Cannonball MTB Festival 2017

Thredbo turned up the heat on mountain biking events in Australia, hosting the biggest gravity competition in the country December 6-10. The Cannonball MTB Festival boasted a record field including some of the world’s best and with $70k in the prize purse, the stakes were high and sizzling competition was guaranteed.

After a shaky start, the weather was at its alpine best with blue sky and sunshine across the weekend, just perfect for amateurs, pro’s, juniors, novices and everyday hero’s to push themselves and their bike to their limits and in some cases beyond.

Riders and spectators revelled in the festival atmosphere and were raving about the laid back vibe, the chance to ride alongside the world’s top riders, the incredible riding on display and the great entertainment line-up.

Growing in popularity year on year, the 2017 event – the fifth edition, attracted over 750 riders across 15 categories for ages 12 to 60+ in the five events.

Maxxis All-Mountain Assault

It was long, it tested the toughest and it left everyone breathless.  From downhill descents to flat out pedalling – two things the competitors were happy to see, the sunshine and the finish line!

A packed field of close to 500 lined up at the top of the Gunbarrel Express around 1790m above sea level, they took in the amazing views and took in deep breaths for the seven kilometre, 450 vertical metre descent to the village.

The pro division saw Ben Forbes repeat his 2016 win, hitting the line at 12:37:22 around seven seconds ahead of Josh Carlson with Scott Graham nudging into third. In the pro women’s Sian A’Hern took the win only seconds ahead of Claire Whiteman and Tegan Molloy in third.

ROCKSHOX Pump Track Challenge.

The social event of the Festival took place as the sun went down. The track was in top shape with world class showdowns revving up the huge crowd. The new dual format saw head to head Pump Track racing in the upper categories.

In the Pro Men’s, proving he is a quality all-rounder, Thomas Crimmins set a blistering pace in qualifying before meeting up with his mate David McMillan in the final.  rimmins crossed the line first by the narrowest of margins to McMillan with Duke Millington coming in third.

It was a parade of women’s world beaters with Danni Beecroft, who is more at home on the downhill track, taking the win. Sian A’Hern maintained her podium place of yesterday to ride in second with BMX rider Harriet Burbidge-Smith coming in third.

“I loved the dual format, it’s good to battle it out each other to see where you are at, it really pushes you to the edge so much so I almost crashed” said Danni Beecroft.

Canyon Flow Motion Cup and SRAM Whip Wars

It was a day of playing the long game – over 600 riders lined up at 1800m above sea level ready to take on the 4.5km track. Although not super technical, there’s a stack of steep banked berms and rolling traverses so cornering and pedalling ability was paramount.

Dean Lucas set the pace winning in 7:47:55 just .68 of a second ahead of enduro specialist Josh Carlson with Thomas Crimmins edging into third spot on the podium.

The women’s pro category saw 19 year old Sian A’Hern first down the mountain, just ahead of Tegan Molloy, with super mum Claire Whiteman jumping into third.

The hotly contested u/19’s saw young pinner Kye A’Hern lay down a hot time of 7:57:51 with Harrison Dobrowolski only a mere one second behind.

As the afternoon light crept across the finish arena the crowds gathered on the side of the hill for the always impressive SRAM Whip Wars. Over 100 riders took on the 30 foot jump – they were judged on the biggest sideways whip with air, style, steeze plus crowd pleasing tricks filled the rider’s pockets with cash.  Trick of the day definitely went to Nik Barber who launched a massive backflip that saw the massive hillside crowd erupt with applause.

“I’m just so stoked to win, I’ve been looking up to these guys since I was a kid and it’s crazy to be on the podium with them” said Millington.

Wearelusty Australian Open Downhill

It was an action packed dirt battle on the final day of the Cannonball MTB Festival, the wearelusty Australian Open Downhill did not disappoint. The sun was shining, the dirt was drying and the crowd was brimming with anticipation.

It was an incredible day of racing that saw over 200 racers lining up to take on the three kilometre, 372 vertical metre track.  Stepping back, the race kicked off at the top of the Kosciuszko Express taking in the famous fire road, before entering the technical descent to the village and big waiting crowd.

In the Pro Men’s it was Troy Brosnan, who literally flew down the mountain in a time of 5:06:41 to take the win, three seconds ahead of fellow world cup racer Connor Fearon with French rider Amaury Peirron coming in third.

The win made it a three-peat for Brosnan in the festivals signature event.  Track conditions changed over the course of the weekend from wet on Friday for practice to dry and dusty at race time.

“The track was hard this year, they changed it up adding more wood sections, making it more technical, which hurt your hands even more. I went out fast from the top, just did what I could and so stoked to get the win” said Brosnan.

In the women’s pro event local Jindabyne and Thredbo MTB rider Tegan Molloy used her home ground advantage to pick up top spot on the podium nearly five seconds ahead of Danni Beecroft with Sian A’Hern, who came off her bike earlier in the day, coming in third.

“I really love to win on my home ground in front of my family and friends, I was so stoked with this win” said Molloy.

All categories were hotly contested – Kye A’Hern showed he is one to watch taking the u/19 junior win in 5:20:65, Pat Butler second and Aaron Gungl third. The junior women’s saw the super consistent Ellie Smith win with local rider Mackenzie Diver number two and Sally Potter rounding out the podium.

A twist in the competition was that each event points were tallied to crown the King and Queen of the mountain in each division, the higher you place, the more you score, this year in the Pro Division Sian A’Hern and Tim Eaton were officially placed into Cannonball Royalty.