Alexandra announced itself on the world mountain biking stage after the first-ever Crankworx Summer Series New Zealand kicked off in true South Island style on the weekend – sun shining, epic scenery, great tracks, and greater vibes. 

The local community welcomed this world-renowned sporting event this weekend, with some of the world’s best riders getting a taste of what Alexandra, the cycling haven boasting NZ’s original Great Ride, has to offer. 

Top international riders went head-to-head with some of the best local riders, with the Crankworx team saying even before racing started, that “this place is epic and it’s not going to be unexpected to have a local take out the Super DH challenge”. 

Alexandra has quietly celebrated some of the best MTB trails and conditions in New Zealand for many years, for those in the know. 

Kiwi and international riders alike were stunned by both the scenery and quality of riding at the new Matangi Station MTB Park, which unearths some of Alexandra and Central Otago’s most raw, rocky, and technical trails. 

The vision for the summer series is to bring some of the thrill and experience the Crankworx World Tour festival offers to other parts of New Zealand. 

Crankworx Rotorua Event Director, Ariki Tibble, explains: “It’s an extraordinary privilege to share some of the Crankworx Rotorua experience with the people of Alexandra and Central Otago. I’m sure there will be many locals able to share stories about the time Crankworx came to town for many years to come. 

“Having international riders hit your local trails, competing against local talent, creates a sense of pride that's hard to describe. We've seen it in Rotorua over the years and it's been invigorating to see that reflected in the local riding scene.”

“The first Summer Series event saw some of our talented local riders line up alongside the world’s best, gaining invaluable experience at the top level. 

“Super D is a unique discipline in mountain biking, in that it links together multiple Downhill tracks to create one long track.” 

Racers in the Alexandra Super D tackled a total of 5km of trail, dropping 678m over their total runs.

The Alexandra Super D served up three rocky tracks, a tasty sampler of the area’s distinctive, technical, and gnarly terrain, linked together for an 11+ minute race run. 

Racers got to experience rare wet conditions on Saturday’s practice day, but Sunday turned it on with sunshine and summer temperatures creating excellent riding conditions. 

Local riders shone against a field of top athletes from New Zealand and the world. 

A total of 86 total racers tackled the first race of the series, including 25 CWNext racers, 14 amateurs and 47 pros. The up-and-coming local riders blew everyone away with their performance, finishing with times comparable to the pros.

Alexandra’s own pro rider, Bradley Harris, finished 1st in Pro Men’s Super D on Sunday and says the local talent on show was top notch. 

“It is awesome to see the young fellas and riders rising through the ranks and it is pretty much where I started so I pretty much see that happening again and it’s awesome.”

Another local stand out was Eddie Adams in the Youth 15-16 category. He was stoked to race against some of the top New Zealand and international riders on his home turf. 

Eddie was part of the Matangi Station team and absolutely crushed it on all three stages. 

Not only did he finish number one in his age group, Eddie also had the sixth fastest time out of all the men racing. His name is one to watch for the future. 

“It was a real pleasure to bring them to my home tracks and show them a couple of wee sneaky lines. It was awesome to be able to ride with people that are the best in the world at this riding so it’s pretty cool.”

The local girls also had a great day with Hayley Harris (sister of Bradley) taking out first place in the 13-16 female race and Robin Pieper coming in fifth in the Pro-Female category. 

Second place Pro Female Casey Brown, spent time growing up in Central Otago before moving to Canada where she took up the sport.  

Crankworx Managing Director Darren Kinnaird was blown away by the sense of community from day one.

“It was really cool at the welcome evening at Matangi Station to see the sense of pride in the local community and all the locals receiving their team jerseys. We have not seen that at any other Crankworx event. 

“The local community are really embracing being a part of the event.”

Matangi Station team member Eddie Adams won his Youth 15-16 category and was sixth overall in the men’s section. Photo: Clint Trahan

Sophie Gimblett, lead organiser of Crankworx Summer Series New Zealand, says “from day one we have had incredible support from the local community, and it has been awesome to see how enthusiastic everyone is to have Crankworx Summer Series here. 

“There are a lot of talented local riders entered to race in the Super D and the community are backing them to win which is great to see. There is such a sense of community here which you can really feel as they have welcomed Crankworx with open arms.”

Central Otago District Council Chief Executive, and avid cyclist, Sanchia Jacobs said, “the secret of Alexandra’s supreme mountain biking tracks is out, and our town stepped up to the plate. We had to adapt for COVID but that didn’t stop the world class riding from going ahead. 

“The footage from the Crankworx racing is now being beamed globally, placing the incredible tracks of Alexandra and Matangi Station MTB park firmly on the mountain biking map.”

Events of the calibre and global reach of Crankworx strategically choose locations that best resonate with their audience for their events. 

The distinctly different Central Otago landscape and style of mountain biking, is something that has left riders with not just an elevated heart rate and bragging rights, but also a reason to come back and ride again in the not too distant future. 

All going to plan, the event will return to Alexandra in 2022 with the hope that the limitations imposed by COVID can be avoided and spectator audiences can be welcomed to watch the action in real life. 

A welcome programme organised by the team at Tourism Central Otago, saw riders meeting and riding with the locals, doing school visits and participating in activities with the Journeys programme, which was set up to empower young women through adventure, and the Alexandra BMX Club.

The Crankworx crew set up their event hub at the Linger and Die reserve, with registration, media centre and admin just around the corner at the Alexandra Community Centre, ensuring that the town of Alexandra was rightly at the heart of the action when riders weren’t out on Matangi’s trails.

The event was a proactive collaboration of Queenstown Lakes and the Central Otago district councils, the Southern Lakes Regional Events Fund, Central Otago, Queenstown and Lake Wanaka regional tourism organisations and commercial bike parks and facilities. 

Tourism Central Otago General Manager, Dylan Rushbrook says it provided the impetus for the Crankworx event team and riders to commit to holding their first ever New Zealand summer series festival in these locations. 

“The whole region is in for an epic four weeks of events and activities with imagery, footage and media reaching far and wide,” he says. 

“We always knew bringing Crankworx to Central Otago was going to be pretty special, and it certainly proved to be just that. 

“We knew this community would embrace the event team and riders in a completely different way to what they have seen before, and the way the Sanders family from Matangi Station and our community pulled together to bring this event to Alexandra was just incredible.

“In return, world class athletes took precious time out of their training schedules to share their journeys with some tips and tricks for making it to the top. The buzz from the kids participating was truly remarkable and something that has left a legacy for the next generation of riders.

“To top it off, seeing local riders dominate the podium, beating Olympians and world champions truly was special. 

“Alexandra has seriously announced its arrival onto the world mountain bike scene. With the hope that Crankworx Summer Series will return in 2022, this weekend has set the groundwork for what should be a really positive future for the sport in this part of the world.”

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