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Hanlen Fires to 2nd at BMC Racing Cup, Solothurn, Switzerland



 
Whakatane's Karen Hanlen secured a stunning 2nd place at the latest round of the BMC Racing Cup is Switzerland over the weekend. In difficult conditions on a drying but still challenging race course and against many of Europe's best athletes Hanlen put together a fantastic race, ultimately only two seconds from winning. Switzerland's Esther Suss prevailed in a sprint finish.
 
After the start, four women had formed the lead group by the end of the fourth of six laps. From there, Hanlen took command of the race at the front and quickly opened up a gap at the beginning of the penultimate lap, but this was soon closed down by Suss. “I told Karen it’s better if we work together,” Suss said. “Especially on the flat sections, where the track goes through the town of Solothurn.” During the last lap the duo distanced themselves from the rest of the field and headed toward the finish line locked closely together. However, Suss knew exactly where to attack with intimate knowledge of the Solothurn course having won here before, and passed Hanlen 300 meters before the finish to hold on for the win.
 
Hanlen is understandably very happy with this result: "Yeah, I'm so pleased, and a really nice confidence boost for next weekend - although I won't get complacent as it'll be all on!" The 'next weekend' is the third round of the UCI World Cup in Nove Mesto na Morave, Czechoslovakia, where Hanlen will again line up with Wellington's Rosara Joseph to continue the enthralling contest these two athletes are having on the world stage this year.
 
Other New Zealand athletes also competed at Solothurn, with Samara Sheppard (Wellington) 19th in the Elite Womens race. In the Elite Mens race, Rotoura's Dirk Peters was right back into the international racing groove with a very strong 24th at this third race of his 2012 European campaign. Sam Shaw, also from Rotorua didn't kick on as well, with a DNF in the tough conditions.
 
Brief Results, BMC Racing Cup, Solothurn
Elite Women
Esther Suss (SWI) 1:43:18 1st; Karen Hanlen (NZL) 1:43:20 2nd; Irena Kalentieva (RUS) 1:43:54 3rd; Samara Sgeppard (NZL) 1:53:48 19th.
Elite Men
Nino Schurter (SWI) 1:37:13 1st; Moritz Milatz (GER) 1:37:16 2nd; Christoph Sauser (SWI) 1:37:38 3rd; Dirk Peters (NZL) 1:44:47 24th
 
 
Hi-res photos available of the Suss/Hanlen finish contest by request.
 
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Film Night at the Village Theatre May 7th


Trail Notes is a collection of stories capturing the lifestyles of passionate mountaibikers from the Southern Hemisphere Mecca of Rotorua and the infamous trails of the Whakarewarewa forest. The film follows four unique individuals and showcases their stories of how mountainbiking captivated their lives and what has drawn them to the sport and intoxicating location of the forest. Each of these interconnected stories creates a tapestry of the local scene that mimics the winding trails of the forest. These stories of personal battles, commitment and passon to the sport of mountainbiking, illustrate both the individual and collective culture that these trails breed. The trailer and website for the film are provided below.
 

http://vimeo.com/33524622


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MTB World Cup kicks off ......


Watch the live action here...

Whakatane’s Karen Hanlen raced to a stunning 8th at the first round of the 2012 UCI Mountainbike World Cup in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa overnight. In a world class quality field of competitors, containing every Olympic nations top Elite cross country athletes Hanlen put herself in a position to not only challenge for the race lead, but to claim a result that will allow her to build on what has already been a form summer.
Hanlen leading Joseph at Oceanias

After winning every national level event in New Zealand this summer, including the National and Oceania Championship titles Hanlen travelled to South Africa with building form on her side. This first World Cup of 2012 has been her first opportunity since the 2011 World Championships to benchmark her rapid progress in this sport against the world’s best – and at the end of the first lap Hanlen was not only in the lead group on course, but outright second. Lining up beside Hanlen on the fourth row of the start grid was Wellington’s Rosara Joseph, and with the London Olympics forefront in both athletes minds also a very clear understanding of the importance of performing well in Pietermaritzburg.

Hanlen’s aggressive start rocketed her into contention at the front of the field, and after the second lap and some settling on the very technical race course she solidified a position behind the lead group of 8th, which she protected and held through to the end of the five lap race. Hanlen had been targeting a breakthrough into the top 12 at this first World Cup, and was delighted to finish inside the top ten and only 2:17 behind the race winner, Maja Wloszczowska (Poland). Joseph meanwhile worked steadily away after a slower start, and recovered course position to eventually finish 11th and 3:05 down on the winner.

Hanlen returns to Whakatane on Wednesday to continue preparations for the next Mountainbike World Cup event at Houffalize, Belguim on the 14th April where she will again line up against Joseph at this World Cup venue – one which both athletes are very familiar with.

Results Pietermaritzburg MTB World Cup:
Maja Wloszczowska (Poland) 1:34:01 1; Emily Batty (Canada) 1:34:05 2; Catharine Pendrel (Canada) 1:34:24 3; Karen Hanlen (NZL) 1:36:18 8;Rosara Joseph (NZL) 1:37:06 11.
Full Results
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