Twenty four year old Victorian, Adrian Jackson has won the fifth Pure Tasmania Wildside mountain bike stage race on Tasmania’s west coast.
Jackson managed to keep up the pace, despite a strong challenge from fellow Victorian, 22 year old Daniel McConnell.
Sid Taberlay lead today’s stage going out strong at the start, with a 100 metre break onto Ocean Beach.
The 27 year old Olympian’s experience and speed saw him in front for at least half of the 7 kilometre beach run, but Mc Connell , Jackson and Launceston’s Ben Mather soon caught up.
The elite riders stayed in a pack on the beach, with the lead changing regularly.
They kept up the pace going into the bush, with the tussle for the lead continuing, until the last kilometre when Daniel Mc Connell and Sid Taberlay pushed through.
Jackson said, “For the rest of the way along the beach we were working together to keep up the pace, then Dan and Sid broke away.”
Taberlay took out the stage just ahead of McConnell, but their times were not enough to challenge the overall leaders Adrian Jackson and Ben Mather .
Jackson ended up taking out the title, 2 minutes ahead of Mather.
“Dan and Sid are good racers, I was hoping to get a podium finish, but I didn’t expect to win, I’m so excited,” said Jackson.
“I’m a smaller rider, good at climbing hills, so I just tried to stick with them today. To win is unbelievable, fantastic, it’s my biggest win so far in Australian mountain bike riding, I’ve never won anything this prestigious before,” he added.
Daniel McConnell was another 20 seconds behind the second place getter Ben Mather.
Sid Taberlay ended up ninth overall , 34 minutes off the pace.
“It ended up being a training run for me after I shredded a tyre in the early stages of the race, but it was good to keep up the pace with these guys,” Taberlay said.
25 year old Rowena Fry was the first woman home, well ahead of her competitors. “I was really happy with my ride, it’s a challenging event but a really enjoyable course,” she said.
The elite competitors head off to the national titles in Canberra this weekend , with the competition tight for a mountain biking spot representing Australia at the Beijing Olympics.
More than 450 riders competed in the four day, multi-stage event through some of Tasmania’s remote wilderness, from Cradle Mountain to Strahan.
Conditions were perfect for most of the event, although the riders did battle drizzle on the Cradle Mountain stage. The weather for today’s final stage was sunny and clear, although riders did battle the typical coastal winds on Ocean Beach.