Rotorua hosts mountain biking nationals as Anton Cooper seeks record win

While exciting young mountain bikers continue to stretch the boundaries in the sport, some older heads will be keen to show they are far from a spent force at the MTB National Championships in Rotorua this weekend.

It will be the seventh time Rotorua has hosted the event in the last 20 years, with the 2025 event hosted by the Rotorua Mountain Bike Club and Cycling New Zealand from February 22 to 23.

Leading the way is Canterbury 30-year-old Anton Cooper, making his return to the sharp end of cross-country racing as he looks to become the first Kiwi rider to achieve 10 national elite titles, a Cycling NZ statement said.

After illness forced him out of a tilt at the Paris Olympic Games, Cooper returns to an exciting new global team in Lapierre Racing Unity with a fresh outlook for the future.

“The team has existed in one way or another for a long time – one of the oldest on the circuit,“ he said.

“It is the third year that Lapierre has been the bike [brand]. Overall, it is a very good bike.

“I am really happy with it and it has come together well.”

Cooper said his health had been good.

“I didn’t feature in the World Cup last year so everything is a step forward this year.”

Anton Cooper. Photo / Photosport

After nationals, Cooper races two rounds of the Continental series in Canberra before aiming for a return to the UCI World Cups in Brazil.

The former junior and Under-23 world champion claimed his first elite XCO national crown in 2013 and has enjoyed success in Rotorua with three championship wins.

His competition is likely to come from 2023 winner Matthew Wilson, who has been impressive in the national series, and Taupō’s Coen Nicol, who won the final round in treacherous conditions.

Nicol will also be a major threat to Trek Future Racing professional Ethan Rose, who will be looking to defend his Under-23 crown.

Taupō’s Sammie Maxwell, 23, has already chalked up four straight elite women’s titles and a clean sweep of the Mountain Bike New Zealand (MTBNZ) national series.

The Decathlon Ford Racing rising star, a former Under-23 world champion, is in a league of her own.

Taupō's Sammie Maxwell.

The experienced competition comes from 2020 champion Josie Wilcox (Nelson), runner-up in Queenstown last year and defending U23 winner Maria Laurie (Christchurch).

The rising young U19 riders to watch include Kayley MacMillan (Morrinsville) and Millie Junge (Christchurch), while 2024 champion Millie Donald is out with injury. The U19 men’s category is shaping up as a battle between 2023 Oceania champion Fletcher Adams and James Climo, who performed dominantly throughout the 2025 National Series.

The gravity riders are also an intriguing mix of proven performers and gripping young guns.

While the emerging riders have been thrilling, watch for the venerable experience of Sam Blenkinsop (Christchurch) and Brook MacDonald (Rotorua).

The pair have four national elite titles and 13 podiums between them and can never be counted out, especially in Rotorua.

The young charge is led by last year’s winner, Rotorua’s Lachlan Stevens-McNab (Trek Factory DH), 2023 elite winner Toby Meek (MeekBoyz), former junior winners Luke Wayman (Continental Atherton) and Tuhotu-Ariki Pene (MS Racing), runner-up overall last year, and in-form Sam Gale.

Last year, their times were eclipsed by the junior winner Tyler Waite, who moves to the Yeti Fox Factory pro team and is sure to set a target with Oli Clark, just signed for MS Racing.

There are several internationals training in New Zealand who are competing, including former world champion and enduro ace Rich Rude jnr (USA).

While four-time national champion Jess Blewitt is looking to a return from injury for the 2025 world circuit, she is not quite ready for racing.

Lachlan Stevens-McNab in action.

It leaves former junior world champion Jenna Hastings (Rotorua, Pivot Factory) as the rider to beat, along with Trek Factory professional and two-time junior world medallist Sacha Earnest.

With double junior world champion Erice van Leuven recovering from a recent significant crash, watch for rising stars Eliana Hulsebosch (Tauranga), who ventures on the world circuit this year with the crack Santa Cruz team, Rotorua’s Bellah Birchall and German professional Nina Hoffman.

Cross-country racing is on Saturday over a 4.9km circuit with a 221m elevation gain, based in the Whakarewarewa Forest.

The downhill competition will run for the final time over the famed Taniwha Trail, a 1.8km run with a 309m descent, with the area planned for logging.

For more information on the event, click here.