NZ MTB Team for 2008 World Championships Announced

Top New Zealand riders Kashi Leuchs and Rosara Joseph will lead a strong New Zealand team to contest the 2008 UCI World Mountainbike Championships in Val di Sole, Italy in June.

The crosscountry team will be led by Beijing-focussed Joseph and Leuchs, both competing from their European bases in their preparation for the Olympics in August.
 
"The crosscountry side of the team represents the depth of talent in the junior ranks especially," said Chris Mildon, Mountainbike New Zealand president. "These junior athletes relish the opportunity to compete at the world championships and perform above and beyond expectations against the world's best.”
 
Leuchs and Joseph are expected to lead by example, with Joseph currently recovering from an ankle injury sustained in the first UCI World Cup in Belguim but is expected to be fully fit for the World Championships on 17-22 June.
 
The downhill team includes three former Junior World Championship medallists. The depth of downhill talent and raw speed is represented in both the elite and the junior ranks, with Hawkes Bay juniors Aari Barrett and Brook MacDonald expected to do well.
 
Yeti/Fox team professionals Sam Blenkinsop and Justin Leov, along with seasoned campaigner Nathan Rankin, will lead the strong elite downhiller team.
 
Most will leave for Europe within the next few weeks to compete at world cup events in Andorra and Scotland before the Italian Worlds.
 
An exciting group of athletes comprising youth mixed with experience has been selected to compete in the spectacular Four Cross discipline.
 
Debutante Matt Walker provides the youth with 2006 junior downhill world champion Cameron Cole bringing experience along with Wyn Masters and Craig Pattle.
 
The team is:
 
Crosscountry:
U19: Samara Sheppard (Wellington), Ashley Hough (Tauranga), Scott Green (Rotorua), Dirk Peters (Rotorua), Kieran Hambrook (Nelson), George Bennett (Nelson).
 
U23: Josh Barley (Wellington).
 
Elite: Rosara Joseph (Wellington), Kaytee Boyd (Auckland), Kashi Leuchs (Dunedin).
 
Downhill:
U19: Brook MacDonald (Napier), Matt Walker (Kawerau), Peter Cooper (Blenheim), Aari Barrett (Havelock North), Richard Leacock (Wellington).
 
Elite: Scarlett Hagen (Queenstown), Amy Laird (Christchurch), Justin Leov (Christchurch), Nathan Rankin (Levin), Sam Blenkinsop (Wanganui), Kieran Bennett (Nelson), Glenn Haden (Wanganui), Mike Skinner (Auckland), Cameron Cole (Christchurch).
 
Elite Four Cross: Wyn Masters (Wanganui), Craig Pattle (Rotorua), Matt Walker (Kawerau), Cameron Cole (Christchurch).