Clinton Avery will swap his road bike for his more rugged mountain-bike this weekend to contest the fourth round of the national cycling series.
The Rotorua man, who has turned in some amazing efforts on the road recently, returns to his first love and will start as favouritefor tomorrow's 36km cross-country race in the Riverhead Forest.
Avery, the defending champion, can expect to be pushed all the way over the four laps of the 9km circuit by national series front-runner Marcus Roy, who heads north from Te Anau.
The course has been described as 70 per cent technical and 30 per cent a test of speed and fitness.
Although the sport continues to grow in popularity - entries in earlier rounds at Treble Cone and Coronet Peak were 25 per cent up on the same rounds a year ago - there has not been a lot of top-level racing in this part of the country.
There will be five rounds in the downhill and cross-country disciplines with the best four results counting in the national series.
The downhill races will be held today over a short 1.1km course in the Dome Valley near Warkworth.
A top field, headed by national champion Kieran Bennett, will line up with plenty of interest in Cameron Cole and Sam Blenkinsop, the junior gold and silver medallists at last year's world championships in Rotorua who are soon to join overseas professional teams.
Auckland's Jenna Makgill, the 2006 champion, is favourite in the women's elite race as former world champion Vanessa Quin is out because of an injury and this year's downhill champion, Scarlett Hagen, is not available.
More than 100 riders are expected to contest tomorrow's cross-country races, which will start and finish inan area adjacent to Ararimu Valley Rd.
The junior races could produce close finishes with many competitors switching from the road to the off-road tracks. Nelson's George Bennett, as the new national under-19 champion, will start favourite.
