Daniel and Rebecca McConnell debut XCO season with victory

Australian PMX Racing Team riders Daniel and Rebecca McConnell made their debut this weekend racing in the first national round of the AusCyclings National Cup in 2021 in Canberra, Australia. And it couldn't have been better for them as they both managed to get to the top of the podium in the Elite category.

After a 2020 season in which they wanted to demonstrate their great qualities, and in which Rebecca showed what she is capable of and two Primaflor Mondraker brothers wanted to show their hard work and productive pre-season. What better way to show it than winning at home, on the first Australian National race. Both raced with their new full suspension Mondraker F-Podium.

The race was at Stromlo Forest Park, one of the best places to practice mtb in Australia. A nice rolling but technical track, the classic sections stood out such as the demanding Cardiac Arrest Climb or the Hammerhead downhill, along with new Evolution and Trebuchet sections and trails being one of the most fun single tracks.

In Dan’s race, he managed the race from start to finish. Although in the first lap he was in the front group, crossing in 5th position, from then on, he imposed his pace to cross in 1st position on the second lap, and he held this position until the end of the race. He didn’t want surprises and he secured the victory to start as the leader of the National Cup. With a time of 1:26:31 after completing the 5 laps of the race, he was 1:56 minutes faster than the second classified, Cameron Wright. The third classified was Brendan Johnston who finished 2:46 minutes behind Dan. 

On the other hand, Rebecca started very strong from the start, and only Zoe Cuthbert who finished second at the end, was able to follow her for two laps. The hard rhythm that Rebecca imposed on the third lap would lead her to the win with a 55 second gap with Zoe. The third classified finished the race 9:03 minutes behind Bec, which shows on what a great level the PMX Racing Team riders are. 

Definitely, a good start for both McConnell, and if everything goes as planned, they will race this coming weekend at the prestigious Otway Odyssey Race. We’ll see!!

If you want to see the results you will find them here. 

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