MOUNTAIN BIKE: Australia's leading mountain bike riders will be putting it all on the line as they fly down the course at the 2015 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships in a bid to further their credentials for Olympic qualification.
Elite men's cross country athletes Daniel McConnell, Brendan Johnston, Paul Van Der Ploeg and Cameron Ivory will be joined by sole women's elite athlete Rebecca Henderson as Australia looks to climb the all-important national rankings in Vallnord, Andorra.
London 2012 Olympian McConnell will be chasing his first world championships medal, buoyed by his fifth placed performance at the penultimate World Cup round in Windham, USA.
Although McConnell acknowledges his World Cup season wasn’t as strong as he had hoped, he is confident that a medal is not out of the question.
“I have been feeling really good in training, so now just have to put it all together in the race situation,” McConnell said.
“I have specifically done multiple altitude camps this year to prepare myself for the course in Andorra, so I really hope it pays off.
“It's been a tough year for me in the World Cup’s, so I would love to finish the season on a high. If I have a good day, the podium is not out of reach.”
In the elite women’s event fellow London 2012 Olympian Henderson will fly the Aussie flag solo as she looks to improve on her 15th place finish last year.
With significant ranking points on offer the competition will give Australia the oppotunity to improve their position in the international standings that currently sees the men placed ninth and the women placed 16th.
Australia's men will qualify three riders for Rio if they climb into the top six when the rankings are finalised in late May, 2016. They will qualify two riders if they're ranked from sixth to 13th and one if they sit between 14th-23rd.
Australia's women will qualify two riders if they are in the eight or one if they're ranked between ninth and 17th in the world.
Schedule:
Elite Women’s Cross Country Final: Saturday, September 5 at 7.50pm EST
Elite Men’s Cross Country Final: Saturday, September 5 at 10.20pm EST
A full schedule of the week’s racing can be found here>>>
olympics.com.au with Mountain Bike Australia
