Kiwi downhill mountain bikers hail ‘dream come true’ after world champs podium clean sweep

The three young Kiwi gravity riders who created history with a clean sweep of the podium in the junior women’s downhill world champions says the feat is “a dream come true’’.

Hutt Valley’s Erice van Leuven, 16, who was fastest in qualifying, claimed the title with the second-last run of the competition, winning by over five seconds from Mt Maunganui’s Poppy Lane with Auckland’s Sacha Earnest third.

The trio tamed the beast at Fort William, the longest of the major downhill courses, set in the picturesque Nevis Range in northern Scotland on Friday (Saturday NZ time).

“I can’t think of anything better, having all three girls from home here up on the podium; it’s just a dream,’’ Earnest, 17, said.

Lane, 17, added: “We joked about it weeks ago. For it to actually come true is insane.’’

Champion van Leuven agreed it was “a crazy’’ feat and said winning had been “massive dream of mine, I can’t believe it…’’

Earnest said it was “the best thing I could dream of’’ and while she was “definitely gunning for’’ gold seeing “Erin in first is amazing and Poppy for second in her first race is the best thing ever’’.

Lane was the second rider off and claimed the lead before spending most of the race on the top of the Hot Seat until she was nearly edged out from Earnest, who clocked the top speed of 56kph as she flew to within 0.4s of Lane’s time down the 2.9km track.

The pair then watched as van Leuven, only sixth fastest through the first time check, crushed it on the bottom half of the run to win in 5:15.613, just over five seconds faster than her fellow kiwis and clear of the other 26 starters.

The trio watched anxiously until the final rider went outside the time, then hugged and celebrated the occasion.

Van Leuven, who said it was “quite windy at the top’’ of the course “but not too bad because there wre no jumps’’, but the “bottom section by the final motorway was a bit hard with a bit of a head cross-wind’’.

She had “tried to look at it like a World Cup to keep the nerves down a bit’’, but “when you finish, it’s another level.’’

It makes it two junior women’s downhill world titles in a row for New Zealand after Rotorua’s Jenna Hastings won the junior women’s title last year. It also marks 20 years since Queenstown’s Scarlett Hagen prevailed, with both winning their titles at Les Gets in France.

In the junior men’s final, Luke Wayman (Christchurch) was the best of the kiwis in 23rd place, 13 seconds off winner Henri Kiefer (GER), with Angus Ferguson (Christchurch) 29th, Josh Bonnar (KiwiDH, Arrowtown) 30th and Ty Muirhead (Kiwi DH, Wanaka) 42nd.

Earlier the veterans led the way for the Kiwis in the elite men’s downhill qualifying, with Edward Masters (Pivot Factory, Taranaki) best in 17th fastest, 5.9sec behind top qualifier Loic Bruni FRA).

Sam Blenkinsop (Crestline, Christchurch), who claimed his first of six world championship top-10s at Fort William in 2007, was second fastest of the KIiwis in 23rd. He was followed by Tuhoto-Ariki Pene (MS Mondraker, Rotorua) 39th, George Brannigan (NS Bikes UR, Queenstown) 40th and Brook MacDonald (MS Mondraker, Napier) 41st. Also James MacDermid (The Alliance, Hamilton) 57th and national champion Toby Meek (MS Mondraker, Queenstown) 63rd completed the kiwis to qualify for tomorrow’s final.

In the elite women qualifying, last year’s junior world champion Hastings (Pivot Factory, Rotorua) was 21st fastest and Wanaka’s Kalani Muirhead 23rd to both earn places in the final.