Riverside’s Sam Fox expressed major disappointment with a 41st-placed finish in the junior men’s race at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
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The 18-year-old secretary of Launceston Mountain Bike Club came in 8 minutes and 26 seconds behind home-country winner Alexandre Balmer’s time of 1:13:45.
”Disappointed would be an understatement,” Fox said. “It’s impossible to explain how painful it is to watch months of dedication and hard work slip away.
“I’m still unsure what was wrong, I know I’m in the best form of my life, but I couldn’t show it.
“After a fast start, inside the top ten, my legs blew and I cramped for the first time in my life. The next five laps were extremely tough as I fell further behind, my only thought being that I would not drop out of the race.”
Fox thanked supporters on Facebook, adding: “It’s been a long time in between any substantial results, but I will be back.”
Fellow LMBC member Alex Lack, of Wyena, who competed as a junior at the 2015 world champs in Andorra, came 75th in the under-23 race.
Hobart’s Cameron Wurf has claimed another major triathlon cycling record.
The rower-turned-cyclist-turned-triathlete has made a habit of setting course records in his latest sport’s cycling leg and added another at Europe's oldest long distance race, the Challenge Almere in Amsterdam.
Wurf, 35, who rode WorldTour from 2013-14, was delighted to finish second overall in 8:00:55 which also included a new marathon personal best of 2:52.
Macey Stewart finished third in the young rider classification of the Belgium Lotto Ladies Tour.
After a 22nd place in the 3.6km prologue in Nieuwpoort, the Devonport 22-year-old backed up by finishing 14th in the 119km opening stage from Moorslede to Dadizele.
Riding for Wiggle High5, Stewart kept up the pace through two more stages to finish 15th, 1:35 behind German winner Liane Lippert.
She was 18th in the points classification and third in the youth, also won by Lippert.
Hobart’s Nathan Earle went on an attack in what he called “a solid day out” at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec in Canada.
The 30-year-old’s Israel Cycling Academy team was represented in a breakaway over the 201.6km race which Earle finished 106th.
“I went on the attack in the final lap forming a small short lived break and our sprinters mixing it up in the sprint for the win,” he said. “Bring on the brutal (195.2km) Montreal circuit tomorrow.”
Richie Porte sits 68th overall after 14 stages of the Vuelta a Espana.
The Launceston rider was 92nd on the 171km-stage from Cistierna to Les Praeres.
The BMC leader, 33, who has signed with Trek-Segafredo for 2019-20, told The Examiner he would be targeting a possible stage win in the final week of the Grand Tour as he regains form ahead of a “tailor-made” course at the road world championships in Austria.