BENDIGO mountain bike stars Peta Mullens and Tasman Nankervis have claimed honours in their respective races at the 100km Otway Odyssey MTB Marathon.
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Mullens captured her fourth Odyssey crown, completing the course in a time of five hours, 21 minutes and 25 seconds, finishing well ahead of her rivals in a hotly contested field.
It followed previous win in 2011, '12 and '16.
“The Odyssey was my first marathon event so it has very fond memories for me," Mullens said.
"I’ll keep coming back as I love the trails here.
“I’m pleased with the race.
I didn’t come close to my course record, but I got reports there was a bit of a gap in the second half so I thought I’d keep some in the legs for tomorrow.”
Mullens, a former Australian road cycling champion, made it a double for the weekend, winning Sunday's 97-kilometre Great Otway Gravel Grind.
Not to be outdone, Nankervis also notched the double, including a hard-fought victory in the Otway Odyssey ahead of Adrian Jackson and Nankervis' brother Russell.
Tasman said he was stoked to get his first Oyssey win.
" I came in confident as we’ve been working on form recently," he said.
"The race panned-out perfectly with Russ and I over two-thirds of the race.
“Russ and I didn’t plan it this morning, but I set the first temp, and Russ came across so I said ‘let’s do it."
Jackson had his work cut out for him, but was spotted flying at the 64km mark feed zone having brought the time gap down to just 15 seconds heading into the final loop of the course.
“I think second was the best I could hope for today; Tasman was always going to win this, he’s a freak on the bike; I was just really happy to get one over his brother Russ," Jackson said.
“The two brothers had me on the ropes early on; then through Yaugher I was able to peg them back on the single track and had them in sight."
A new innovation this year, more than 300 riders participated in the Great Otway Gravel Grind, which led cyclists along a scenic and at times challenging ride on the dirt roads that wind through the Otway Ranges, with 97km and 49km courses available.
Russell Nankervis completed a solid weekend by adding a third place in the GOGG.
He was followed home by fellow Bendigo riders Alexander Evans (fourth) and Jarrod Moroni (fifth).