Cooper returned to the winner’s podium after spending much of last year out with illness to lead home the elite men’s competition. Anton will now head across the Tasman for the UCI Continental Series in Canberra ahead of the Oceania Championships as the lead-in to the start of the UCI World Series races in Brazil.

Cooper, who rides for the Lapierre Racing Unity professional team, edged away from Auckland’s Matthew Wilson on the second lap- and continued to extend his lead, winning in 1:34:09 in dry and warm conditions in the Whakarewarewa Forest. He finished 1m37s clear of Wilson with Taupo’s Coen Nicol nearly 3mins back in third.

“I didn’t know what to expect today, having not raced at this level for quite a while. I knew my form in training had been quite good but translating that to race performance is a different thing,” said Cooper.

“I felt strong all day and Matt (Wilson) was super-strong. I was able to attack him over the top on the second lap and kept on it from there.

“Ten elite national title is pretty special, and five in the younger age categories so I have a few of these jerseys now and hopefully it is not the last one.”

The national championship focus switches to downhill tomorrow with the XCO riders likely to also contest the XCC sprint event in Rotorua.

Results, XCO National Championships:

Male, Elite: Anton Cooper (Lapierre Racing Unity, Christchurch) 1:34.09, 1; Matthew Wilson (Auckland) at 1:37, 2; Coen Nicol (Taupo) at 2:58, 3.

Caption: Anton Cooper in action on the trails. (Credit: Blissfield Photo)