(Posted - 09 May 2010)
The Ingkerreke Commercial MTB Enduro got under way today with 2 racing stages in the Red Centre of Australia around Alice Springs. Conditions were maybe a little hot for some of the 237 competitors contesting the 5 day, 7 stage race with the mercury topping 25 degrees in the shade and not a cloud over head, but for many others the conditions proved just right.
The Endura Stage 1 commenced with all riders starting under control behind a police car to form a parade of cyclists through the Alice Springs city centre where a several hundred primary school kids lined the streets giving all riders high fives as they cruised on past.
The leisurely start didn’t last for long though with the challenging 40km stage constituting a mix of rough 4WD tracks, sometimes sandy double track and flowing single track in the regions North West of town.
Adrian Jackson made the most of an early break whilst riding the infamous Hell Line trail by capturing an early 30 second lead over compatriots Jason English, Ben Henderson and Andrew Fellows. The Hell Line is a 7km section of rough 4WD track made up almost entirely of fist sized rocks and loose scree and was not so beneficial for some others by claiming a broken wrist, a totally snapped Specialized and several other bike casualties further down the field.
Jackson, who won The Enduro in 2008, kept the pressure on after his early lead at the 15km point to win the stage in 2:23:35 ahead of Jason English in 2:24:30 and Ben Henderson in 2:25:00.
After winning Jackson commented that he had to keep the pace up as if riding an individual time trial for the last 25km as he had no idea how far behind him the others were. Having pre-ridden much of the stage 1 course the day before, he also commented that his familiarity with the trail also helped him capitalise on his early lead.
The women’s race was also a closely fought affair with the top 5 riders all coming in within 5 minutes of each other. Despite getting a puncture early on in the race but lucky that it only needed a shot of her gas canister to reseal, Jodie Willet showed her strength to power through the field and claim the stage 1 victory in the women’s in a time of 2:56:38. After puncturing Jodie said she just felt she had a little extra in the legs in comparison to the other girls and managed to catch and overtake them in the largely continuous single track sections in the second half.
Second place was Jenni King in 3:00:03, and Gracie Elvin 3rd in 3:02:43 although with such close margin between the top three and Rebecca Rusch in 4th at 3:04:25 the women’s race is still wide open.
After a quick rest all riders then headed into the unique Verofit Stage 2 – a fast and furious 300m hill climb up the local ANZAC lookout in the centre of Alice Springs. Set off at 30 second intervals based on their results from stage 1, the slowest were set of first with the elite riders held back until the end.
With a growing crowd of locals and riders tallying nearly 500 lining the side of the sealed 300m road climb to the top, it came down to a test of your pain barrier and sheer power to see who would claim the stage victory – and the 20 second time bonus that came with it.
Andy Fellows ended up posting the fastest time of 44.8sec ahead of Robbie Hucker in 46.0sec and Ben Henderson in 47.1sec although all riders were well outside the course record set by the 2009 event winner Ben Mather who posted a 42.3 last year.
Jodie Willet could not quiet match her own course record speed of 58 seconds this year although did still have power win stage 2 with an impressive 1:00.3min up the hill, ahead of Gracie Elvin in 1:03.2 and Rebecca Rusch in 1:06.1.
Racing recommences at 9:00am tomorrow with the tough but rewarding 45km Lasseter’s Hotel Casino stage through some of the most popular single track in the Alice Springs area.