July 17, 2010 (Canmore, AB) – The great weather continues at the Canmore Nordic Centre where the Elite Men’s race is underway as they’ll complete one start loop and then five laps of the 7.5km course. All eyes will be on Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mt) to see if he can defend his title – check out the live webcast here.

Start Loop
Andrew Watson (Norco), Max Plaxton (Sho Air/Specialized), Derek Zandstra (3 Rocks Racing) are at the front of the pack as the men complete the first loop and start out on their first of 5 laps.

Lap 1
Plaxton is leading with Kabush not far behind… now the defending champ has taken over the lead in the Eyedropper.

About 1/2 way thru the lap Derek Zandstra (3 Rock Racing) has attacked and has taken over the lead as the three leaders have a 15s gap on the chasers as they exit the Laundry Chute.

Lap 2
Kabush, Plaxton and Zandstra have extended their lead to 25s followed by Kris Sneddon (Kona), Marty Lazarski (Rocky Mountain Factory Team), Eric Batty (Trek Canada) and Raphael Gagne (Equipe de Quebec/Rocky Mountain Factory Team).

U23 rider Alex Harvey (Independant), a top Olympic XC skier, is also on course and is 1:30 back… Francis Morin (Team Quebec/Specialized) is leading the U23 Men’s race.

Over the top of the course race leader Zandstra has gained some time over Kabush and Plaxton.

Lap 3
It’s Kabush at the front now as the three leaders come thru to start their third lap with a 57s gap over the chasers including Lazarski, Sneddon and Batty with a second chase group lead by Matthew Hadley (Xprezo-Borsao).

Jared Stafford (Bikesports Racing) has taken over the U23 lead followed by Zachary Hughes (Norco) in second with Morin in third.

Lap 4
Kabush storms thru with Zandstra and Plaxton now pushing a 2-min lead over Batty and Sneddon who are fourth and fifth as Lazarski has been dropped. Plaxton almost lost contact with the Kabush and Zandstra on lap 3 and was dangling at 10s but was able to catch on again…

Stafford leads the U23 race while Morin has passed Hughes to take over second place…

Kabush has attacked and is hammering with a 15s lead over Plaxton in second with Zandstra in third another 10s behind him. Sneddon and Batty are chasing in 4th and 5th with Hadley and Cory Wallace (Kona) behind them.

Lap 5 Final
Kabush continues to forge ahead with 15s on Plaxton and 30s on Zandstra in third… then it’s 3-4 min gap to Sneddon and Batty.

Stafford is the U23 leader with over 1-min on Morin in second with Hughes another 1 min behind him.

Results

Elite Men

1. Geoff Kabush (Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) 1:45:15.4
2. Max Plaxton (Team Sho Air/Specialized) 1:46:04.3
3. Derek Zandstra (3 Rox Racing) 1:46:55.0
4. Matthew Hadley (XPREZO – Borsao) 1:51:33.8
5. Kris Sneddon (Kona) 1:51:37.2
6. Andrew Watson (Norco) 1:52:19.4
7. Cory Wallace (KONA) 1:52:38.1
8. Eric Batty (Trek Canada) 1:52:53.1
9. Marty Lazarski (Rocky Mountain Factory Team) 1:53:47.4
10. Raphaël Gagne (Équipe Québec/Rocky Mountain Factory Team) 1:53:47.7

U23 Men

1. Jared Stafford (Team Ontario/Bikesports Racing) 1:57:37.0
2. Francois Morin (Team Quebec/Specialized) 1:58:03.7
3. Simon Lalancette (Equipe du Quebec/Devinci) 1:59:15.6
4. Jon Kinsie (Lapierre) 2:00:09
5. Félix Cote (CVM Val-David) 2:00:31