May 16, 2010 (Baie-Saint-Paul, QC) – With over 500 riders, sunny dry conditions, along with plenty of spectators, everything was in place to make the first Canada MTB Cup of the season a success! Held in Baie-Saint-Paul, the 12th edition of the “Grands Rendez-Vous Cyclistes de Charlevoix” wrapped up on Sunday with the completion of the Quebec Cup and the Canada MTB Cup.

But the winds were so strong by the end of the day that a tent ended up on the course about 100 meters from the finish line forcing officials to stop the race briefly to fix the problem. Except for this minor hitch, everything went smoothly and race director, Jean Fortier, was happy with the event, “Our main concern was to respect the race schedule and we made it.”

It was a very tight 30km race in the Elite Men’s competition as Max Plaxton (Can) Specialized prevailed taking the victory after staying on the wheel of Andrew Watson (Can) Norco Factory Team Factory Team for the first five laps of the 6-lap race. On the second climb of the final lap, Plaxton took over the lead and kept it for the win. “My race went very well, but Max has a really strong finish kick and I could not keep up when he passed me near the end. The course and the race set-up were great. Although, the race could have been a little longer,” said Watson.

Raphaël Gagné (Can) Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles, competing in his first year as a Senior Elite, claimed the third step on the podium. “I’m at about 98% of my conditioning,” said Gagné, “My legs were not as good as I’d hoped, but I’m still very happy with my performance.”

In the Elite women’s 25km race Mikaela Kofman (Can) 3 Rox Racing took over the lead on lap three to win the 5-lap race with a comfortable 24-second margin over Poland’s Aleksandra Mooradian (K.Bedford/Verge/Spin) with Sandra Walter (Can) Local Ride Elite Women’s MTB, one of the few Western riders in attendance, taking third.

Quebec racers dominated the junior categories as Léandre Bouchard (Can) Cyclone d’Alma had the lead but then lost it only to reclaim it on lap four to take the victory over Ontario’s Mitch Bailey (Team Ontario) with Evan McNeely (Can) EMD Serono/Specialized CC in third.

Kristina Laforge (Can) Cyclone d’Alma topped the field in the 3-lap Junior women’s race for the win over Laura Bietola (Can) 3 Rox Racing in second and Valérie Meunier (Can) Cyclone d’Alma in third.

“I could not be more happy of today’s results. Both the men and women had awesome performances and it should be a great season for us,” commented Quebec coach Ian Hughes.

With many top West Coast riders not in attendance at Baie-Saint-Paul the next Canada MTB Cup event at Mont Tremblant on May 22-23 may be dominated by Eastern racers once again.

For complete results for all categories click here and for our Live Update coverage click here.

Results

Junior Women

1. Kristina Laforge (Can) Cyclone d’Alma 1:05:33
2. Laura Bietola (Can) 3 Rox Racing 2:50
3. Valérie Meunier (Can) Cyclone d’Alma 3:21
4. Andréane Lanthier-Nadeau (Can) Mountain Bicycles Factory 5:15
5. Emily Fisher (Can) Indépendant 5:28
6. Cayley Brooks (Can) Team Ontario/Hardwood 6:04
7. Malia Poulin (Can) Charlevoix 10:08
8. Justine Morin (Can) CCS/Dalbix 10:34
9. Emily Flynn (Can) Serono Specialized Cycling 11:55
10. Laurence Harvey (Can) CVM Subway-Génétik 12:56
11. Samantha Wagler (Can) Two Wheel Express 18:43
12. Gabrielle Dallaire (Can) Acidose Lactique 38:13
13. Stéphanie Vialle (Can) CVM Val-David 42:45
14. Justine Desmarais (Can) CVM Val-David 48:40

