Mountain bike champion Cam Ivory completes set of Cape to Cape titles as Olympian Rebecca Henderson dominates

National champion Cam Ivory and four-time Olympian Rebecca Henderson have won the men’s and women’s cagtegories in the four-stage MTB Cape to Cape stage race in the State’s South West. Ivory’s solo victory gives him the full Cape to Cape ‘set’ following wins in the men’s pair (2023) and mixed pair (2021 with Izzy Flint). Just 13 seconds separated Ivory, four-time Olympian Dan McConnell, Oceania champion Brent Rees, and Reece Tucknott entering the fourth and final day. Despite attacks from the field, Ivory covered every attempt to dislodge the jersey from his shoulders. A crash took Tucknott out, leaving Ivory, McConnell and Rees in the battle for the title. Ivory was too strong in the closing uphills sprint In the closing few hundred metres with Rees, Wright and McConnell on his wheel. Rees finished second and Wright third. Ivory exorcised the demons of his first Cape to Cape in 2017, when he was leading until a bout of gastro wiped him out. Henderson was dominant in the women’s field taking all four stages and the overall title. Oceania and Australian U23 MTB champion Flint claimed second in a strong performance to confirm she is back having missed the 2023 season with injury. “To come away with the solo win I’m definitely happy with that. It’s one that I’ve chased every year that I’ve been here. Even in the pairs, it’s always good to get a win here and you get bragging rights over your mates for the next 12 months,” Ivory said. “This year was a lot of fun. They were four tough days out there. The top five elite guys were so close, I think it was only maybe eight seconds sort of covering the top four. Connor lost a bit of time day one with a mechanical, but it just made it really crucial to not make any mistakes out there when we were so tight.” “I think the Australian racing calendar they all look at this event and it’s one of the main stage race events of the season, so to get a good result here it’s pretty cool to have that on the CV.” Henderson said it was “amazing” just to be part of the mountain bike community in Australia and to visit WA. “The whole package, just what they do here is incredible. My experience this week has been exactly what they are going for. Cape to Cape is an amazing riding experience but the community, hanging out and enjoying such a beautiful place and I did all of that,” she said. Connor Wright, 16, was the WA and junior winner. More than 600 riders took part over the four days, as well as 100 in a new Cape to Cape Mini held on Saturday in Margaret River.