TOP 10: Wanganui rider Sam Blenkinsop has had another consistent year on the world stage. PHOTO/FILE
TOP 10: Wanganui rider Sam Blenkinsop has had another consistent year on the world stage. PHOTO/FILE
Wanganui-raised professional rider Sam Blenkinsop has reached that point in his career where top 10 in the world is pleasing, but never satisfying.
The 26-year-old Lapierre Riding Addiction team member has recently returned from the 2014 UCI Downhill World Championships in Norway, where he once again rode with consistency tofinish seventh in the Elite Men's division, his fourth straight year in the top 10.
Blenkinsop found himself lining up against a field in the hundreds, opposed to the usual 80 qualifiers from season's past, on the Hafjell course.
"Since there was world champs [series], they take normally seven people from each country," he said.
"I could have been a bit closer to the top 5, but had a flat tyre that set me back. It's so tight."
Blenkinsop had toured Europe in the buildup to Norway and picked up four World Cup series finishes in the top six.
He said conditions at the Hafjell track were perfect for the September 4-7 event.
The masters world champs had been held the week before in horrible wet weather conditions which had "beaten up" the forest course, so the mud had become hard-packed by the time they raced in the sunny climate.
