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Izzy Flint (Cervelo Australia Off-Street) and Max Hobson (Staff BridgeLane) claimed the elite titles on the AusCycling Cyclo-cross nationwide championships on a moist and muddy course at Ballarat’s Victoria Park.
The races for the inexperienced and gold jersey performed out on day one of many two day CX Ballarat – with Sunday delivering a UCI C2 occasion – on a course which was soaked by rain the evening earlier than. The fields included former winners but in addition some new challengers to tackle the two.65 km loop, that includes a brief however steep climb and descent on a bit referred to as ‘the mound’.
Hobson, who was second within the U23 title race final yr however made the step as much as the elite class in 2024, and the 2023 U23 title winner Tristan Nash, each took off within the early phases of the elite males’s race. Nevertheless, within the last third of the 9 lap race Hobson made his transfer and struck out to the entrance alone although Nick Smith (Duke Flanders) plus mountain bike and gravel racer Tasman Nankervis (Merida / BMC Shimano) had been in pursuit.
Flint could have been a late entrant to the elite girls’s race however the Australian U23 cross-country mountain bike champion was in a rush to make her mark. She broke away from final yr’s winner Katherine Hosking and had carved out a 5 second hole by the tip of the primary lap of seven. From there the positions shuffled behind however the Tasmanian mountain biker simply continued to construct her lead, crossing the road greater than one-and-a-half minutes forward of her nearest rival.
“I didn’t actually know what to anticipate,” Flint stated. “I solely determined that I used to be going to race three days in the past. I used to be meant to be in Europe however I modified my worldwide flight as soon as we came upon this was on.
“It’s good to be out racing with the women and to do one thing completely different,” she added.
“I really like using within the mud on the mountain bike and I used to be simply hoping my abilities had been going to switch throughout to cross, so all in all a reasonably good day.”
Miranda Griffiths (Batch Brewery X Seight), who had the home-town benefit, labored her means up the sector to say the runner-up spot for the second yr in a row whereas the 2016 and 2022 winner Rebecca Locke was third and Hosking took fourth.
Within the below 23 races Zoe Davison and Sam Northey took the Australian titles.
| Place | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Izzy Flint | 00:54:01 |
| 2 | Miranda Griffiths | +1:38 |
| 3 | Rebecca Locke | +2:10 |
| 4 | Katherine Hosking | +2:36 |
| 5 | Claire Aubrey | +4:30 |
| Place | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Hobson | 00:59:29 |
| 2 | Nick Smith | +0:10 |
| 3 | Tasman Nankervis | +0:34 |
| 4 | Tristan Nash | +1:11 |
| 5 | Harrison Bebbington | +1:21 |
