Hoping to be a big cheese in Switzerland | Rotorua Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Rotorua

Dirk Peters is excited
_ and a little unsure _
heading into his first
major riding outings of
the year.

The Rotorua 18-year-
old will line up in the open
division for the first
round of the North Island
Cup cross-country series
in Tokoroa on Sunday.

This will be the first
time the former under-17
and under-19 national
champion has gone
wheel-to-wheel in the
open grade.

''It'll be interesting _
I'm looking forward to it,''
said Peters, who has just
returned from a second
stint in Portugal, where
he has been working with
New Zealand Trail
Solutions, building
mountainbike trails.

The former Rotorua
Lakes High School
student is considered one
of New Zealand's top
cross-country prospects
after securing two second
places in World Cup
junior events last year.

With that success he
proved to himself that if
he put in the effort, he can
do well.

However, Peters
admits to being a little
unsure of his form so far
this summer with two
trips to Portugal and only
the N-duro Summer Cup
opener, which he won,
under his belt.

''I'd rather be riding
[trails] than building
them but that's fun as
well,'' he said.

In fact, the days of
swinging a pick or axe
have left the teenager
feeling a different type of
fitness despite his lack of
training while overseas.

''I definitely feel
strong. They were eight-
hour days and all by hand
[clearing and felling],'' he
said.

''I was a bit surprised
by how I went in the
N-duro _ I didn't think I'd
be that fast.''

The work was an
important part of Peter's
year as he plans to head to
Europe after the New
Zealand summer to
compete in the Swiss and
World Cup events.

''The Swiss are the
best in the world at cross-
country ... I want to try
and reach a new level,''
Peters said.

He is lined up to race
all three of the North
Island Cup cross-country
series over the next three
weekends in Tokoroa,
Hamilton and Rotorua.

He will then head to
the one-off New Zealand
champs and the Oceania
Championships.