Robin Horsfield put on a dominant display to secure an eighth title at the Winners Edge Mountain Bike Cross Country National Championships at Ferry Reach on Sunday.

In windy conditions, Horsfield led from the start in the six-lap race to cross the finish line in 54min 13sec, to be crowned male open division winner for the fifth time in succession. Che’quan Richardson was second in 1hr 5min 10sec and Chris Nusum (1:06:15) came third.

“It was a good course out here,” Horsfield told The Royal Gazette.

“It was good to have a decent group of riders, so it was a nice day to race. We had some pretty windy conditions, but that always seems to be how it is here and it’s been a while since we’ve been at Ferry Reach.

“We’ve been at Southlands for quite a while now but this is the original course that we used to race for nationals, so it’s nostalgic in a way to be back here racing again.

The champion attributed his strong display to being in peak shape from racing abroad.

“The goal is always each year I’d like to be faster than before,” the 26-year-old said.

“Just the training and building up to each year you’ve got to be faster to be competitive. This fitness and speed that I brought here is just the speed you need to be competitive overseas.

“It’s good to bring that back home and be able to display what I’m doing overseas. I enjoy being able to come back to the island and show how I'm doing.

“Going out fast is always the goal of mountain bike racing. You just want to sprint out and get to the trails first.

“I lapped a fair number of riders, but there’s also two categories out here. We had the open men as well as the masters men.

“Everyone gave it their best and even those I lapped, it’s not a big deal. Che’quan Richardson was out there putting a solid effort down. I was hoping to lap him, but I wasn’t able to catch him.”

Horsfield is heading back to Canada but the 26-year-old is hoping to represent Bermuda at the Central American and Caribbean Games, taking place in Dominican Republic.

“I just had the first Canada Cup race of the season,” he said.

“That’s their national series over there. It’s still a bit cold out there, so not too much racing until May. We’re going to kick off some more international races through the summer and hopefully I’ll be racing at the CAC Games in July, representing Bermuda.”

Richardson was content to again finish behind Horsfield, something he has grown accustomed to over the years.

“Over the last few years I’ve pretty much come second to Robin,” the 32-year-old said.

“It’s always tough when you’re racing someone who does it full-time, but I’m happy with my result.

“I had quite a clean six laps, so I can’t really complain. I had no mechanical issues or crashes and it was just one of those days where everything was going right for me.

In the masters men division, which had ten participants, the highest entry in any of the races, James Holloway completed the five laps in 54:52. Hans Hirschi (57:33) and Jeremiah Murphy (1:02:44) occupied the remaining spots in the top three.

Charlotte Millington, in her first race as a senior, won the open female division in 36:24. The 18-year-old raced against Panzy Olander (38:30) over three laps.

“It feels great to win my first national championship as a senior,” Millington said.

“It’s a pity Gabby wasn’t here as it would have been nice to have more people racing, but I think we both went out there and did really well.

“I think the hills really worked to my advantage. It’s always going to be hard against someone like Panzy, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to get away from her on the flat or technically, so I just had to use the hills and try and make the difference there.”

The new women’s champion finished with some bruises after a misfortune on her way to victory.

“I unfortunately crashed on the last lap, two minutes away from finishing,” she said.

“It wasn't too bad and I did have some nice scars. I love mountain biking, but I always end up on the floor at some point.

“I didn’t need to take that kind of risk but I didn’t know how close she was. In hindsight, I could have walked it and it would have been OK.”

Millington is sad that school commitments will not allow her to come back for the Sinclair Packwood Memorial Race in May.

“Unfortunately, I won’t be back for May 24,” the Loughborough University student said.

“I’ve won that race twice as a junior but I can’t make it this year and I’ll be back for all the road nationals in July.”

Olander was delighted to make a return to a race she skipped last year to focus on becoming a new mother.

“I was very excited for this because I really missed last year sitting on the sidelines, but it was worth it,” she said.

“It was a great course and I really enjoy Fairy Reach, but this year there ws a lot of climbing and I think that’s where Charlotte got me. She was so fast up the hills that she just left me behind.

After missing out on some of the races in the mountain bike season, Olander is gearing up for the road.

“I am very excited for the road season,” the 32-year-old said.

“The season for mountain biking was a little off for me. I’m a first-time mum so between sickness and lack of sleep, I missed a few races and I didn’t have the strongest season, but I was just happy to be on my bike and come out and actually race.

“I am so pumped for May 24 and just to see where I can land. I haven’t really been able to train as much as I thought I could, but I have the most amazing support system with my partner and my family.

“I think with them I will definitely be able to put in a good effort for May 24 and that’s what I’m aiming for. I had a one-month-old baby last year so I wasn’t quite in shape for that, but it was it was exciting to watch and it gave me motivation to start training again.”

Ashley Robinson won the women’s masters division in 49:07, with Catherine Power (56:34) and Katrina Carr (1:00:33), completing the podium.

In the juniors, Jackson Langley (38:45) won the male division while Skye Ferguson (51:18) was the female champion.

“I'm super happy to win,” Langley said.

“It’s a race that’s very close to my heart because I started mountain biking before I actually started on the road, so it just makes me super proud to wear the Bermudian colours again.

“It was pretty good as the organisers actually reversed the course. Typically, we go the other way around and I think I really enjoyed it in this configuration, but it was very windy in parts.”

Bermuda Bicycle Association president Peter Dunne, who was the race director, touched on the significance of the competition.

“It’s important for us to hold national championships, not only for people like Robin who want to compete at a level overseas,” he said.

“It also helps us with our standing with the International Cycling Union to make sure that we have these events every year.

“We obviously had top-level competition with Robin here and he’s in a class of his own. But competition is competition, whoever’s on the start line and everybody’s trying to beat the person ahead of them.”