Top riders to battle for NZ XCM titles at Whaka 100
The Whaka 100 has attracted New Zealand's best riders to duke it out for the National Marathon MTB title.
Across the ditch in New Zealand, the nation's top mountain bikers are ready to go to battle at the 2022 Whaka 100, which is also the National Cross-Country Marathon (XCM) Championships. While the local riders will have plenty to battle for, the Perma Pine Whaka 100 on Sunday October has helped to draw a record field for the Southern Hemisphere's toughest single-day mountain bike event.
There are nearly 700 riders, a capacity field, who will take on the course in the forest. 107km of trails await, and 87% of that is singletrack. With over 3000m of climbing it'll be a tough day out, no mater where riders finish in the ranking. The fully New Zealand riders will be duking it out with national champion jerseys up for grabs for Elite, Under-23, Under-19, Sport and Masters riders.
The lure of a National Champions jersey has been strong for elite racers, which can be worn overseas when racing professional marathon events, has been particularly strong. Race director Tim Farmer is excited by the quality of the field and believes it’s the best marathon cross country field ever assembled in New Zealand:
“For the first time ever we’ve got all three medallists from the UCI National Cross County Champs – Anton Cooper, Ben Oliver (2nd at the Commonwealth Games), and Craig Oliver – and two of the three medallists from the women’s race – Sammie Maxwell and Amelie MacKay – on the start line of a marathon mountain bike event.
“And while these riders are amazing, the quality doesn’t stop there because we’ve also got international riders like Sam Fox from Australia (6th at the Commonwealth Games), two times Olympian Michelle Vorster from Namibia, and returning champions like Josie Wilcox to throw into the mix – it’s going to be one heck of a race.”
All the action for the weekend kicks off on Friday night with the UCI Cross Country Eliminator (XCE) National Championships happening in the heart of the city on Pukaki Street adjacent to Eat Street with qualification from 6.15pm and racing from 7.00pm.
On the Saturday the action moves to the world famous Whakarewarewa Forest trail network with the marquee race, the Perma Pine Whaka 100, starting at 7.30am on Sunday morning from the Waipa MTB hub.
In addition to the racing their will be a mountain bike expo and great food and drink options for participants and spectators to enjoy.
This is one of the biggest marathon races in the Southern Hemisphere, and reputedly one of the hardest in the world. Let's see how it pans out.
