Fox dominates nationals - but Australia has Olympic mountain to climb

Launceston’s Sam Fox has targeted an Olympic debut next year after dominating the mountain biking national champs - but there’s a catch.

LAUNCESTON mountain biker Sam Fox has targeted making next year’s Olympic team after dominating his rivals at the AusCycling Mountain Bike National Championships in Thredbo on the weekend.

But there is a catch, with Australia needing to make a leap up the world rankings if they are to qualify a team for Paris.

The 22-year-old won all three disciplines - the team relay, short course and Olympic distance events - at Thredbo in a carnival where many Launceston riders shone.

Izzy Flint, also a chance for Paris, claimed the short course and Olympic distance titles in under-23 women, despite not getting on a bike for all of December to recover from surgery to remove scar tissue.

Fox has only stepped up to the elite category from under-23s this year, but has wasted little time stamping himself as one to watch when Olympic selectors look at choosing a potential squad.

“That (Olympics) is my next big goal, but effectively Australia has to qualify a spot first,” Fox said.

Sam Fox celebrates after claiming victory at the Mountain Bike National Championships at Thredbo. Picture: Picture: AusCycling/Matt Rousu

“Australia’s currently ranked 20th, and we need to be in the top 18 to qualify. I need myself and two others to go overseas and get some good results consistently for us to get a spot. “We’ll have a fair crack and hopefully move up the rankings. There’ll be selection events the selectors look at late this year and early next year a couple of world cup legs in America this year and the world championships in Scotland will be on the list.

“I’ve been racing under 23 for a while and there’s not as many points as offer, so in elites I’ll be looking to hunt down as many points as I can.”

Despite being in his first year in elites, the 22-year-old was the favourite before the national championships after dominating both opening rounds of the Mountain Bike National Series in Canberra a fortnight ago.

“I won relatively convincingly (in Canberra), so I was coming in as favourite and that did weigh on me during the week,” Fox said.

“I usually don’t get nervous before a race but it was hard to shut that out and focus on what you’re doing.

“The guys left it to the last lap hoping I’d fade in the altitude. But my tactic was if I went out early and had clear track in front of me, I could do my own thing and not get caught in traffic.”

Izzy Flint in action at the Mountain Bike National Championships. Picture: AusCycling/Matt Rousu

Fox said his two fellow podium getters in the Olympic distance - mountain biking legend Dan McConnell and fellow Launceston rider Cam Ivory - would be crucial in helping to life Australia up the rankings.

Ivory also grabbed silver in the short-course event.

“It should be achievable. There’s a couple of other selection criteria which can get us in as well,” he said.

“We’ll target a few races but it’s just a budget thing at the end of the day. We’re limited by how much we can afford.”

Fox joined Team Bridgelane early last year and has recently re-signed for another year.

Flint is also part of the team, which has a heavy focus on helping Tasmania riders find a pathway in cycling.

“It’s always challenging to get out of Tasmania to race, those extra costs to get overseas,” he said.

“To have Bridgelane’s support makes an unbelievable difference.

“Even last year with the team’s backing I spent $10-15,000 when I was in Europe, and that’s just the time I spend over there.”

Flint dominated the under-23 Olympic distance to win by nearly four minutes.

She said she was unsure how she would fare after her injury, but was pleasantly surprised.

“Basically everyone else did some pre season racing during January, which I didn’t do, so it was hard coming into a race not knowing where your form’s at compared to everyone else,” she said.

Izzy Flint celebrates on the podium after her victory at the National Mountain Bike Championships. Picture: AusCycling/Matt Rousu

“But I was pretty confident afer the short course event on Friday that I had enough legs.

“I had a procedure at the start of December and had nearly a month off the bike, and I’ve only been back riding for about five weeks.

“It’s probably one of the most testing injuries I’ve had, but it was only a month and in the grand scheme of things I’ve had worse.

I’m new to Bridgelane this year and it’s been a welcoming environment. They’ve introduced a women’s team and they have a very rich history in road racing, but it’s great to see them going into the women’s and off road scene.

“It’s a good pathway for not only Tassie athletes, but all athletes.”

Other Launceston riders to podium were Archie Martin (silver in under-13 boys short-course and Olympic), Maya Martin (silver Olympic and bronze short-course in junior women) and Astrid Ketelaar (silver women’s Olympic master sevens).