Junior Men

1. Léandre Bouchard (Can) Cyclone d’Alma 1:28:14
2. Mitch Bailey (Can) Team Ontario 1:13
3. Evan McNeely (Can) EMD Serono/Specialized CC 2:34
4. Antoine Caron (Can) CVM Subway-Génétik 4:42
5. Jérémy Martin (Can) Rocky Mountain Bicycles Factory 6:26
6. Steven Noble (Can) Team Ontario/Jetpower 7:11
7. Thomas Néron (Can) CVM Subway-Génétik 7:46
8. Sébastien Raymond (Can) 7:47
9. Jean-Philippe Côté (Can) Vélo Plein-Air 8:12
10. Karl Hoppner (Can) EMD Serono/Specialized 8:26
11. Preston Wagler (Can) 3 Rox Racing 8:37
12. Bretton Matthews (Can) Jet Power/Team Ontairo 9:30
13. Emmanuel Boily (Can) Indépendant 10:41
14. Samuel Tremblay (Can) Cyclone d’Alma 13:11
15. Xavier Perreault (Can) CVM Val-David 13:22
16. Conor OBrien (Can) EMD Serono/Specialized 14:09
17. Étienne Tremblay (Can) Cyclone dAlma 14:35
18. Joé Dufour (Can) Cyclone d’Alma 16:21
19. Philippe Paradis (Can) CVM Val-David 16:49
20. Steven Turcotte (Can) Lessard Bicycles 20:51
21. Simon Gauthier (Can) Garneau-Club Chaussures- 22:27
22. Philippe Gauthier Boudreau (Can) CVM Val-David 24:39
23. Marc-André Desmeules (Can) Acidose Lactique 28:13
24. Joshua Thomas (Can) Think SL.com/Carson Electric 29:47
25. Samuel Waterhouse (Can) CVM Val-David 31:27
26. François Saint-Laurent (Can) Lessard Bicycles 34:34
DNF Guillaume Bauret (Can) Acidose Lactique
DNF Nicolas André (Can) IGA Lambert/ACDA
DNF Stéphan Boily (Can) Acidose Lactique
DNF Nikita Touchette-Lebel (Can) Beauport
DNF William Morin (Can) Felt MTB Racing Team
DNF Antoine Donahue-Laliberté (Can) CCS/Dalbix

Elite Women

1. Mikaela Kofman (Can) 3 Rox Racing 1:41:33
2. Aleksandra Mooradian (Pol) K.Bedford/Verge/Spin 0:24
3. Sandra Walter (Can) Local Ride Elite Women’s MTB 1:54
4. Jean Ann McKirdy (Can) Local Ride Elite Women’s MTB 4:57
5. Cindy Montambault (Can) CVM Val-David 5:33
6. Catherine Vipond (Can) Norco Factory Team 8:12
7. Caroline Villeneuve (Can) Norco Factory Team 10:48
8. Rébecca Beaumont (Can) Cyclone d’Alma 11:01
9. Cassandre Olivier-Lapierre (Can) CVM Subway-Génétik 11:43
10. Marie-Claude Surprenant (Can) Xprezo-Borsao 11:55
11. Maureen Bruno Roy (USA) MM Racing 12:35
12. Stéphanie Lacoursière (Can) Cyclone d’Alma 17:19
13. Bryna Blanchard (USA) Windham Mountain Cycling Team 17:32
14. Linnea Koons (USA) Embrocation Cycling Team 17:33
15. Sarah Moore (Can) CVM Val-David 20:25
16. Annick Chrétien (Can) Kona Bio-Max 21:26
DNF Holly WhiteKnight (Can)
DNF Julie Melanson (Can)
DNF Andréanne Pichette (Can)
DNF Anna Obrien (NZl)
DNF Lisa Morgan (Can)
DNF Samantha Grover (Can)
DNF Karine Travaillaud (Can)
DNF Marjorie Lavoie (Can)
DNF Karen Méroz (Can)
DNF Ashley Barson (Can)

