VTT Subaru French Cup, Val D'Isere

Europe based cross country racers stayed on in France while the UCI World MTB Cup shifted to Canada this weekend, racing at the highly subscribed French Cup. Huge fields were the first challenge for NZs athletes to overcome, but good starting grid positions worked in their favour and enabled several to compete at the front of their respective races.

In the 4 lap Elite/U23 Womens race, Katie O'Neill (Bergamont NZ, Rotorua) relished the opportunity some clear air provided, and a stunning 9th place finish was her reward for a very honest days racing. This result saw O'Neill claim a podium second place finish in the Under 23 competition.

The 5 lap Elite/U23 Mens race also had NZers running at the front of the pack, with Carl Jones (Bergamont NZ, Rotorua) and Dirk Peters (SantaCruz NZ, Rotorua) having fantastic races in the 110 strong field. Jones held tight to the leaders right through his race and is extremely happy to have maintained such a close margin with his seventh place finish. Peters was only slightly behind Jones throughout the race to finish 11th. However, like O'Neill Peters made the Under 23 podium presentation with a fourth place result in that category.

Sam Shaw (Rotorua) also competed in the Elite/U23 Mens race, to finish 40th.

Val D'Isere French Cup Results Elite/U23 Women
Val D'iIsere French Cup Results Elite/U23 Men