The inaugural World MTB Awards, held at Yonder, attracted hundreds of entries across the 13 different categories.
The brainchild of businessman and Queenstown philanthropist Rod Drury, the awards were organised to capitalise on the huge number of international mountainbikers training in the resort over summer.
"We were thinking ... why not try to activate them and do things which are pretty special," he said.
"It’s very hard for athletes to have awards in season, so it’s their offseason, it’s the perfect time to do it, and it’s just a great way to continue building our global biking profile."
The awards, determined by public vote, had attracted some "amazing" entries from across the world.
Originally planned to be timed with the first Natural Selection Proving Grounds — staged at TreeSpace-Mt Dewar this week but postponed due to delays with the Queenstown Lakes District Council processing the required resource consents — organisers also brought the awards forward slightly to accommodate the athletes heading to Tasmania for Hardlines early next week, and changed the venue from Coronet Peak’s base building to Yonder to lower the ticket price, ensuring it was as "inclusive as possible".
Mr Drury said the event was further indication the investment in mountainbiking infrastructure over recent years was paying off.
"There’s a heap of video projects [being filmed in Queenstown], bikes being tested for the first time, a lot of athletes here training ... there’s a real buzz growing around Queenstown."
World MTB Award winners
Female rider of the year: Lucy Van Eesteren (Squamish, British Columbia, Canada)
Male rider of the year: David Perez Nanni (Queenstown)
Female move of the year: Robin Goomes (Queenstown), ‘‘Flipped dream’’
Male move of the year: Ben Thompson (Canada), ‘‘Manny to front-flip drop’’
Female line of the year: Natasha Bradley (New Zealand), The
Backwoods, British Columbia, Canada
Male line of the year: Brendan Fairclough (United Kingdom), Red Bull Rampage
Supporter of the year: Adam ‘‘Scribbles’’ Dunne (British Columbia, Canada)
Save of the year: Amelia Martin (United Kingdom)
Best new build: Matt Jones (United Kingdom), backyard dirt jumps
Photo of the year: Jake Hood (Queenstown), Missing Link Foot Plant
Rising star: Charlie Lester-Rosson (Rotorua)
Moment of the year: Erice Van Leuven, Sacha Earnest and Poppy Lane (New Zealand), first, second and third in the women’s junior competition at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in the Scottish Highlands
Cinematic excellence award: Paul Rayner’s Tilt Shift Films project with Goodyear Bike Tires, Obeying Gravity, in Queenstown
