Wodonga’s Dean Lucas finished fourth in the elite class of the Mountain Bike Australia National Championships at Queensland’s Mt Joyce, in what was an extremely close ride.

Lucas said the position he finished wasn’t hugely important, it was more the fact we was close to the top riders above him.

“I was a bit annoyed because the times were so tight, there was barely anything in it,” Lucas said.

“I was only 0.4 of a second off third, one second off second place and two seconds off first.

“The three guys in front of me are all top guys that are riding really well at the moment, so I can’t be too disappointed. 

“There’s been a few that have been fairly close, the guy in front of me (Troy Brosnan) has won a World Cup and is a top podium finisher, so I was pretty happy to be close to him.”

After returning from Europe to compete at the event, Lucas described the course as more “tame” than what he has been riding on.

Lucas will return to Europe at the end of the month for World Cup events in Scotland and Austria.

Yackandandah export Oliver Zwar unfortunately crashed during the nationals and slipped to 13th overall, while his younger brother Ben didn’t start the race after injuring his shoulder.