Cycling: Osborne eyes Triple Peaks

Luke Osborne completes a training session on Te Mata Peak last night in the buildup to tomorrow's Triple Peaks Challenge. Photo / Duncan Brown

The pressure of being a defending champion has been replaced by weather fears for Hawke's Bay adventure racer Luke Osborne in tomorrow's Triple Peaks Challenge.

Osborne won the solo duathlon segment of last year's Havelock North-based Triple Peaks. With no duathlon section in this year's Black and White Accounting Ltd-sponsored event, Osborne has opted for the 50km solo mountain bike segment of the race which will see more than 600 starters attempt to conquer Mt Erin, Mt Kahuranaki and Te Mata Peak.

"There's no pressure for me because of the new format ... I can go out there and have a bit of fun. It's not a focus race for me so I've got no expectations," Osborne said before a training session on Te Mata Peak last night.

"Like everyone else, I've heard the weather warnings which I'm a bit worried about. Unless the weather is severe, I'm sure the event will go ahead ... the rivers are so low at the moment it's going to take a lot of rain to make them difficult," Osborne explained.

A veteran of three Triple Peaks as an individual and a couple in a team, Osborne, 29, is predicting cyclocross whiz Gary Hall and the Ramblers pair of Josh Page and Gary Hall to shine in his race.

"I'll be happy with a top four or five finish in that company. The last time I raced in an event with a mountain bike was November and I've only had my latest bike for a week as I sold my last one to cover the costs of entering the Coast to Coast," Osborne said.

The Havelock North self-employed builder finished seventh in the individual section of South Island's Coast to Coast last month. He was the second best of the Hawke's Bay starters as Wairoa's Sam Manson, who Osborne will race with in the two-man Wanaka-based Red Bull Defiance race in October, was fourth. "That was my first Coast to Coast and I just wanted to finish. With a few unexpected issues cropping up it was a good learning experience ... they've been noted in my diary and next year I'll do better," Osborne said.

Last year, Osborne had a stint overseas competing in events in China and Australia. He combined with Manson and the Wanaka pair of Hamish Fleming and Ailsa Rollinson to be the first rookie team and sixth team overall in the Wulong Wulong Mountain Quest adventure race in China.

Osborne joined the Wanaka pair of Dougal Allen and Jess Simson to win the Tri Nations event in Perth. He will return to China in April for some stage racing adventure races.

"Stage races are three or four day events where you sleep after each day unlike other adventure races where you race through the night. There's good money in the China events which is why they are attracting many of the top Kiwis," Osborne explained.

Before his next China expedition Osborne will tackle the Porirua Grand Traverse on April 6. It's obvious Osborne is in the adventure racing scene for the long haul with a similar commitment to that of Hawke's Bay's king of multisport, 2004 Coast to Coast winner George Christison, when he was in his prime. "I couldn't do it without the support of my wife Lisa. Along with her parents Paul and Kerry Blakey, they are my biggest fans and supporters," Osborne said.

His wife knows all about commitment and sacrifices as she was a nationally ranked athlete before retiring a couple of years ago.

Injury has forced last year's solo run winner Kristian Day to withdraw from the 26th annual Triple Peaks. Event co-organiser David Tait is thrilled Upper Hutt's Kim Hurst has entered the event.

Hurst won the women's section of the 30th annual Karapoti Classic in the capital earlier this month and is the hot favourite for the women's title tomorrow.