October 29, 2008 – With Mike LeBlanc and Derrick Keith tied for first place with one race to go, we certainly expected a great finish to the 2008 Mike’s Bike Shop Cup. The evening was certainly warm for cross (+16), but the heavy rain and wind certainly made it look like a typical northern Europe cross race… with the exception of the Halloween costumes!

One thing for sure, Melanie Bordage, still mathematically in the race for the top podium step, had no intention of letting the two leaders battle it out on there own. She rode the race of her life and took advantage of the handicap system to take the last of the 18 stages of the 2008 Tuesday night series. The question was on everyone’s mind, would the 100 points awarded for the victory be enough to make it to the top?

By the smallest margin ever, those 100 points were enough to take the series by 5 points! At the same time, Bordage became the first women to win the Mike’s Bike Shop Cup. To win the series, she had to battle things out from May to October on cycling’s 6-event series: cross country, time trials, criterium, track, BMX, and then cyclo-cross.

The local series was once again a great success in 2008, and the best part of it is still to come. The profit raised throughout the summer will now be donated to a special charity on behalf of our winner. After her podium, she was so surprised of the outcome that she needed to wait to decide to which charity she would like to donate in the community. An announcement will be made later on to that effect, and we will also announce the amount at that time.

After the event, we also held out annual “skid” contest, and for the second year in a row, Jean-Richard Cormier took the win in that event. Various prizes were also offered by the organizers, but the one to note was the National Cycling Centre’s Head Coach award. Every year, the Centre’s Head Coach is given the chance to offer one, or more special award to riders of his choice. Like last year, the coach’s choice went to young riders who competed throughout the summer with the experience Tuesday night warriors. The selection ended on Marc Evers and Julien Roussel. Two local young riders who went through the Centre’s Peter Wedge Program and who now represents the future of cycling in our community.

Last night’s photos, courtesy of Don Ricker Photography, can be seen