Mountain bike riders on track for international acclaim

Hawke's Bay's fleet of riders, and their stomping ground - the Panpac Eskdale Mountain Bike Park - are attracting international ratings after round two of the Rabodirect National Mountain Bike Cup Series.
Napier teen Brook Macdonald, 19, took out the Men's Elite section of Saturday's Downhill competition, beating Wanganui's Sam Blenkinsop by just two seconds.
Mr Macdonald said the win earned him points for the national series, and he planned to attend the Nelson and Christchurch legs of the series that ends with the national finals in Dunedin late February.
"There was quite a bit of competition from Sam, and I was lucky not to have a crash," he said.
Madeline Taylor, 17, of Napier was another local show-stopper, winning the junior girl's downhill with a time better than most of the women's competitors.
Bike New Zealand's Hawke's Bay regional development co-ordinator Vicki Butterworth, said the series attracted a lot of international talent, including Emile Siegenthaler, winner of the Elite Women's downhill grade.
"We had riders from Austria, Germany and Switzerland come over, and it was a really fantastic weekend - the track was good and the calibre of riders very high."
Sunday's Cross Country race at the Taite Rd end of the park was internationally recognised, and Chief Connoisseur Jeremy Christmas said it definitely proved it's worth.
"Hawke's Bay definitely maintained it's biking calibre, they did a really good job providing the course and organising the whole thing - it was a great job, the course was wonderful," he said.
Mrs Butterworth said hot and dry conditions meant a dusty track and a few crashes, but overall the weekend's competitions were important for Hawke's Bay riders proving themselves on an international scale.