Tuhoto-Ariki Pene and many other Kiwis will be on their way to Europe for the World Cup Circuit in March. Photo / Miles Holden
Tuhoto-Ariki Pene and many other Kiwis will be on their way to Europe for the World Cup Circuit in March. Photo / Miles Holden
Rotorua bikers have stepped into the shoes of their "idols", signing with some of the top teams to take them to the World Cup Circuit.
Tuhoto-Ariki Pene, Lachie Stevens-McNab, Jenna Hastings and Cameron Beck will all compete with mountain bike teams at World Cup Circuit in France this March.
Pene,a professional downhill rider, has signed with MS Mondraker, while Stevens-McNab has joined the Union team, Hastings signed to international team Pivot Factory Racing and Beck will be with Kiwi team YD racing.
Tuhoto-Ariki Pene joins the MS Mondraker team. Photo / Miles Holden
Pene described his selection as "an honour" and said it was even better to be selected alongside fellow Kiwi Brook Macdonald.
"I've slowly watched all the Aotearoa bros growing up being on these teams, that's how I wanted to roll.
"'Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, he toa takitini kē', which means 'my success isn't just because of me, but the many that surround me' and I believe Mondraker will be a solid rock."
Pene won the 2021 Crankworx Dual Slalom and Pump-Track, had an elite podium finish in the Air Down Hill and a 14th place finish at the 2021 UCI World Championships in Val di Sole.
Julian Dean, a former Olympic road cyclist, said in his view, MS Mondraker was one of the two biggest mountain bike teams in the world.
"It's a really big deal that he's earned himself this opportunity."
Dean said Pene "grew up in full immersion school here (Rotorua), in te reo, and is really deeply connected to this community".
"Sport is something for the community and it connects the community ... out of that you will get people rising to the top."
Stevens-McNab's team Union is sponsored by Santa Cruz and takes five athletes from around the globe to the World Cup Circuit each year.
The newly established team included Pene last year and New Zealand junior downhill champion Stevens-McNab, 18, said his selection was "a dream come true".
Lachie Stevens-McNab makes the Union international team. Photo / Supplied
"I've been wanting to race my bike for a living and now it's kind of happening. It's pretty unreal."
Stevens-McNab has a BMX background and won the BMX World Champions three times before shifting to downhill mountain biking when he was 13.
He said while he was out to win, "I'll just do the best I can whatever the outcome as long as I've done my best I'll be happy."
Stevens-McNab's dad, Steve McNab, said his son had been inspired by bikers before him and was now inspiring other young bikers.
Dave Hamilton, former Descend Rotorua president and pro mountain biker Louis Hamilton's dad, said it was "like a domino effect".
"This is the sort of pay it forward thing that Rotorua riders do ... Everyone's looking up to the next fastest rider.
"These kids have all grown up together ... Lachie probably put Louis on a pedestal," now they can race next to each other despite the 10 year age gap, Hamilton said.
Hastings, 17, is the under-19 National downhill women's champ and Crankworx's downhill women's champ.
She has been signed to international team Pivot Factory Racing, alongside Kiwis Matt Walker and Ed Masters.
Jenna Hastings has made an international team. Photo / Jemma Wells
This March will be her first time at the World Cup Circuit.
"Being in the same place as people I've looked up to and watched for years is exciting but nerve-racking."
She will be the youngest on her team, competing in the junior elite women's category.
Hastings said the other competing pro bikers were her idols, but "after being at races and talking to them they could become my friends".
She said having people like Stevens-McNab and Beck, who she had known for years, on the circuit was "a comforting feeling".
"We'll just look after each other and be there for each other if we need it."
Three Peaks Enduro under 21 champ Beck, who turned 18 today, will be riding for the same team Stevens-McNab did his first year at the World Cup Circuit, Kiwi team YD racing.
Cameron Beck joins YD racing for his first World Cup Circuit. Photo / Supplied
As he prepares for his first World Cup Circuit, Beck said it would "be surreal racing against idols and people that I've grown up watching".
"It's been a while since we've had a lot of juniors over there since the years of Louis Hamilton, Connor Hamilton, Sam Blenkinsop ... seeing the Kiwis going over was always like 'I wanna be like the Kiwi guys' now it's really cool to be out there and riding with them".
Beck hopes to score well to then ride with an international team next year.
