NZ TITLE LOCKED UP | Bikesportnz

The 2016 New Zealand Cross-country Championships have been locked up and the key thrown away by Bay of Plenty’s Brad Groombridge.

There is still one round remaining in this season’s New Zealand Cross-country Championships but, as far as Groombridge is now concerned, that really doesn’t matter.

The Taupo locksmith won the third round of four in the 2016 nationals, held in Taranaki, about 20 kilometres east of Eltham, on Saturday and that was enough for him to lock up the senior championship overall with a round to spare.

The Suzuki ace had also won the earlier rounds one and two, near Huntly and near Mosgiel respectively, and, with only three of the four rounds to be counted, as riders discard their one worst result, the 25-year-old Groombridge has now put himself well out of strike range of his rivals.

It was actually not as easy as Groombridge made it look – if record four-time former national champion Adrian Smith, of Mokau, had won on Saturday and then also gone on to also win the final near Nelson next month, it would have been an entirely different outcome and Smith would have collected his fifth national cross-country title.

And, when Yamaha’s Smith snatched the lead at the start of Saturday’s gruelling three-hour marathon, it seemed that might have been possible.

But there was no stopping Groombridge on Saturday, taking over the lead from Titirangi’s Callan May (Yamaha) on the fourth of seven 28-kilometre laps and he pushed on to win the race by 48 seconds from Howick’s Liam Draper (Husqvarna), with May crossing the line in third place, nearly three minutes further back.

Smith settled for fifth overall, behind Pahiatua’s Charles Alabaster.

While the record shows a 1-1-1 score-card for Groombridge over the three rounds thus far, the senior title in his possession with a round to spare, there was nothing certain about his victory until the final few minutes on Saturday.

Draper had the lead at the end of lap six and opted for a “splash and dash” pit stop before the final lap, handing the lead to Groombridge, who simply “took the gamble” and bypassed the pits.

The gamble paid off, Groombridge didn’t run out of fuel, his body’s stamina held out, his bike stayed together, he didn’t crash or have a flat tyre – or suffer any of the dozens of other misfortunes that struck so many other riders on Saturday – Draper didn’t catch him and he took the win.

“I used to live and work in Hawera and so I had ridden here before and knew what to expect,” confided Groombridge afterwards.

“I got stuck in a bog on lap six when I chose the wrong rut and that’s when Liam (Draper) got past me.

“I was riding tall gears to try and conserve fuel. I knew it would be touch and go to whether I’d make it. Put it this way, I was still going at a fairly decent pace, but I was riding conservatively.”

Local fans enjoyed some success with Stratford’s Karl Roberts (Yamaha) finishing eighth overall on Saturday and wrapping up his fourth national veterans’ (35-44 years) class title.

“I was running about fifth overall in the early part of the race, but then realised I was a veteran and ran out of puff after that,” laughed the 42-year-old farmer.

Fellow Taranaki man Dougy Herbert (Husqvarna) finished 13th overall on Saturday, the New Plymouth bank officer second best in the battle-within-a-battle for super vet (over 45 years) class honours, crossing the line just over four minutes behind super vet class winner Adam Youren (Kawasaki), of Napier, who was 12th overall.

Best of the senior women was Te Awamutu’s Jan-Maree Pool (KTM), who crossed the line in 29th position overall, while Wellington’s Jane Roberts (KTM) was next best, finishing 38th overall.

Meanwhile, South Islander Keegan Anglesey (Yamaha) won the 90-minute junior race held earlier in the day, becoming the third different junior race winner this season, the 16-year-old from Tapawera crossing the finish line 24 seconds ahead of round one winner Logan Shaw (Honda), of Raglan, with Eketahuna’s Chris Dickson (Yamaha) taking the third podium spot.

However, with a 1-2-2 score-card thus far, 15-year-old Shaw is firm favourite to wrap up the junior title at the final round.

“I was going well but I had a crash halfway through lap one,” Shaw explained. “I took the lead and then lost it again in the pits and I just couldn’t catch Keegan (Anglesey) after that.”

Best of the junior 85cc riders on Saturday was Taupiri’s Zak Fuller (Kawasaki), finishing 15th overall and just ahead of the next-best 85cc rider, Havelock North’s Tom Hislop (Yamaha).

The only female in the junior field, Cambridge’s Zara Gray (Husqvarna), finished in a creditable 21st position.

The fourth and final round of the championship is set for Nelson on May 14.

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