Johnston takes cross country second

RUNNER-UP: Rotorua's Taylor Johnston has taken second place in the under 19 national mountain bike cross country championship on Saturday.PHOTO/FILE 041216sp27.JPG

RUNNER-UP: Rotorua's Taylor Johnston has taken second place in the under 19 national mountain bike cross country championship on Saturday.PHOTO/FILE 041216sp27.JPG
Mountain Biking

Riding in Australia and the closer-to-home Nduro Events Summer Cup cross-country mountain biking series has paid dividends for Rotorua rider Taylor Johnston.

Johnston took second place yesterday in the under-19 New Zealand mountain bike cross country championship at the national championships near Wanaka.

It backed up a strong showing when he finished sixth in the under-19 category in a World Junior Series race, and 10th in an Australian national series race in Armidale, New South Wales at the end of January. He also won the junior title in the two round Nduro Summer Cup held in Palmerston North and Rotorua.

Johnston, 17, is a member of Cycling New Zealand's Mountain Bike National Performance Hub.

Also having success at the national mountain bike championships on Saturday was Rotorua's Sarah Beadel who won the masters 3 grade title, a title she also won in 2014.

Anton Cooper and Samara Sheppard celebrated comeback elite cross-country victories at the national championships near Wanaka today .

Cooper, the former junior and under-23 world champion, missed much of last year out with illness and chronic fatigue, grabbed the national title in emphatic fashion at the Cardrona Alpine Resort.

Sheppard, the Australian-based Wellingtonian, gained her first elite national title as she makes her way back to the sharp end of the sport.

Cooper, from North Canterbury, pushed into the lead before the single track on the opening lap, and was never threatened, going on to win in 1:23:21. He finished nearly four minutes ahead of fellow North Canterbury rider Ben Oliver, 20, also a member of the National Performance Hub. Porirua's Jack Compton, 21, was third, two minutes behind Oliver.

The winner was delighted with his progress back into the sport.

"I am happy with how the race went. I was not planning to, but I got to the single track first and then I was able to control my whole race. I took some care down the rock garden and didn't want to puncture and it worked out well," said Cooper.

"It is a massive honour to wear the national jersey. It was something I was excited to do in my junior and under-23 years and to wear it in the elite world cups will be huge.
Sheppard was one of the country's most exciting young riders, making the world cup podium in under-23 racing in Europe but fatigue and some illness brought about a loss of form.

Now 26 and living in Australia, Sheppard has worked hard, especially over the last year, returning to win the Karapoti race recently and stamping her class on the elite race.

Defending champion Kate Fluker from Queenstown pushed ahead of Sheppard on the first climb but the Wellington rider slid past when the leader washed out on a corner. From that stage she was never threatened, going on to win in 1:26:41 with Fluker more than five minutes behind and Auckland's Charlotte Rayner third one lap down.

"I wanted the elite jersey forever and last year I was quite a way off the pace. I've had 12 months preparation in Australia doing a lot of the marathon series and putting in the miles. I am so happy it came together and I am super-stoked," said Sheppard.