ROWENA Fry landed another podium finish to complete a successful national mountain bike championship for Tasmanian riders.
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A day after finishing third in the elite women's cross-country, Launceston's multiple former national champion was delighted to take another step up the podium following a thrilling finish to the inaugural cross-country eliminator event at Stromlo Forest Park in Canberra.
``It was pretty nuts out there,'' said Fry, who finished just behind Victorian winner Katherine O'Shea with Lindsay Gorrell third. ``I nearly had a tangle with Lindsay on the top corner and thought my race was nearly over.
``Then I managed to get on Kath's wheel, it was so hard to pass, and I went for a big wind-up on the outside. I was really looking forward to a nice close sprint finish, but just pulled my foot at the end and Kath was gone by that point.''
O'Shea said she was well aware of the fast-finishing Fry.
``I could hear her on my wheel, so I knew I had to take that corner and really power out of it on to the strait.''
Fry, 30, was pleased with her week's work as she targets the 2014 Commonwealth Games following a season road racing with GreenEDGE and the disappointment of missing selection to last year's Olympics.
Another Tasmanian former national champion, Athens Olympian Sid Taberlay, finished third in the elite men's cross-country. His cousin, Hobart's Ben Bradley, won the under-19 category.