This season’s New Zealand Cross-country Championships have been given a huge shake-up with new names at the top of the leader board after round two near Huntly on Sunday.

Defending senior champion Adam Reeves, of Palmerston North, won the opening round of the Suzuki-sponsored series near Pahiatua last month and looked to be well set for a successful title defence in 2012, but he had a “tough day at the office” on Sunday, finishing down in seventh position.

Instead it was Mokau’s Adrian Smith who enjoyed the clear air out front, leading home Raglan’s Jason Dickey, Whakatane’s Lance O’Dea and New Plymouth’s Renny Johnston.

With O’Dea also finishing runner-up at the opening round, it means he is the rider who now leads the charge for the title this season, with the series now at the halfway stage and no one rider dominating, although O’Dea’s consistency gives him a clear advantage.

It was a similar reshuffle in the junior class. South Islander Ethan Bruce was top junior at round one, finishing ahead of Raglan’s Mathew Quirke and Pahiatua’s Scott Sowry, but the finishing order with these three riders was reversed at Huntly with Suzuki ace Sowry taking charge.

“My bike started first kick and I was fourth around the top corner,” said Sowry afterwards.

“In the second corner I slipped up the inside of Daniel Christie (of Eketahuna), while the rider in second had drifted out wide, putting me into second place behind Matthew Quirke.

“Matthew was riding pretty ragged in the slick conditions. It wasn’t long before he stalled his bike and I pulled the front brake a bit hard going down beside him. I picked the bike up and pushed it over the side of the track and jump-started the bike before Matt got going. By now Ethan Bruce was behind me as we clicked off the first lap.

At the end of lap three I had a 20-second lead on Ethan, so I put the hammer down to break away from him. Lap four I did the fastest lap of the race. The gym work was paying off as I was feeling really good.

I ran consistent lap times and, by chequered flag, I had a two-and-a-half-minute lead on Ethan and was more than five minutes ahead of Matthew in third.”

The riders now head to the South Island for the second half of the season, with round three set for Marlborough on April 22 and, finally, round four near Christchurch on May 12.

© Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com