Inverell's Brent Rees has placed second in the elite pairs division of the recent Cape to Cape, Australia's largest four-day mountain bike stage race.
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This year Cape to Cape, in Western Australia, was held in conjunction with two others: Port to Port in Newcastle and Reef to Reef in Cairns.
Open to individual, pairs or teams, elite riders were being encouraged to enter the three stages in pairs this year to make it a feature for those following along.
Pairing up with Canberra's Reece Tucknott, the duo took on Port to Port first where they finished up in fourth place.
Inverell Mountain Bike Club secretary, and mother, Michelle Rees, said the first stage was held two weeks after Rees had taken on the Grafton to Inverell.
"Then they missed Reef to Reef but at Cape to Cape they came second and were up against the best mountain bike riders in Australia. The guy that actually won is an Australian endurance champion," Michelle said.
After day one, the duo were sitting in first after riding 39 kilometres, on day two they finished second, riding a further 72kms. One day three, they rode 56kms and finished third and on the last day, the duo finished 41kms in third.
Overall, Rees and Tucknott finished second on the podium after riding 208kms.
"They ended up second, only just. It was 100s of seconds between second and third placing. It was incredible," she said.
After taking on Armidale's 12-hour event recently, Rees will ride in the NSW Championships at Orange this weekend with other local club members.
Training for a UCI event in Malaysia mid-December, the local's ultimate goal is to accrue points in the lead up to the world championships in Germany next year.
"He hasn't competed in Malaysia before but he has been to Europe. It will be a new experience. His plan is to go to Europe in February for a month to ride as well, to gain experience, points and performance," she said.
Rees trains at least two hours per day on the bike, while working a full-time job and competing on weekends.