Hosking and Nash prevail in dusty Round 1 of 2024 AusCycling Cyclo-cross National Series
Elite Women’s national champion Katherine Hosking (NSW/Orbea Women’s Racing) and Men’s U23 national champion Tristan Nash (WA/Midland Cycle Club) triumphed in the Elite Women’s and Men’s races on Saturday as the Australian Cyclo-cross National Series returned to Adelaide’s Zombie Park for the first time in seven years.
The circuit - located on Kaurna country - saw competitors flying through dusty corners and dry grassy straights under sunny skies, with temperatures on the warm side of 20ºC. Indeed, the track would have looked more at home in Port Adelaide’s CX TwiLITE summer series than at the end of May - a far cry from the extremely wet conditions seen when the National Series was last raced on this course in 2017.
Rutted, loose dust was a common sight on the Zombie Park course.
Photo: CX Down Under
As with previous races held at this track, the key feature of the lap was the ‘swing tree’ - a steep descent into a tight hairpin corner, before a run back uphill to another hairpin corner and a quick remount on uneven ground as the course riders headed downhill again. It was the most popular spot for spectators and hecklers throughout the day, and proved to be a key tactical point in races all day long.
The course’s ‘swing tree’ feature - riders descend down the hill on the right, before quickly pivoting around the tree, quickly moving uphill and making a sharp left-hand turn before descending again.
Photo: CX Down Under
Age-group racing
The opening round of this year’s National Series saw competitors in the Masters, Expert and junior fields drawn from all around Australia, with age-group national champions rubbing shoulders with those trying the sport for the first time. This race was the first since the introduction of new equipment regulations, with competitors now allowed to run drop handlebars of any width and - more controversially - fit tyres with a measured size of up to 42mm.
With those rules in place the bikes being used were slightly more diverse than has been seen in the past - though the fast conditions meant that wider tyres were not necessarily quicker for much of the course.
Elite Women
The Elite Women’s race saw national champion Katherine Hosking win a tight tussle with Miranda Griffiths (VIC/Batch Brewery x Seight) by 15 seconds. After a quick opening start the pair gained separation from their fellow racers on the opening lap, and shadowed each other closely for the first half hour of the race.
This was only Hosking’s second outing in her national champion’s colours, and conditions could scarcely have been more different from the day she won the jersey in Ballarat last August. Nevertheless, the national champion was comfortable leading from the front for the first half an hour, using her technical prowess to gain gaps through the course’s numerous sandy corners, forcing a more tentative Griffiths to chase back on each time she made a mistake.
A crucial bobble through a tricky sand section on lap 4 opened the gap for good, and Hosking continued to extend her advantage consistently until she crossed the line for her first National Series win in a time of 43:17.
Two minutes behind the leading pair, the race for third was a three-way battle between 2024 world championship representative Fi Morris (VIC/MAAP Sixpence CX) and local sisters Anook and Talia Simpson (both SA/Adelaide Mountain Bike Club). After a see-sawing battle between the three, Anook Simpson eventually took the third spot on the podium at 2:15 behind Hosking, with Morris finishing three seconds ahead of Talia Simpson in fourth place.
The Elite Women’s podium (L-R): Fi Morris, Miranda Griffiths, Katherine Hosking, Anook Simpson and Talia Simpson.
Photo: CX Down Under
Elite Men
The Elite Men’s field was an extremely deep 18 riders, the biggest field of the day. There was plenty of quality amongst the competitors as well, with current Men’s Elite national champion Chris Aitken (NSW/MAAP Sixpence CX), U23 champion Tristan Nash and U19 champion Sam Northey (VIC/Cyclepath Bright) all toeing the start line, as well as former world championship representatives Chris Jongewaard (SA/Duke Flanders Racing) and Garry Millburn (VIC/MAAP Sixpence CX).
Racing at Zombie Park for the first time since his national championship win in 2017, Jongewaard was quick to re-establish himself at the front of affairs, taking the holeshot and leading a charging field through the early stages of the opening lap.
The swing tree feature was nothing short of chaos on the opening lap - although Jongewaard led the field into the section, he chose to stay on his bike and ride the outside of the corner, while Tristan Nash was able to move from fourth to first with an early dismount and a running line that cheekily blocked his fellow racers attempting to ride up to the second hairpin.
After that point Nash was never headed, gaining a gap of eight seconds after the first lap and continuing to grow his advantage with silky handling through the corners and explosive power on the straights, in very similar conditions to those normally found in his native Western Australia. He eventually won from the Duke Flanders Racing duo of Chris Jongewaard (SA/Duke Flanders Racing) and Nick Smith (NSW/Duke Flanders Racing) by 1:50 and 2:02 respectively. National champion Chris Aitken (NSW/MAAP Sixpence CX) took fourth place at 2:41 behind Nash, while Domenic Paolilli (VIC/Duke Flanders Racing) worked his way up from 10th place early on to eventually take fifth, making it three Duke-Flanders riders on the final podium.
The Men’s Elite podium (L-R): Chris Aitken, Chris Jongewaard, Tristan Nash, Nick Smith and Domenic Paolilli.
Photo: CX Down Under
Disclosure: CX Down Under editor Tom McQuillan is the AusCycling National CX Series Director for 2024, and is assisting in the preparation, delivery and review of this year’s CX National Series events, including this event in Adelaide.
If you came along, he hopes you had a nice time.
Acknowledgement: This race took place on the traditional lands of the Kaurna people. CX Down Under acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we ride, and their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging.