Lap 1
The Elite Men and Women are off… Evan Guthrie (BC) Rocky Mountain Bicycles Factory Team, Andrew Watson (ON) Norco Factory Team and Eric Batty (ON) Trek Canada are off the front but the pack is right behind as Matthew Hadley (ON) Xprezo – Borsao, the series leader, will be looking to take the title.
Catherine Vipond (ON) Norco Factory Team is the Elite Women’s series leader and she and Hadley are a husband and wife team so they’re both in the hunt to take home the respective titles.
CORRECTION – due to the muddy course conditions one lap per category has been cancelled – so the Elite Men will complete four (4) laps, the Elite Women and Junior Expert Men three (3) laps and the Junior Expert Women two (2) laps.
Lap 2
Elite Men – A group of 5 have formed at the front in the Elite Men’s race who came thru in 24:10 including Batty, Guthrie, Hadley, Leandre Bouchard (QC) Equipe du Québec/Cyclone d’Alma, and Evan McNeely (ON) EMD Serono/Specialized. A chase group of four is behind them at 10s including Mitch Bailey (ON) Trek Canada MTB Team, Kris Sneddon (BC) KONA, Cameron Jette (ON) 3 Rox Racing and Stefan Widmer (BC) West Point Cycles… apparently Andrew Watson (ON) Norco Factory Team went off course.
Elite Women – Vipond has established an early lead with two chasers – Jean Ann Berkenpas (BC) Xprezo-Borsao and Rebecca Beaumont (QC) Equipe du Quebec/Cyclone d’Alma at 15s – Berkenpas is only five points behind Vipond in the overall standings.
Junior Men – Marc-Antoine Nadon (ON) 3 Rox Racing is leading the Junior Men’s field with a good 20s gap over Alexandre Vialle (QC) Équipe du Québec/CVM Val David with Thomas Neron (QC) Team QuebecEquipe Quebec in 3rd another 10s back. Vialle is leading the series and Nadon is in second overall looking to unseat his QC rival.
Junior Women – Haley Smith (ON) Cycle Solutions / Angry Johnny’s CC and Catherine Fleury (QC) Équipe du Québec/Cyclone d’Alma have a strong lead in the Junior Women’s race. In third on her own at 54s is Samantha Wagler (ON) Two Wheel Express. Frederique Trudel (QC) Équipe du Québec/Specialized Québec the series leader is behind in 4th or 5th. This is their final lap and if Smith wins and Trudel doesn’t score any points she’ll tie her for the overall lead.
Junior Women – Fleury attacked during the final lap and passed Smith to take the win… Smith finished second at 54s behind and Wagler claimed 3rd.
Lap 3
Elite Men – Guthrie is now out front on his own as he starts the third of four laps with a 15s lead over McNeely in second with Bailey taking over third another 15s behind. Then there’s a group of three including Sneddon, Hadley and Bouchard at 25s behind Bailey. With two to go Hadley looks secure so far for the title as both Jette and Adam Morka (Trek) are in striking distance – but Morka is not racing today.
Junior Men – The top Junior Men have caught and passed the Elite Women as Nadon comes thru to start his final lap with a 30s lead on Neron and Vialle – this is their last lap
Elite Women – Vipond comes thru to start her last lap with a 40s lead over her toughest rival Berkenpas in second. In third now another 30s back is Berkenpas’ teammate Sandra Walter (BC) Xprezo-Borsao – can the two of them muster some strategy to catch Vipond on this last lap?
Junior Women – see above Lap 2 their final lap
Junior Men – Nadon takes the win over Neron in second with Felix Wilberg (AB) Cyclemeisters/Bow Cycle claiming 3rd in a sprint to the line over Series’ leader Vialle.
Lap 4 (Final Elite Men)
Elite Men – Guthrie is still on his own out front followed by McNeely at 24s as the U23 riders show their mettle on the final round. Another minute back are Bouchard in 3rd and Hadley in 4th riding together… another 30s back on his own is Sneddon in 5th. Further back it’s Peter Glassford (ON) in 6th with Bailey in 7th.
Unofficial
Junior Women
1. Catherine Fleury (QC) Équipe du Québec/Cyclone d’Alma
2. Haley Smith (ON) Cycle Solutions / Angry Johnny’s CC
3. Samantha Wagler (ON) Two Wheel Expres
Junior Women
1. Marc-Antoine Nadon (ON) 3 Rox Racing
2. Thomas Neron (QC) Team QuebecEquipe Quebec
3. Felix Wilberg (AB) Cyclemeisters/Bow Cycle
4. Alexandre Vialle (QC) Équipe du Québec/CVM Val David
Elite Women
1. Catherine Vipond (ON) Norco Factory Team
2. Jean Ann Berkenpas (BC) Xprezo-Borsao
3. Sandra Walter (BC) Xprezo-Borsao
Elite Men
1. Evan Guthrie (BC) Rocky Mountain Bicycles Factory Team 1:41:16
2. Evan McNeely (ON) EMD Serono/Specialized 1:42:01
3. Matthew Hadley (ON) Xprezo – Borsao 1:42:03
4. Leandre Bouchard (QC) Equipe du Québec/Cyclone d’Alma 1:42:26
5 . Kris Sneddon (BC) KONA 1:43:32
6. Peter Glassford (ON) 1:44:22
7. Antoine Caron (QC) Equipe du Quebec/Subway-Genetik 1:44:29
8. Stefan Widmer (BC) West Point Cycles 1:46:02
9 . Mitch Bailey (ON) Trek Canada MTB Team 1:46:53
10. Cameron Jette (ON) 3 Rox Racing 1:47:48
Final Canada MTB Cup Standings
Junior Expert Women
1. Frederique Trudel (QC) Equipe Quebec/Specialized
Junior Expert Men
1. Marc-Antoine Nadon (ON) 3 Rox Racing
Senior Elite Women
1. Catherine Vipond (ON) Norco Factory Team
Senior Elite Men
1. Matthew Hadley (NB) Xprezo-Borsao
