Riders battle muddy conditions in Australia's alpine region
16 February 2010
Torrential rain and glorious mud might have stopped many in their tracks, but it hardly hindered Avanti cross country rider Rowena Fry, who put on an impressive display today at the third round of the Jayco Australian Mountain Bike Series in Thredbo.
Whilst Australia's winter Olympians were revelling at the Opening Ceremony in Vancouver, the nation's best mountain bike prospects for London 2012 were putting on a show of their own at Thredbo's alpine playground.
Fry flies to victory
After taking out Tasmania's premier mountain bike stage race, the Wildside 2010, two weeks ago, Canberra's Heather Logie was tipped as the strongest contender to dethrone Tasmania's Rowena Fry in the women's event.
However on this occasion Fry was just too strong. Leading from the outset, the national champion stormed home to secure her second victory of the series by nearly a two-minute margin, relegating Logie to second place for the third time this season. Victorian Joanna Wall, who won in Shepparton three weeks ago, finished third.
"I really wanted to win this weekend," said Fry. "I've just got a new bike sponsor, Avanti, and I wanted to get off to a good start with them and show them that their faith in me was worthy."
As it did for all riders, Fry had her own challenges in the wet and muddy conditions. "It ended up being quite grippy out there on the flats, you could trust the mud but it was just the climbs. The single track climb out the back was pretty tricky, I could ride it the first two laps but after that I was just running it."
Fry was full of praise for her rival Logie, who only made the switch from adventure racing to mountain biking late last year. "Heather is riding the house down, it's fantastic," Fry continued. "She's pushing me and she really worked me over at Wildside. She's very, very powerful for a small girl. Once she gets her skills up she's going to be a top rider, which is very promising for Australian mountain biking."
Fry will now put in some solid training hours back home in Launceston, before making her final assault for the series title in Stromlo, Canberra, in a month's time.
Elite women
1 Rowena Fry 1:59:17
2 Heather Logie 0:01:51
3 Rebecca Henderson 0:06:39
4 Joanna Wall 0:07:03
5 Katherine O'Shea 0:11:29
6 Peta Mullens 0:13:33
7 Jenni King 0:15:58
8 Sarah Holmes 0:16:35
9 Therese Rhodes 0:19:06
10 Stephanie Russell 0:25:47
Sourced From cyclingnews.com
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