February 7/16 9:49 am - inaugural Pioneer Mountain Bike Stage Race: Wallace and Sneddon podium
Posted by Editoress on 02/7/16
The inaugural Pioneer Mountain Bike Stage Race came to an emotional conclusion in Queenstown New Zealand Saturday, with riders having completed 569km, 15,000m of climbing, some scintillating descending and amazing riding through the most stunning landscapes since leaving Christchurch seven days ago.
Amazing New Zealand scenery
It was the Kiwi/Aussie Rio Olympic Games hopeful combination of Anton Cooper and Dan McConnell who took out the first title, their names etched on to the greenstone carved trophy as the first winners of The Pioneer, defeating both Kona Factory Racing Teams in the process, although Spencer Paxson (USA) and Cory Wallace (CAN) did finally break the Team Danton stage stranglehold with a win on the final day.
While Wallace and teammate Paxon finished second overall, fellow Canadian Kris Sneddon with teammate Barry Wicks would finish 3rd.
Kona Factory teams A and B - Cory Wallace far left, Kris Sneddon far right
In the women's category it was an equally dominant performance from Erin Greene and Kath Kelly, the Torpedo7 duo carving out an amazing six hour plus victory margin, winning every stage along the way.
Cooper and McConnell reflected on a hugely successful week, one they hope will set them up for their Rio campaigns.
"That is just such a great week and great riding. I must admit that after three or four days we were feeling it and wondering if we might be here at the end of the week, but we kept on riding through each day," said Cooper. "The Kona boys were great competition, a real coup for the event to have them here and they raced strongly all week.
"This is a great way to lay down a base of miles with World Cup races to come and of course Rio later in the year, but The Pioneer has proven this week to be a great event in its own right, a really tough but stunning ride through incredible countryside, it has been a huge challenge but we have loved every moment."
Report and photos courtesy The Pioneer Mountain Bike Stage Race
Final Overall standings
| All Men | Categ (Pos) | Time |
| 1 TEAM DANTON (Anton Cooper NZL & Dan McConnell AUS) | Open M Team (1) | 26:50:53 |
| 2 TEAM KONA FACTORY TEAM A (Cory Wallace CAN & Spencer Paxson USA) | Open M Team (2) | 27:43:57 |
| 3 TEAM KONA FACTORYTEAM B (Barry Wicks USA & Kris Sneddon CAN) | Open M Team (3) | 28:07:05 |
| 4 TEAM EPICCYMRU.COM (Matthew Page GBR & Sam Gardner NZL) | Open M Team (4) | 29:36:42 |
| 6 TEAM LEAVE PASS 2 (Minter Barnard AUS & Ian Chitterer AUS) | Mas M 40+ Team (1) | 30:44:10 |
| 7 TEAM LEIGHS CONSTRUCTION (Shane Kennedy IRE & Glen Currie NZL) | Open M Team (5) | 30:56:13 |
| 8 TEAM IRIDE (Andrew Young NZL & Yuri Hauswald USA) | Mas M 40+ Team (2) | 30:57:25 |
| 9 TEAM BBC RACING (Johnny Van Leeuwen NZL & Guy Carter NZL) | Open M Team (6) | 31:01:25 |
| 10 TEAM DIRT MERCHANTS WELLINGTON (Gianluca Valsenti NZL & Simon Harper NZL) | Inc Team/Stage (1) | 31:17:01 |
