Canterbury teenage mountain bike star Anton Cooper has just missed out on a podium place in his first tilt at the men's under-23 cross-country world championships in South Africa.
The 19-year-old Woodend rider, in just his first year in the under-23 category, finished an agonising seven seconds off a podium place after recovering from a slow start and braving unseasonal wet and slippery conditions in Pietermaritzberg.
Cooper, riding for the Cannondale factory team was 13th mid-race but came back to be the fastest rider over the final two laps to jump to fourth, only seven seconds behind bronze medallist Michiel van der Heijden.
