Preview of the Giant Toa Enduro on Sunday, interview with local top seeds Keegan Wright and Matt Walker.
Local riders Keegan Wright and Matt Walker are eagerly anticipating one of the premier events at this year's Crankworx Rotorua festival.
Both top Rotorua athletes will compete in the Giant Toa Enduro, among a star-studded international field on Sunday. The race is the first round of the 2017 Enduro WorldSeries and this year's curtain-raiser to the Crankworx season.
The Enduro course is made up of seven challenging stages and was described by Crankworx Rotorua event director Tak Mutu as "tricky with steep technical descents and classic Rotorua tracks".
Wright, 20, is the top local seed to podium and is being touted as a dark horse for the overall Crankworx crown after he was the surprise winner in the New Zealand national championships, near Wanaka, last month.
The up-and-comer also won the 2W Giant Enduro, in Rotorua, taking out the likes of Wyn Masters and Justin Leov. He's also been known to podium in the pump track - one of the six events Wright aimed to compete in at this year's Crankworx Rotorua.
"It's a good confidence booster going into a race to have some good wins with you," Wright said. "I've had a great off season riding and having fun and hopefully I've done enough preparation to get some good results, first here in this race and then for the rest of the year."
Kawerau rider Walker, 26, who has spent the summer training in Queenstown, left Crankworx Rotorua last year after taking out the overall local crown but injury shortly after blighted the rest of his season.
"Injury put me out of contention and I'm looking for redemption," Walker said. "I don't feel added pressure though. The off-season has been more about getting back on the bike and making sure to be fit and healthy for this."
Rotorua riders Keegan Wright (left) and Matt Walker are the top local seeds in one of the premier events at this year's Crankworx Rotorua - the Giant Toa Enduro. Photo/Stephen Parker
Wright and Walker face tough competition in a 235 riders field - USA's Richie Rude, the reigning word champion, starts the race as hot favourite after the young American won four of the eight Enduro World Series races last year.
Other names to watch out for are Martin Maes (GT Factory Racing) from Belgium who won the last series race of 2016 in Italy and Jerome Clementz from France (Cannondale) - a former world champion who won the Giant Toa Enduro in Rotorua in 2015.
Others include Jared Graves of Australia (Specialized), Damien Oton of France (Devinci Global Racing), Nico Lau of France (Cube Action Team) and Sam Hill of Australia (Chain Reaction Cycles Mavic).
"All of them will be tough to ride against," Wright said. "They are all quality riders and quick, in a race like this anyone can win it on their day."
Walker interjected: "It's daunting with who is out their in the field. But whatever the result it's a really long season so I'm just taking one at a time."
Mutu said both Wright and Walker had a "strong chance" at making the podium because of local track knowledge.
"They [Wright and Walker] should know the trails like the back of their hand," Mutu said. "This is a huge advantage and could certainly help, but they're up against the world's best riders. They have to be on the top of their game."
Mutu added the course section that riders should approach with caution was the Rocky Horror towards the end of stage five - a highly technical trail with extremely steep sections.
"It could be the undoing for some of the riders if they're not careful," said Mutu.
Wright and Walker said they would be competing in "as many events as possible" at their home Crankworx - the first of four such festivals. The next is in Les Gets, France, followed by Innsbruck, Austria and finally to its Canadian home base in Whistler, British Columbia.
Crankworx will include 23 competitions in six disciplines in the points tally for the title.
"I want to give as much as I can a go," Wright said. "The whole vibe of Crankworx and having it in your home town is incredible. Everyone is backing you - it's a great atmosphere."
Walker added: "I may as well give everything a try and see where I'm at. I would rather do as many as I can instead of thinking tactically because I don't want to get down the road and regret it. It's a great opportunity for the local community be exposed to something like this and I hope they come out and support us."
