Mountain bike racing doesn't come much closer than a fraction of a second, which was all that separated the two top mens team as they crossed the finish after 56km of challenging terrain in Alexandra.

It was Team MitoQ NZ Cycling project of Josh Burnett and Ben Oliver who took top spot for a second year at Matangi Station. 

“We are stoked to be the champions for a second year,” said Ben Oliver. 

“We knew we had to keep the pressure on and play defensive today as they would be pushing hard to get away from us.” 

Winning team Josh and Ben in action. PHOTO: AuthenticAS

Talley’s Team, Cameron Jones and Matt Wilson pushed to their limit but couldn’t shake the returning champions. 

“We will definately be back next year,” said Matt Wilson. 

“This is my second year and I just love riding these trails. It is just an awesome weekend.”

Mary Gary and Sarah Gilbert Ward (Powered by MitoQ) also rode well, with a clean sweep of stage wins and a strong finish on the last day giving them 25 minutes over their rivals Erin Greene and Hannah Millar (Giro Giraffes). 

Mary Gary said it is was the social nature of the race combined with the fantastic course which made the event memorable.

Sarah said they we would love to see more female teams in the future.

"The race is totally doable with a bit of training and everyone has such an epic time here.”

Samara Sheppard Oceania and National Champion and her Australian Partner Kyle Ward continued their domination of the Mixed category.

Samara said it was a tough day but a really good experience to do it as a pair.

"To have someone the whole way round to enjoy it with you is cool.”

Kyle Ward, who was the only Australian really enjoyed the whole experience.

“We put it together well, and today was tough. And I would say most people are feeling it today. And one of the great things about the Prospector is that you get to connect all these aweosme tracks together and get some flow. That’s epic.”

The 2022 Prospector had 200 riders enter and was one of the only events still on the biking calendar due to covid-19 red setting requirements.

The event hosts categories for Individual athletes and teams set in the high country stations of Matangi Station MTB and Earnscleugh Station in the Central Otago riding hub of Alexandra.

Read our earlier story on winner Samara Sheppard here: Gearing up for fun on race day

Check out all the results from The Prospector here.