Melissa Anset, second from left, leading the pack in the UCI Masters Mountain Bike World Championship in the 50-54 category. Photos: Supplied.
Kyabram native Melissa Anset is a newly minted world champion, having claimed the Union Cycliste Internationale Masters Mountain Bike World Championship in the 50-54 category.
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The championships were held at Smithfield Mountain Bike Park in Cairns from Wednesday, May 14 to Sunday, May 18.
Hundreds of riders aged 35-and-over raced in the event, with multiple regions across the world represented, including Europe, North and South America, Asia and Oceania.
There were 10 age group categories ranging from 35 to 80-and-over across two formats; cross-country and downhill.
Anset was one of nine women racing in the 50-54 category, with the majority of the field being from Australia outside two riders; Beata Wronska from the USA and Sandra Pastor from Spain.
Anset, who now lives in Melbourne, has a long history with mountain bike and cyclo-cross racing, although she was introduced to the sport later than most.
“I grew up in Kyabram and I got into mountain bike racing in my late 20s, which is pretty late because the kids start so young and are so talented nowadays,” she said.
“I just fell into bikes really, I decided to buy a cheap bike and rode it everywhere, and I thought the mountain bikes look pretty cool, so I decided to get one of them.
“A friend of mine took me to a single track and I thought it was wonderful and just through bike shops met people who got me to come along to the events and just went from there.”
Melissa Anset on top of the podium where she received her championship medal.
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From her humble beginnings in the sport, Anset went on to race in elite categories and has represented Australia in multiple international competitions, including the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships in South Africa in 2014.
Anset reflected on her recent success at the world championships, pointing to her proficiency in technical climbs as the main reason for her success.
“I felt pretty good because we’ve had some balmy weather in March and April in Melbourne, which is where I’m living now, I was training in the heat so when I got to Cairns the heat wasn’t too bad,” she said.
“The track was pretty good, it had a steep technical climb in it which I got my gap and extended it every lap, I did four laps of the course overall.
“Through that technical climb I could get up there a bit quicker, which is where I think I won the race.
“I was pretty excited to get the Masters title, I was doubting myself a bit before the race, and I thought I’d just go out hard and see what I could do.
“When I finished the race, I took a second and realised I was a world champion, so it only dawned on me a bit later and realised how amazing it was.
“I was pretty happy to win; I thought I hadn’t done enough work to win it, but what I had done seemed to pay off.”
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