finally a ride between narrowly spaced parallel telegraph
poles.
The competitors then had to ride out of the parkour
area where they needed to initiate a rear wheel skid to
knock over a traffic cone. This was quickly followed by
a zigzag through deep shingle. Perhaps not challenging
enough, the same couldn’t be said for what was to follow;
a fearsome climb of 30 metres, it could barely be climbed
on foot.
A second gear charge was needed to climb this mon-
ster, quickly followed by careful throttle feathering over
the near vertical last few metres. Those that succeeded
were the contenders for the final six positions.
It wasn’t surprising that this challenged the strength
and ability of many riders, none more so than overall
leader, Nikki van der Spek who crashed on the very last
turn, handing the overall win to Isabella Londono Rivas.
It mattered little as both were confirmed as going through
to the final competition in New Zealand.
The lower placed positions saw the tightest competi-
tion with Australia’s Andrea Box fighting her way through
from seventh after an almost faultless final lap. The pace
was frenetic and caught out both Klara Finkele from Brit-
ain and Chantel Blake from South Africa in the parkour
section. This allowed Box to jump into fifth place, knock-
ing Finkele down to sixth and Blake into seventh and out
of the competition.
For Box it’s been a huge month that has capped off four
years of preparing for her second chance at the GS Tro-
phy.
“Two weeks ago, I got married,” she grinned. “Seven
days ago, we bought our first house and today I’ve qual-
ified for a GS Trophy Female Team – it’s been a massive
month, I’m so excited!”
The GS Trophy must always see winners and losers
however, it’s the nature of competition that sees all com-
petitors returning, the camaraderie and friendship that is
the greatest aspect … that make life a ride …
The final six to go through to New Zealand are –
Isabella Londono Rivas (COL)
Nikki van der Spek (NLD)
Claire Bichard (FRA)
Lisa Taylor (USA)
Andrea Box (AUS)
Klara Finkele (GBR)
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