Canada’s Cory Wallace gives Jason English of Australia one of the hardest rides of his career in New Zealand
Jason English's title win didn't come easy, with Canada's Cory Wallace hot on his wheel for much of the race's 500 kilometers.
Conditions were decidedly wet before competition at the WEMBO World Solo 24 Hour Mountain Bike Championships, the headline event of the Rotorua Bike Festival in Rotorua, New Zealand, kicked off. By noon on Feb. 20, though, conditions had cleared up enough for Australia’s Jason English to take his seventh consecutive title at the event, and make history in the process.
It wasn’t a title win that came easy for the Aussie rider, though, with Canada’s Cory Wallace—fresh from the Pioneer Mountain Bike Stage Race, also in New Zealand—hot on his wheel for much of the race’s 500 kilometers.
Until the last hour of the race, reports say, English’s win was far from certain. As he told the Rotorua Daily Post after competition was done and dusted, battling Wallace through the long, trying race amounted to one of the hardest rides of his career.
With 5 and a half hours to go, Cory Wallace and Jason English are together at the front of the field, and Tobias… https://t.co/3EulL1yZoU
— WEMBO (@world24hr) February 20, 2016
“I knew the whole time Cory was a much stronger rider,” English said of his Canadian challenger. “I don’t actually know what it came down to between us, probably just a bit of mongrel. I thought I’d wind it up a little bit and get a bit of a gap.” As the race passed the halfway mark, during the early hours of Sunday, New Zealand time, Wallace held on to a marginal lead . With an attack near the end of the 27 laps, though, English came out ahead, clocking a six-minute gap on Wallace .
With 5 and a half hours to go, Cory Wallace and Jason English are together at the front of the field, and Tobias… https://t.co/3EulL1yZoU
— WEMBO (@world24hr) February 20, 2016
“I was quite surprised that I could,” English said, “and more surprised that I could hold it. So it played out quite well.” Wallace, meanwhile, thought he had edged English out of the competition a couple of times, but the Australian rider would reclaim his position each time. That the race, spanning such huge distances during a 24-hour period, came down to barely minutes of breathing room between either rider was a testament to the power of both.
Planning for the 2017 WEMBO World Solo 24-hour mountain bike championships is underway, officials said, and dates for next year’s competition should be announced soon.
WEMBO World Solo 24 Hour mountain bike championships
Women:
1) Liz Smith (AUS) 22 laps, 24:46:51
2) Nina McVicar (NZ) 21 laps, 24:20:13
3) Kate Penglase (AUS) 21 laps, 24:52:10
Men:
1) Jason English (AUS) 27 laps, 23:56:39
2) Cory Wallace (CAN) 27 laps, 24:00:49
3)Tobias Lestrell (AUS) 26 laps, 24:01:13
