Cole and Leov Top Ten at Mountainbike World Cup

17th May 2010
Attention Sports Editors

Cole and Leov Top Ten at Mountainbike World Cup, Maribor, Slovenia

The much anticipated opening round of the UCI Mountainbike World Cup Downhill was contested over the weekend in Maribor, Slovenia. Relentless rain during the race programme, which started before the official practice day made racing conditions treacherous, and the usually popular venue for riders and spectatorswill go down in the books as the toughest yetfaced at the MariborWorld Cup Round.

12 New Zealanders were in action at Maribor anongst the 256 strong field. Cameron Cole (Maxxis - Rocky Mountain Christchurch), Justin Leov (Trek World Racing, Dunedin), Sam Blenkinsop (Lapierre International, Wanganui), Matt Scoles (Cingolani-Proton, Alexandra), Brook MacDonald (MS - Evil, Hawkes Bay), Wyn Masters (Kenda - Playbiker, New Plymouth), George Brannigan (Ancillotti, Hawkes Bay) and Nathan Rankin (Kenda - Playbiker, Levin) all made the top 80 finals cut from their qualifying runs. Blenkinsop, Leov and Cole were well placed and within striking distance of the top tenfor their race runs, but would have to contend with ankle deep mud, poor visibility and severely slippery conditions to do well.

Cole and Leov went on to break the top ten in their Sunday race runs, and also posted a rare resulton the World Cup curcuit by dead heating on time, finishing ninth equal. Blenkinsop, in his first race back after recovering from an early summer broken wrist, showed he can slot straight back into top level World Cup contention with a 12th. Current Junior World Champion Brook MacDonald, now racing in the Elites was also back after a summer broken ankle - andshowed he hasn't lost the pace that took him to the WorldChampionship title nine months ago with an improving 38th. George Brannigan qualified as the fastest Junior, but faded slightly during his race to finish 67th andsecond in the Junior rankings.

The UCI Mountainbike World Cup continues this weekend in Offenburg, Germany,with World CupCross CountryRound 3, and the next Downhill (Round 2) will be in Fort William, Scotlandon June 5 and 6.

Men's Results DH Final, Maribor, Slovenia:

1. Greg Minnaar (RSA) 3m 23.42secs; 2. Gee Atherton (GBR) 3m 23.67secs; 3. Brendan Fairclough (GBR) 3m 25.24secs; 9=. Cameron Cole (NZL) 3m 30.65secs; 9=. Justin Leov (Trek World Racing) 3m 30.65secs; 12=. Sam Blenkinsop (NZL) 3m 30.73secs;

Other NZL Results:

36 Matthew Scoles3m 37.02 secs; 38 Brook MacDonald 3m 37.33 secs; 54 Wyn Masters 3m 44.72 secs; 67 George Brannigan 3m 51.31 secs; DNF Nathan Rankin.

Full Results

ENDS

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