Anton Cooper Defends National Junior XC Title

In a result that wasn’t really too surprising for the locals in New Zealand, Anton Cooper has successfully defended his National Junior XC Title for 2011, and enters his last year of racing the junior category as the reigning 2012 Junior National Champ.

This past weekend saw Nelson as the host venue for the 2012 New Zealand Mountain Bike Championships, a venue that has previously been very successful for the Christchurch native. Here’s how Anton saw it:

“The course was bone dry and even a good heavy shower overnight had little effect on the choking dust. After my first few practice laps I decided to race with the Superfly 29er deeming the course better suited to the larger wheels. Knowing I was in good form, and super keen to defend my National Championship title I took a more conservative, risk free approach to this race, not wanting any mid race dramas! My race went exactly to plan and I had no mechanicals or near misses, riding the downhill sections with a more relaxed approach but really driving hard up the hills and flatter sections of the course to open out a substantial gap on the competition and take home the Junior National title. It was also great to watch my team mate Justin Leov take out the Elite National Downhill title the next day. Bring on South Africa, Can't wait!”