Sam Fox conquers rainswept Mt Buller to take XCO title

Tasmania’s Sam Fox has reclaimed the elite men’s XCO national title, triumphing in torrential rain at Mount Buller today.

The 24-year-old from Launceston won solo in a shortened race at the 2025 GWM Mountain Bike National Championships.

A severe weather warning issued by the Bureau of Meteorology came to fruition on Sunday afternoon when pouring rain, wind gusts approaching 100km/h, and a ‘feels-like’ temperature barely above freezing greeted the eleven starters in the alpine village.

Fox’s competitors included defending champion Cameron Ivory, Friday’s short-course winner Jack Ward, Olympian Scott Bowden, and veteran Dan McConnell at his last national championships.

Despite the abysmal conditions, when offered the option to further shorten the event, the elite field insisted on racing the maximum seven laps of the modified 2.6-kilometre circuit.

From the starter’s whistle, Fox attacked the muddy course with aggression. By the end of the first lap, he was leading with only Ivory for company.

One lap later, Ivory was dropped, leaving Fox alone and out of sight through the thick grey fog.

The Tasmanian forged ahead, adding 10 seconds per lap to his advantage over the next chasing group, which had been whittled down to just Ward and Reece Tucknott.

Fox cruised across the finish line after three-quarters of an hour of racing, dripping wet but obligingly unzipping his rain jacket to show off his sponsors.

Having just retired from professional racing, Fox said today’s victory was very different to his 2023 win.

“The first one I worked my entire life for, and it was the best form I’d ever been in life,” Fox said. “This feels a bit the opposite. I’d kind of recently retired, I haven’t been training, and I came into this race with no expectations.

“I was lucky to have good legs on the day and potentially conditions that suited me

“I’m grateful nonetheless. You can never take these titles for granted. They don’t come around very often.”

So casual had been his approach to the race, Fox had made the journey to Mount Buller by bike-packing from Melbourne over several energy-sapping days. Today’s victory came as a surprise to many, not least himself.

“I was pretty cold on the start. So, I said to the boys I was just going to rip it as hard as I could for as long as I could. So that’s what I did,” Fox said.

“I was a little bit surprised to have a gap early on with Cam Ivory, and so we pressed on and built the gap from there.”

Fox will now return to his adopted home in New Zealand, where he will show off his new green-and-gold jersey at the Oceania Championships next weekend.

In the battle for the minor medals, Jack Ward gapped Tucknott to repeat last year’s runner-up result.

Results – Cross-country Olympic (XCO)

Elite Men

1. Sam Fox (Launceston City CC) 44:28
2. Jack Ward (Yarra Ranges MTB Club) +1:02
3. Reece Tucknott (Canberra Off-Road Cyclists) +1:06
4. Toby Stewart (Canberra Off-Road Cyclists)  +1:13
5. Tasman Nankervis (Bendigo & District CC) +1:27

Under-23 Men

1. Harry Doye (Trek Shimano Australia)
2. Sam Northey (Alpine Cycling Club)
3. Reuben Page-Brown (Dirt Devils)

Under-19 Men

1. Connor Wright (Trek Shimano Australia)
2. Liam Roberts Thompson (Eden MTB Club)
3. Eddie Mungoven (Canberra Off-Road Cyclists)

Photos: Matt Rousu