Sunday August 7 saw almost 1,000 mountain bikers battle it out in the Husky 100ker, Round 3 of the Real Insurance XCM Series.
After rain on Saturday night the riders fought through the muddy, clay-like conditions to race in either the Marathon event (100km) or Half Marathon event (50km).
Clarence Street Cyclery rider Matt Fleming won the 100km Marathon event in 4 hours and 35 minutes, with fellow Clarence Street Cyclery rider Jenny Fay claiming the Women’s Marathon title in a time of 5 hours and 4 minutes.
The win for Fleming means he has taken the Real Insurance XCM Series lead from Ben Mather. With 1st, 2ndand 6thplace finishes in the first three rounds of the Real Insurance XCM Series, Fleming now has more than a 700 point lead ahead of Anthony Shippard (6,214 points), James Downing (6,175 points), Justin Morris (5,874 points) and Tate Dogan (5,813 points). Although Fleming has a good lead he is by no means safe!
Two events still remain in the five race Real Insurance XCM Series. As a riders top three results count towards their series ranking any rider from the list below with a better result than Fleming’s worst (currently 6th) can in theory still win the Series.
Dylan Cooper: 1st, 2nd
Peter Hatton: 2nd
Ben Mather: 3rd, 1st
Peter Hatton: 2nd
Shaun Lewis: 3rd
Mitch Codner: 3rd
Jason English: 4th
Anthony Shippard: 5th, 4th
Craig Gordon: 5th
James Downing: 6th, 6th
Troy Glennan: 5th
The riders with the best chance to take the overall win from Matt Fleming are the other Series event winners, Dylan Cooper and Ben Mather. To win the Series they will not only have to finish in the top 6 at the next 2 events but finish ahead of Fleming. If Fleming finishes 5thor better in either of the final 2 events, the top contender list will shorten.
In the Women’s Marathon Series Sue Thompson has a significant lead over Jenny Fay and Vanina Vergoz after completing all 3 series events. It will be a
different story for Thompson after the next event when Fay and Vergoz also have 3 results counting towards their ranking.
See the full rankings here.
Limited entries are still available for the final 2 events in the Real Insurance XCM Series:
The Bottlebutt 100 (September 10, Port Macquarie)
The Briars Highland Fling (November 12, Bundanoon).
More information about the Real Insurance XCM Series can be found at www.cyclenation.com.au.