Far from the cyclocross traditions of Europe, New Zealand's Upper Hutt produced its first national champion of the new season on Sunday. Former mountain running world champion and Olympian Kate McIlroy won her second women's title, while newcomer to the sport Josh Barnett finished first on a borrowed bike to sweep both the U23 men's and elite titles.

This is the third time New Zealand has officially crowned a cyclocross national champion, with the first title race taking place in 2012, and after a hiatus, cyclocross silver cedar jersey contenders returned in 2019. However, the national championships were not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but made a strong comeback in 2021, with a big jump in numbers across the category.

The National Championships were held as part of the Hat Cross Club's Aotearoa Cross Fest at Te Malua Speedway, where McIlroy put on a powerful performance on a muddy course.

"It was pretty tough," said McIlroy, who finished 10th in the triathlon at the London Olympics. "It was obviously going to be a battle with Sammy for the first few laps. I knew I had to play to my strengths on the long straights and take it slow in the technical sections to avoid crashes and mechanical problems."

"To be honest, it was an unexpected result and I really enjoyed the race today.

In the men's race, which also includes the elite and U23 categories, the 2019 national champion Brendon Sharratt, Rotorua mountain biker Sam Shaw, and 2019 and 2020 U23 mountain bike cross country national champion, cross race novice Josh Barnett, will compete.

Sharratt was eliminated from the top trio on the final lap, leaving Burnett with just two cyclocross races and the final laps to decide whether he would win both the U23 and elite titles. The young rider retired early in the dash to the finish line.

"I'm not the best sprinter, so I knew I had to go as far as I could, so I went full throttle up the flyover and tried to go as fast as I could through the corners," Barnett said.

Barnett won by 2 seconds over Shaw, with Sharratt another 14 seconds behind.

In the men's race, Coen Nicol won the under-19 title, while in the women's race, 15-year-old Sianna Gray won the first ever under-19 title.

Despite last year's turmoil, the championships in this relative newcomer to cyclocross attracted 80% more riders than in 2019, with 160 riders in the category overall. The event may be the first on the UCI calendar this season, but its location in the southern hemisphere means that it is near the end of the traditional winter months of racing for New Zealand and neighboring Australia.

Australia was scheduled to host the National Cyclocross Championships on August 21, but due to blockades and interstate restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was postponed to October 17; because of the cancellation of the National Championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Australian national title was also not awarded.

The next race on the UCI calendar will step into more traditional cross territory, starting with the Lapencross in Belgium on September 11.