Greenslade Has a Shocker But Wins NZXC Series

GREENSLADE HAS A SHOCKER BUT WINS NZXC SERIES

CAPTION: Auckland's Sam Greenslade (KTM), winner of this season's NZXC cross-country series. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com

DECEMBER 5, 2016: Every cloud has a silver lining, or so the saying goes, and that's probably the way Auckland's Sam Greenslade will be looking at his weekend.

Coatesville's Greenslade raced his KTM 250 SXF at the opening round of the annual Bel Ray cross-country series at Whatawhata, west of Hamilton, on Saturday and built up some "horrendous" blisters on his hands as he battled through to a runner-up finish behind Howick's Liam Draper.

That was to prove costly for Greenslade when he then drove through to Pahiatua the following day to contest the sixth and final round of the NZXC cross-country series, a competition in which he had only a slender lead over great friend and rival Callan May.

"There were a lot of river crossings at Pahiatua and, when my blistered hands got wet, I was in a lot of pain. I was struggling to hold on to the bike on the steep uphill sections," he said, Greenslade eventually forced to withdraw from the race after three laps.

But, as luck would have it, Titirangi's May had also been damaged during the Bel Ray event on Saturday, so badly hurt in fact that he was a no-show at Pahiatua on Sunday.

Riders were to count only five of their six scores, discarding their one worst result, and that meant Greenslade's earlier five rounds of the NZXC series were enough for him to clinch the trophy.

Greenslade finished 2-3-2-1-3-dnf over the six rounds and May's score-card was 1-dnf-1-3-4-dns.

"I'm disappointed I bombed out at Pahiatua. The track was really nice too.

"This is the first time I've contested the entire NZXC series and now I've won it."

It has been a great season so far for the KTM rider, who earlier this year also won the Dirt Guide cross-country series.

May was philosophical about his weekend.

"I was in third place at the Bel Ray and battling my way through the dust when, unfortunately, I hit a gateway, sending me flying," May explained.

The incident aggravated an earlier injury and damaged his bike and he was unable to finish.

"I knew the last round of the NZXC was the following day and I would not have been competitive against guys that are at 100%, so I made the tough decision not to compete in the final round, settling for second overall in the championship."

Third overall for the series was Waimauku's Jake Wightman, riding a KTM 250XC.

Taikorea's Paul Whibley won the final round of the NZXC. This was only the third round Whibley had entered, although he'd still accumulated enough points to finish the series sixth overall.

Credit: Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

© Scoop Media