Elite Men

1. Max Plaxton (Can) Specialized 1:41:02
2. Andrew Watson (Can) Norco Factory Team 0:10
3. Raphaël Gagné (Can) Mountain Bicycles Factory Team 2:12
4. Benjamin Sonntag (GER) Cannondale Factory Racing 2:40
5. Daniel Sessford (Can) Aviawest-Blue Competition Cycles 2:51
6. Kristofor Sneddon (Can) Kona 2:56
7. Stefan Widmer (Can) Mountain Bicycles Factory Team 3:13
8. Matthew Hadley (Can) Xprezo-Borsao 3:27
9. Peter Glassford (Can) Trek Canada 3:43
10. Adam Morka (Can) Trek Canada 4:07
11. Ishai Rotem (USA) Jamis 4:35
12. Léni Trudel (Can) Specialized 4:41
13. Eric Batty (Can) Trek Canada 5:05
14. Craig Richey (Can) Aviawest – Blue Competition Cycles 6:00
15. Francis Morin (Can) Specialized 6:03
16. Marc-Adre Daigle (Can) Garneau-Club Chaussures-Ogilvy 6:51
17. Benoit Simard (Can) Specialized 6:57
18. Adam Snyder (USA) Team Jamis 7:15
19. Ryan Atkins (Can) EMD Serono/Specialized 7:36
20. Sébastien Cadieux-Duval (Can) CVM Val-David 8:17
21. Matthew Paziuk (Can) Trek Store Toronto 8:46
22. Justin Lindine (USA) BikeReg.com / Cannondale 8:51
23. Simon Lalancette (Can) Devinci 8:53
24. Cody Canning (Can) ERTC/revolution cycle 10:29
25. Cameron Jette (Can) La Bicicletta Elite Team 10:30
26. Jean-Philippe Thibault-Roberge (Can) Planet Sports.ca 10:32
27. Peter Ostroski (USA) Rocky Mountain/Michelin 10:33
28. Félix Côté (Can) CVM Val-David 10:33
29. Jon Kirsie (Can) Lapierre 10:36
30. Seamus Powell (USA) coaching/industry nine/windham 10:38
31. Thomas Skinner (Can) Aviawest – Blue Competition Cycles 11:18
32. Pierre-Louis Chamberland (Can) CVM Val-David 12:24
33. Jared Stafford (Can) Ontario-Bikesports Racing 12:49
34. Olivier Bordeleau (Can) Xprezo-Borsao 13:43
35. Olivier Robidoux (Can) Marin Bikes 14:02
36. Alex Lavertu (Can) Performance Vélo Lévy Honda 14:06
37. Andrew LEspérance (Can) Cyclesmith/Trek 14:24
38. Zachary Hughes (Can) Norco Factory Team 14:39
39. Neil Schiemann (Can) Tall Tree Cycles 15:11
40. Patrick Chartrand (Can) CVM Val-David 15:28
41. Tim Carleton (Can) TREK STORE RACE TEAM 15:53
42. John Burns (USA) Bikeman.com 16:21
43. Jacob McClelland (Can) Team Hardwood-Trek 16:40
44. Mathieu Boily-Tremblay (Can) Marin Bikes 16:49
45. Luc Boily (Can) Vélo 2 Max (St-Félicien) 16:53
46. Charles Blanchet-Levesque (Can) CVM Subway-Génétik 17:42
47. Nicolas Tremblay (Can) Specialized 17:57
48. Aaron Oakes (USA) Bulldog / Cyclecraft 18:02
49. Aroussen Laflamme (Can) Xprezo-Borsao 18:23
50. Patrick Mimeault (Can) 18:25
51. Benoit Paradis Letarte (Can) 19:52
DNF Frédéric Forgues-Lapointe (Can) Vélomania
DNF Tyson Wagler (Can) 3 Rox Racing
DNF Steve Caillé (Can) La Cordée Plein Air
DNF Samuel Dostie-Ménard (Can) Skinouk-VDM
DNF Alexis Cartier (Can) CVM Val-David
DNF Marc Plante (Can) LÉlite Vélozone
DNF Mathieu Bélanger Barrette (Can) Xprezo-Borsao
DNF Jonathan Boucher (Can) Xprezo-Borsao
DNF Anton Varabei (Can) CycleSolutions/AngryJohnnys
DNF François-Charles Dumas (Can) Performance Vélo Lévy Honda
DNF Imad El-Ghazal (Can) Kunstadt Sports Cycling Club
DNF Jeremi Bussières (Can) CVM Val-David
DNF Michael Mooradian (USA) K.Bedford/Verge/Spin