour of focusing on Elite XCO, XCC (short track) and a new four hour enduro series on the Sunday. Many are not entirely convinced that this is the best way forward. Infact a large percentile of those now racing in the Elite ranks have not come through the junior ranks at all but Sport or Expert classes. How those out of the Junior or Espoir ranks but not yet ready for Elite level competition are supposed to gain experience on our Countrys biggest stage is now beyond me. Bring them back!
The upsides are Jayco are now the major sponsor of the series, bringing funding and credibility. Specialized bikes have also come on board to lend a hand. Most notably is that three of the four rounds have been catergorised C2 events, meaning minimum prize money, UCI points and kudos.
And so the circus rolls on. Maybe the Christmas break will bring some answers, some sanity and some form. Some deep thinking from CA and some re-hashing from MTBA to get things back on track.
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