Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
ABC News
ABC News
Sport
Damian McIntyre

Tasmanian mountain biking trail, damaged in landslip, fixed in time for World Cup

The tiny Tasmanian town of Derby is set to host the Enduro Mountain Biking World Cup. (Supplied: Blue Derby Mountain Bike Trails)

Repairs to a popular mountain bike trail in Tasmania's north-east have been completed just in time for hundreds of riders taking part in a World Cup event.

Three trails in Derby were significantly damaged during a landslip in October last year.

One of those was the popular trail Air-Ya-Garn, but crews have worked tirelessly to fix it and it's set to go for this weekend's event.

The Dorset Mayor Greg Howard said it was a great result.

"Air-Ya-Garn is one of the most popular trails," he said.

"Back in 2019 when they rode on that trail in the Enduro World Series it was voted the best trail in the world."

The repairs were completed just before practice got underway on Thursday.

The famous trails attract riders from across the globe to see the unique landscape. (Supplied: UCI Mountain Bike World Series)

"[It was] a huge amount of effort," Mr Howard said.

"When you get a major incident like a landslip there's a lot of unknowns in it.

"The contractor up there has done a fantastic job to get it done in time."

Repair job 'down to the wire'

Event director Ian Harwood is pleased the track has been fixed.

"The works that the council and the contractors and everyone has done has been extraordinary," he said.

"They've been putting in some very long hours to get the work done.

The trails had been closed for almost six months after severe flooding. (ABC News: Jessica Moran)

"Absolutely down to the wire but that's all part of major events, these things happen.

"We were always confident it would happen but we always knew it would be down to the wire."

The nearby Hazy Days trail also reopened on Thursday, but work is still continuing on the Axe Head trail.

Geotechnical engineers were called in to assess the damage and plan the repairs that have taken months.

Elite field descending on town

More than 400 riders from about 25 countries have converged on Derby for the UCI Enduro World Cup.

It's attracted the world's best and is being held over three days.

Some of the Blue Derby trails were severely damaged by floods in October 2022. (ABC News: Tim Morgan)

"We've got over 400 riders from all around the world here and things are looking really good," Mr Harwood said.

"The riders just love coming to Derby, the hospitality of the town and the north-east, everyone just loves it."

He said the trails were special.

"They're just really unique, the soil type is very different to a lot of places around the world.

"We've had a bit of rain this week but the trails are still holding up really well whereas other places they'd be a bit of a mudfest.

"The way the trails are built and the terrain and the topography that we use in here is unlike anywhere in the world."

Greg Howard is excited about racing festivities taking over Derby for the weekend. (ABC News: Matthew Growcott)

The state is holding back-to-back world cup events. 

Last weekend the series was held in Maydena.

Amateur racing starts on Friday and the professionals get underway on Saturday.

Mr Howard said it would be a "huge" weekend.

"The town is absolutely chock-a-block now and come Friday and Saturday it will be standing room only, so [it's] very exciting," he said.

"It just shows that when you put in the hard work sometimes you get the rewards and that's encouraging."

Thousands of people are expected to watch the action over the next three days.

Hobart rider Dan Booker, who finished second at Maydena last weekend, is one of the favourites in the event.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.