Solo 24 Hour World Champs
History was made in Rotorua’s Whakarewarewa Forest in the weekend when Australian Jason English won a seventh straight title at the WEMBO World Solo 24 Hour Mountain Bike Championships. The event was the headline event of the 4th annual Rotorua Bike Festival’s second weekend.
English didn’t have it his own way, facing a seesaw battle with Canadian Cory Wallace for the whole 24 hours, in fact the result was in doubt till the final hour of racing with nearly 500 kilometres covered.
Speaking to the Rotorua Daily Post, English described the battle as one of the toughest he'd taken part in.
"I knew the whole time Cory was a much stronger rider, I don't actually know what it came down to between us, I'm probably just a bit of mongrel," he said.
Wallace held a slight lead during the early hours yesterday, but English caught him up and pushed hard for the win, completing 27 lap, just six minutes faster than Wallace.
"I thought I'd wind it up a little bit and get a bit of a gap [during the last few laps]. I was quite surprised that I could and more surprised that I could hold it. So it played out quite well."
Second-placed Wallace said he thought he had English a couple of times during the race, but the seven-time champ was simply "inhuman".
It was a double for Australia with Liz Smith winning her first women's world title ahead of Kiwi Nina McVicar.
Smith also spoke with the Daily Post and said she was rapt to win the title.
"I'm stoked, it has been a long time and I tried once before and finished fourth in 2013, so I'm rapt," she said.
"I rode here last year [during the 24 hours of Nduro], and it was an unreal race and an unreal track so I thought I have to come back."
The race started in ideal conditions at midday on Saturday and the trails were in superb condition despite the heavy rain earlier in the week. It was the final event of a week long festival of cycling that encompassed a diverse range of events - from road cycling to family rides and gravity enduro. All-in the 10-day festival attracted around 5,500 riders, a 10 percent rise from 2015 and double the debut festival in 2013.
“We’re especially pleased about how the festival has introduced so many new people to biking,” said David Crowley, from the Bike Festival Charitable Trust. “Planning has already started for 2017 and dates will be set in the next month or so.”
WEMBO Results:
Women: 1 Liz Smith (Australia) 22 laps in 24:46:51, 2 Nina McVicar (NZ) 21 laps in 24:20:13, 3 Kate Penglase (Australia) 21 laps in 24:52:10.
Men: 1 Jason English (Australia) 27 laps in 23:56:39, 2 Cory Wallace (Canada) 27 laps in 24:00:49, 3 Tobias Lestrell (Australia) 26 laps in 24:01:13.
Click here to check out the video footage!
