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You are here: Home / Reports / Jongeward and Blair win 2015 Easter in the Alice

April 6, 2015 By Imogen Smith Leave a Comment

Jongeward and Blair win 2015 Easter in the Alice

Alice Springs
Related Event: XCM Series: Easter in the Alice

Thanks to Bob Taylor and Ben Gooley for the use of their images.

Cooler temperatures greeted riders this morning as they lined up for the last stage of Lasseters Easter in the Alice stage race. Having endured desert weather of soaring temperatures and low humidity for the last two days, light cloud cover and temperatures in the mid-twenties were very welcome.

Stage 5 took in 60 kilometres of Alice’s finest singletrack, starting at the historic Telegraph Station, now the town’s MTB hub, riders headed straight into the deep sand of the dry Todd River and straight into flowing red dirt singletrack, interrupted by only a few stretches of sandy fire road for the whole stage.

Lasseters Easter in the Alice. Photo: Bob Taylor

Again, the men’s race was between Andy Blair and Chris Jongewaard who, separated by less than two minutes, battled it out at the front of the race. Behind them the other men started at a (relatively) leisurely pace, but gaps formed soon after the second crossing of the Todd, with the usual mix of Downing, Mather, Hanson, and English fighting for the remaining places on the podium.

The women’s race was again utterly dominated by Jenny Blair, followed by Melissa Anset and Imogen Smith. Blair clearly has her eyes on the remaining National XCM rounds and the XCM National Championship jersey, and will be one of the hot favourites when the women line up in Derby in May.

Lasseters Easter in the Alice. Photo: Ben Gooley

After less than two-and-a-half hours, Jongewaard again emerged from the desert victorious, winning the three-day event, but again tailed closely by Andrew Blair, who takes second overall, riding in with Ben Mather in third. The women’s rankings remain unchanged, with Blair in first, Anset in second, and Subaru-MarathonMTB.com’s Smith in third.

All that is left now is the presentations at Stage 5!

This year’s event has attracted some of Australia’s finest racers and lots of happy competitors. Race Organiser John Pyper is already promising a bigger and better event next year, and it’s an easy one to plan your holidays for. It’ll be at Easter.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Reports Tagged With: Alice Springs, Desert racing, LEITA, MarathonMTB. mountain bike, Stage Racing

About Imogen Smith

A gifted writer and one of Australia's most experienced MTB stage racers, Imogen has a passion for travel and adventure by bike. Imogen races for MarathonMTB.com and coaches with Mindmatterscoach.com. Racing elite since 2004 including stints on the road, Imogen has a love of the sport for where it can take her, and what it can teach her about herself, others and life. Follow Imogen on Instagram.

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