SNOWY MOUNTAINS, NSW—Samara Sheppard (NZL) is riding a hot streak at the moment after capturing her third consecutive stage to start the second annual Snowies Mountain Bike Festival at Lake Crackenback Resort & Spa in the iconic Snowy Mountains of New South Wales on Saturday afternoon.
The 25-year-old Wellington native once again downed last year’s third-place finisher Renata Bucher (SUI), who finished second for the third time, on the 6-kilometre Thredbo All Mountain Descent stage 3 to tighten her grip on the elite women’s overall lead with just two stages remaining in the three-day, five-stage mountain bike race hosted by In2Adventure. Australian Zoe Cuthbert (ACT) finished third.
The win increases Sheppard’s lead (1:40:39) over Bucher (1:43.17) by more than 3 minutes on Bucher and by 6 minutes on Australian Cristy Henderson (1:46:43).
In elite men’s action, defending champion Andy Blair (Specialized Racing Australia) returned to the podium after being runner up in the first two stages to current race leader Kyle Ward (AUS). The two-time Australian XCM champion and 2014 Commonwealth Games representative crossed the line in a time of 14 minutes 34 seconds, 14 seconds ahead of fellow Australian Guy Frail. Ward finished third (14:51).
The win gives Blair (1:26:40) 17 valuable seconds back on Ward (1:24:59), who now leads by less than two minutes with only two stages remaining, including the 20.5km Gravity Check descent and 45km XCM on the final day of racing.
The Snowies Mountain Bike Festival is proudly supported by the NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW.
Results – Top 3Elite Men:
Elite Women:
General Classification (after 3 stages)
Elite Men:
Elite Women:
About In2Adventure:
In2Adventure is Asia-Pacific’s premier adventure event specialists. With a full calendar of national events scheduled throughout Australia, including adventure races, cross triathlon, XC Mountain Bike, trail runs and corporate events, In2Adventure fully embraces all things ‘off road’ and ‘off the beaten track’ and offers a unique, individual experience for all ages and skill levels. For more information visit In2Adventure here.
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Photo Credit: Mandy Lamont | In2Adventure
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