| 11 TEAM POUWHITI (Matthew Webber NZL & Jeremy Webber AUS) | Open M Team (7) | 31:23:44 |
| 12 TEAM FLINT CYCLING (Stefan Hackl AT & Bevan Spratt NZL) | Open M Team (8) | 31:25:54 |
| 13 TEAM MASTERS OF MUD PLUGGING MAYHEM (Steve Gurney NZL & Simon Callaghan NZL) | Mas M 50+ Team (1) | 31:40:22 |
| 14 TEAM LOCAL EMPIRE (James Morton AUS & Peter Arnott AUS) | Inc Team/Stage (2) | 31:47:00 |
| 15 TEAM FAT BOY SLIM (Matthew Brick NZL & Jon Hume NZL) | Inc Team/Stage (3) | 31:52:04 |
| 16 TEAM ROCK & ROAD CYCLES (Mike Sangster NZL & Lindsay Breen NZL) | Open M Team (9) | 32:01:31 |
| 17 TEAM GM SPECIALIZED (Mike Israel AUS & Garry James AUS) | Mas M 40+ Team (3) | 32:13:22 |
| 18 TEAM BCB BUILDERS (Blair Coupe NZL & Brian Weedon NZL) | Mas M 40+ Team (4) | 32:36:59 |
| 19 TEAM THE HUB CYCLE CENTRE (Kent Wilson NZL & Scott Ardern NZL) | Mas M 40+ Team (5) | 32:39:02 |
| 20 TEAM SXC RACING (Michael Faretta AUS & Wayne Dickinson AUS) | Inc Team/Stage (4) | 32:42:49 |
| 21 TEAM FATTY & SKINNY (Barryn Westfield NZL & Trevor Woodward NZL) | Mas M 40+ Team (6) | 32:48:33 |
| 22 TEAM CRANK IT CYCLES - SPECIALIZED - GU (Peter O'Sullivan AUS & Steve Pedley NZL) | Mas M 40+ Team (7) | 33:16:31 |
| 24 TEAM CYCLING UNCUT (Andrew Percival AUS & Scott Caulfield AUS) | Mas M 40+ Team (8) | 33:33:02 |
| 25 TEAM BLUE DOG (Mike Holland NZL & Reuben Brand NZL) | Mas M 40+ Team (9) | 33:33:04 |
| 26 TEAM FLAMING NORA (Patrick Meffan NZL & Cliff Bowman NZL) | Inc Team/Stage (5) | 33:45:56 |
| 27 TEAM NORTHSID (E Nathan Russell AUS & Peter Clayton AUS) | Mas M 40+ Team (10) | 33:48:26 |
| 28 TEAM FIRE BREATHING RUBBER DUCKIES (Daniel Barry NZL & Jeremy Inglis NZL) | Open M Team (10) | 33:57:06 |
| 29 TEAM TROUBLE ON WHEEL (S Brent Thomas NZL & Brendan Hart NZL) | Mas M 40+ Team (11) | 34:16:46 |
| 31 TEAM GREG AND ROB (Rob Garden NZL & Greg Barbour AUS) | Mas M 50+ Team (2) | 35:32:06 |
| 32 TEAM ONSLOWTARBABIES1 (Graeme Young NZL & Steve Strain NZL) | Mas M 40+ Team (12) | 35:56:29 |
| 34 TEAM FIGJAMMERS (Peter Mitchell NZL & Scott Mckinnel AUS) | Mas M 40+ Team (13) | 36:42:24 |
| 37 TEAM WE'RE GOING TO TOWN!! (Brendan O'Neill NZL & Perry Turner NZL) | Mas M 40+ Team (14) | 37:47:22 |
| 40 TEAM THE SIMPLE LADS (Luke Zweers AUS & Dean McIntosh AUS) | Inc Team/Stage (6) | 37:58:58 |
| 42 TEAM ALPHA RACING (Shaun Madley NZL & Sheldon Gorter NZL) | Open M Team (11) | 38:26:30 |
| 43 TEAM JUST CHECKING THE BOUNDARIES. (Cam McLeay NZL & Gil Peters NZL) | Mas M 50+ Team (3) | 38:39:46 |
| 44 TEAM TEAM 'W' (Andrew Wong NZL & Wes Bevan NZL) | Inc Team/Stage (7) | 38:42:39 |
| 45 TEAM RIDE HOLIDAYS (David Craig NZL & Amon Nunns NZL) | Open M Team (12) | 38:43:56 |
| 46 TEAM SERIOUSLY SUS' (Dallas Bean NZL & Tony Bennett NZL) | Mas M 40+ Team (15) | 38:54:40 |
| 48 TEAM CUZZIES (Darryn Anderson NZL & Graham Anderson NZL) | Inc Team/Stage (8) | 39:10:22 |
| 49 TEAM RACING ORNOT. (Rei Ishikawa NZL & Marcus Jesen AUS) | Open M Team (13) | 39:32:44 |
| 50 TEAM SHOULDA KNOWN BETTER! (Ian Clarke NZL & Stephen Reid NZL) | Mas M 40+ Team (16) | 39:33:26 |
