4
New Zealand mountain biker Samara Maxwell has achieved a remarkable feat. She has become the first woman from New Zealand to win a UCI MTB cross-country World Cup race.
The 23-year-old, who is the Oceania champion and rides for Decathlon Ford, claimed victory in the opening world series race of this year. The event took place in Araxa, Brazil.
Throughout the race, Maxwell stayed near the front. In the sprint finish, she managed to hold off Switzerland’s Nicole Koller and her American teammate Savilia Blunk.
Previously, the best placing by a New Zealand woman in cross-country was second. That was by Olympian Rosara Joseph 17 years ago in Australia.
On Sunday in Araxa, Maxwell had finished second to Evie Richards of Great Britain in the short-track cross-country event.
Maxwell was the women’s under-23 cross-country world champion in 2023. She placed eighth in the women’s mountain bike event at the Paris Olympics. Now, she’s competing in her first full world series season as an elite rider.
In the race, she took the lead after the first lap. But then, mid-race, she dropped 12 seconds behind the leader. However, she climbed back to the front and opened up an 18-second lead on the penultimate lap.
When her pursuers threatened, Maxwell stayed calm and won by four seconds at the finish line.
She said, “The team manager said it was going to be a hot race, with super punchy climbs. So to stay in the bunch and with two laps to go, do what you want. Coming into the feed zone with two laps to go, he looked at me and said now you go on the climb.
“I’ve been working really hard on technical skills on downhill. So I thought if I could get to the front and attack, and if I can get a 10-second gap, that’s a big amount of time to make up.
“I can’t believe it worked. I can’t wait to watch the race.
“The team has been amazing to me. I’ve had a tough time with my health in the last two years and the team stood by me. So having everything come together for these wonderful people is the most special part.”
Maxwell will stay in Brazil for the second round, which is again in Araxa. But this time, the course will be reversed from the one used today.
In the men’s race, Oceania champion Anton Cooper finished 36th. The Lapierre Racing Unity rider had taken a year off from the sport due to illness. He started from the sixth row and gradually found space to move forward. In the end, he had one of the fastest laps in the field.
Related topics
Advertisements