Four Wagga riders claimed top 10 finishes as the AusCycling Marathon MTB National Championships were held at Pomingalarna Mountain Bike Park on Sunday.
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Tyler Beruldsen and Josef Winkler finished ninth and 10th in the expert men's category while Wagga Cycling Club's Hunter Behnke narrowly missed the podium in the under 17 men's race finishing fourth.
His twin brother Angus also had a solid race and finished ninth.
The elite men's race was taken out by Brendan Johnston who claimed his sixth marathon national title.
Johnston edged out Scott Bowden and Daniel McConnell in a thrilling finish while Tasman Nankervis and Cameron Ivory rounded out the top five.
It was a hard fought win for Johnston and the Eurobodalla Cycling Club rider was overcome with emotion following the race.
"It feels pretty good, it's been a tumultuous summer for me. I'm really lost for words," Johnston said.
"Even this course is not good for me. I have to try and make the race hard the whole race, for five to 10 seconds but it always comes back. I was out of options when we were coming to the line here. I didn't want to sprint, but I was just happy I was strong enough to get back to Dan and lined up the sprint pretty well. It's been tough, I'm just proud of myself.
"I'm proud of myself for having that fight. Sometimes it's tough to dig so deep mentally and keep fighting and believe you are going to make it in the end, and I'm stoked I did."
Courtney Sherwell took out the women's elite race ahead of Isabella Flint and Ella Bloor.
It was Sherwell's first national title win and she said she was proud to notch up the impressive milestone.
"It feels pretty amazing, I've just gotten back for the US, and I've got a bit of a head cold this week. But I'm so, so stoked, this is my first national jersey so I'm really proud," Sherwell said.
