 Brad Jones and Josie Wilcox will be racing in the Whaka100 after their win at the third Gloworm Winter Mountain Bike Series race on September 9th. The Whaka100 (coming up on October 20-21) proudly holds the reputation as one of the toughest Mountain Bike Marathons in the Southern hemisphere. We had a look into what riders we think could come out on top at the Whaka100 this year. After taking out the Winter series, Whakatane’s Brad Jones said he feels confident. “I Feel a lot better after [winning] the Winter Series Mountain Bike Race. I'll do a bit more mountain biking in the lead up to it, but I’m feeling pretty confident about it.” In the first round of the Winter series, Cosmo Bloor was just behind Brad Jones, with a time difference of 4 seconds. Cosmo is also racing in the Whaka100.  Josie Wilcox was the overall winner in last year's Winter Series, as well as this year's event. She also picked up the win in the Whaka100 last year. Wilcox said it felt rewarding to win the Whaka100 in 2017. “I'm very much a goal driven person and the Whaka was always going to be the hardest race of the season for me especially, since I had never raced a mountain bike marathon event before.” Due to a number of women in the race who had experienced longer Mountain Bike events, Josie felt surprised that she managed to take the win. Josie Wilcox will have more of a chance of coming out on top in 2018 as Jolanda Neff is now unable to attend the Whaka100. “I am always motivated by a challenge. The Whaka100, one of the hardest single day mountain bike events around, is certainly that.”  Australian mountain biker, Liz Smith won the 24 hour world champs in Rotorua in 2016 and is a multiple 24 hour endurance winner in Australia. She will also be racing in the Whaka100.
This 12th edition of the Whaka100 has a cash prize pool of over $5,100 along with $20,000 in giveaways, 237 sought-after podium medals and 1,000 finishers medals. With 100km, 50km, 25km and 10km distance options, there's a challenge for everyone. If you haven’t already entered - take on the challenge here |
