Olympians Rebecca Henderson (Australia) and Anton Cooper (New Zealand) have made a strong start to the 2026 Oceania Mountain Bike Continental Series with wins in the opening cross-country round in Christchurch New Zealand on Saturday 24 January.

Australia’s Jack Ward and Ruby Taylor claimed the under 23 wins as New Zealand were on top in the under 19 categories with James Climo and Kaylee McMillan.

The series continues tomorrow with round two.

Cross-country Rankings after Round 1

Elite Men

2025 series winner Anton Cooper picked up where he left off a year ago with a strong display on route to the win. The Tokyo Olympian covered the six laps in just over an hour and a half, five minutes clear of countryman Sam Gaze with France’s Pierrick Burnet completing the top three.

“It was super fun racing at home. I love it here at the Halswell Quarry a bit of a home advantage so I kind of tried to make the most of that and push on the descents but lucky I was climbing well enough to defend that lead as well,” said Cooper.

“It’s always tough, you are racing against Sam as well who is one of the best riders in the world, so I had to be on my A game and luckily I was riding well enough to take the win.”

“We got UCI races, there is 200 points up for grabs this weekend. Since the start of my career, we never had UCI races [In New Zealand] and now to have these rounds here literally 10 minutes from my house.”

1 Anton Cooper (New Zealand)
2 Sam Gaze (New Zealand)
3 Pierrick Burnet (France)

Elite Women

Rebecca Henderson proved why she is one of the top riders on the world stage covering the five-lap course in one hour and 34 minutes to take her first win of the 2026 season. Looking untroubled all day, she had more than a minute on second place Mary Gray (New Zealand) with Amelie Mackay (New Zealand) who stepped up to the elite ranks for the first time.

“It was really nice to be out there, and the trails are super nice,” said Henderson. “Could complain a little about the weather but yeah really happy to be here and kick off the season in New Zealand.”

“I think it’s really cool to have back to back racing here and to start the summer. I think we’ll try to do it all again tomorrow.”

1 Rebecca Henderson (Australia) 1:34:41
2 Mary Gray (New Zealand) 1:35.59
3 Amelie Mackay (New Zealand) 1:36.31

Under 23 Men

James Ward (Australia) overcame an unlucky start with his foot slipping from the pedal and putting him on the back foot and chasing, but not even that could dent his dominance of the round.

Covering the five laps in 1:19:25, nearly three minutes clear of Flecther Adams, who is racing his first year in the under 23 category having finished second in the under 19 series last year, with Coen Nicol (New Zealand) a further 30 seconds back.

“It was really good. The course out here is like such good fun, like really punchy and it’s god some good flowy descents and then techy bits as well so I really enjoyed it.”

1 Jack Ward (Australia) 1:19:25
2 Fletcher Adams (New Zealand) 1:22:10
3 Coen Nicol (New Zealand) 1:22.45

Under 23 Women

After finishing third in the under 19 category a year ago with two podium finishes, Australia’s Ruby Taylor impressed on her international debut in the under 23 category with a decisive victory.

With fears of heavy rain not eventuating the Australian’s time of 1:19:31 for the four laps of the course, was 50 seconds clear of New Zealand’s Milla Phipps in second and Marie Laurie in third.

“It was pretty touch I really enjoyed the course. I rode it two days ago and I wasn’t so sure if I would like it with all the mud but in the end, it rode really nicely,” said Tayor.

“I rode into my legs a little bit and ended up with the win, which I was pretty happy with.”

“It’s been a tough week, but the weather looks good, I suppose be a good opportunity to test the legs again,” she added of round two tomorrow.

1 Ruby Taylor (Australia) 1:19:31
2 Milla Phipps (New Zealand) 1:20:21
3 Marie Laurie (New Zealand) 1:20:47

Under 19 Men

New Zealand National Champion and defending series champion James Climo who celebrated his 18th birthday yesterday, wasted little time asserting himself as the name to watch in the under 19 men’s category.

Blitzing the course in just under an hour and five minutes, he was two and a half minutes clear of Levi Gear (New Zealand) with Tommy Mollison (New Zealand) a further minute and a half back for a New Zealand top three.

“Pretty happy with that, of course happy for a win and get some good UCI points to try and get to Worlds later on in the year,” said Climo.

“There is some good young competition following behind but they will just get stronger as the year goes on so I look forward to the battles that come ahead.”

1 James Climo (New Zealand) 1:04:48
2 Levi Gear (New Zealand) 1:07:31
3 Tommy Mollison (New Zealand) 1:08:53

Under 19 Women

Oceania Champion Kaylee McMillan (New Zealand) who won two rounds of the series a year ago wasted little time picking up where she left off. Making her way through a number of under 23 riders on course she rising star stopped the clock for the three laps in 56mins 26secs, nearly 10 minutes clear of her closest rival.

It was another all New Zealand podium with Dulcie Copeland and Bianca Stewart completing the podium.

“The course was absolutely amazing, the conditions were perfect compared to earlier on in the week. It was a good course,” said McMillan.

1 Kaylee McMillan (New Zealand)
2 Dulcie Copeland (New Zealand)
3 Bianca Stewart (New Zealand)

Full Results