| 53 TEAM NORTHERN YETI HUNTERS (Matt Earley NZL & Stephen Hurdley NZL) | Mas M 40+ Team (17) | 40:03:40 |
| 55 TEAM MATAMATA BIKES & BIG MACS (AJ Power NZL & Anthony Van de Pas NZL) | Open M Team (14) | 40:18:25 |
| 56 TEAM PAPER SCISSORS ROCK (Roland Meyer NZL & Brian Ellwood NZL) | Mas M 40+ Team (18) | 40:26:14 |
| 57 TEAM GINGA AND BALDY (Richard Griffiths NZL & Brett Horwell NZL) | Open M Team (15) | 40:30:10 |
| 58 TEAM STEINY PURE (Hartley Curd NZL & Kerry Sloan NZL) | Mas M 40+ Team (19) | 40:30:45 |
| 59 TEAM AUSA (John Hayes ZA & Luke Sinclair AUS) | Inc Team/Stage (9) | 40:35:25 |
| 60 TEAM DAMAR/ MILLER PANELING (David Miller USA & Benjamin Eitelberg NZL) | Inc Team/Stage (10) | 40:38:28 |
| 61 TEAM GROUND HORIZONS (Huw Kingston AUS & Laurence Mote NZL) | Mas M 40+ Team (20) | 41:28:48 |
| 62 TEAM OVER THE HILL (Matt Doogue NZL & John Irvine NZL) | Mas M 50+ Team (4) | 41:35:37 |
| 65 TEAM GET ME TO HAWKES BAY (Chris Morris NZL & Matthew Franklin NZL) | Open M Team (16) | 41:48:39 |
| 70 TEAM WASP (Ash Sparks NZL & Dave Wallace NZL) | Mas M 50+ Team (5) | 42:59:29 |
| 71 TEAM VELO DEVILS (David Pollington AUS & Anthony Chisholm AUS) | Mas M 40+ Team (21) | 43:13:46 |
| 74 TEAM JAFA SAFAS (Loan Burger NZL & Craig Pearson NZL) | Open M Team (17) | 43:45:29 |
| 76 TEAM BROKE BACKS (Craig Birch NZL & Julian Dimech NZL) | Mas M 40+ Team (22) | 44:21:01 |
| 78 TEAM ARTHUR STREET BOYS (Matt Williams NZL & Terry Mclaughlin NZL) | Mas M 40+ Team (23) | 45:01:08 |
| 79 TEAM EVERYTHING IS AWESOME (Joe Cornforth NZL & Bert Rauber NZL) | Mas M 40+ Team (24) | 45:13:27 |
| 80 TEAM IRON-MATES (Mike Riordan NZL & Garth Beker NZL) | Inc Team/Stage (11) | 46:01:29 |
| 83 TEAM VEITAU BAISIKELI (Sam Nelson FIJ & Angus Hobson AUS) | Open M Team (18) | 47:06:39 |
| 86 TEAM TEAM SOUTHDOWN (Jason Miller NZL & Andrew Miller NZL) | Open M Team (19) | 48:05:37 |
| 87 TEAM F'N'A (Athol Gardiner NZL & Frank Schlaffmann NZL) | Mas M 40+ Team (25) | 48:33:36 |
| 88 TEAM TAYLORCOOK (John Cook NZL & James Taylor AUS) | Inc Team/Stage (12) | 49:27:39 |
| 89 TEAM LIMP DICKS (Bruce Thomson NZL & Eddie Spearing NZL) | Mas M 40+ Team (26) | 50:10:27 |
| 90 TEAM OGOYA (David Burnett NZL & David Oliver NZL) | Mas M 40+ Team (27) | 50:31:39 |
| All Women | ||
| 1 TEAM TORPEDO7 (Erin Greene NZL & Kath Kelly NZL) | Open W Team (1) | 35:28:07 |
| 2 TEAM FUSE CREATIVE (Leigh Cockerill NZL & Sue Clark NZL) | Mas W 40+ Team (1) | 39:03:55 |
| 3 TEAM REBEL FOOD (Megan Dimozantos NZL & Lisa Bates NZL) | Open W Team (2) | 42:04:37 |
| 4 TEAM THUNDERCATS (Kylie Burrows AUS & Sarah White AUS) | Open W Team (3) | 42:08:40 |
| 5 TEAM TEAM PHENOMENAL HOPE II (Kristen Engle USA & Thea Kent USA) | Inc Team/Stage (1) | 47:49:46 |
| 6 TEAM TOTAL BETTY CLOTHING (Tracey Harkness NZL & Sarah Heine NZL) | Mas W 40+ Team (2) | 53:27:23 |
| 7 TEAM SPINNING CHAINS (Carol Harwood NZL & Stephanie Miller USA) | Inc Team/Stage (2) | 54:01:00 td> |
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