Holly Harris (right) before the start of last weekend's win at Bright that guaranteed her a national title and World Cup selection.
HOLLY Harris returned to Armidale earlier this week with a national mountain bike series title and automatic selection in an Australian team to compete in the World Cup.
It is a big honour for the young rider on the eve of the New England Mountain Bikers UNE 12 Hours In The Piney.
The 12-hour marathon event starts 10am tomorrow and concludes 10pm.
It is the third and biggest 12 Hours In The Piney.
Harris’ success at Bright in Victoria on the weekend adds further lustre to this weekend’s event.
She excelled in the National All Mountain Cup, a national series for mountain bikers, held in Mt Buller, Thredbo and Bright, reported NEMTB publicity officer Stephen Chapman.
“Each round consisted of an eliminator event, and Olympic Cross country event and a point to point event. It was an opportunity for riders to show their ability to adapt to different riding styles and to race the best in the country for the chance to represent Australia in the World Championships.
“Holly managed to accrue enough points in the All Mountain Cup to be crowned the winner of the series at Bright on the weekend.
“Coupled with her victory at the National titles gives her automatic selection into the Australian Long team to travel to Germany and the Czech republic for the first two rounds of the world cup.
Harris races for the Target Trek team which boasts the champions in the U/23 and elite disciplines which gives her the best mentors to help with her international debut in May this year.”
“Riding in a team makes you work a lot harder as you don’t want to let your team mates down.
“She will need to draw on all of the experience around when she starts her campaign with a Swiss provincial race early in May,” said Chapman
“It will make the hills around Armidale look a bit tiny in comparison. Harris attributes a lot of her success to the hours of work put in by the volunteers in the local club and also said “it is the local riders passion for the sport which has provided the gateway for my achievements”.
She jets out to Camp in Switzerland with the Australian team in early May.
Meanwhile, online registration for the 12 Hours in The Piney is available until midday today while riders can also enter by attending the Armidale Bowling Club from 6pm to 8pm this evening.
When picking up their registration riders will also go into a draw for a 2013 Merida Big Nine TFS 100MD mountain bike.