July 20, 2007 (Mt. Washington, B.C.) — Mount Washington, B.C. near Courtenay on Vancouver Island will host the 2007 National MTB XC Championships tomorrow on an extremely muddy 6.4km course that is expected to get even sloppier according the rain in the forecast. It has been raining on and off for the past two days and temperatures have been hovering in the low teens.

Defending Elite Men’s National Champion and Courtenay, B.C. native Geoff Kabush (BC) Maxxis will be the heavy favourite, considering Mt. Washington is his home turf. He’s also coming off of a third place finish at the World Cup in Mont-Ste-Anne, Que. last month, so he’s in good form.

Max Plaxton (BC) Rocky Mountain-Haywood, also a Vancouver Island native, is opting to compete in the Elite race, despite the fact that he’s still in the Espoir category. Seamus McGrath (BC) Rocky Mountain-Haywood is also expected to be in the medals after some strong World Cup performances this season.

Ricky Federau (BC) Trek, who placed a strong 21st in World Cup #5 in St-Felicien, Que. on July 1, has the ability to excel, but unfortunately he’s suffering from an illness. Quebec’s Mathieu Toulouse (QC) Maxxis is also a top contender after his silver medal at the Pan Am Championships in the spring.

For the women most bets are on four-time defending National Champion Marie-Hélène Prémont (QC) Rocky Mountain-Haywood in the Elite Women’s race. The Chateau-Richer native has shown that she is still a world-class competitor, after finishing second at the St-Felicien World Cup.

Kiara Bisaro (BC) Opus, who is Courtenay, B.C. born and raised, will have home field advantage, enhanced by the mud in which she shines. However, she is still sorting out the back problems she received in a horrific crash at the start of the Mont-Ste-Anne World Cup.

Kamloops, B.C.’s Catharine Pendrel (BC) Norco Factory Team is a definite contender after several stellar World Cup results in Europe and Canada. Her recent gold medal at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which she won one week ago today, could give her the extra confidence she needs to ride into the top two spots. “If I’m riding awesome, damn straight I’m going for the top,” she said.

“I’m looking forward to riding the course. It’s a lot of fun out there. All the Canadian girls are going really fast. I think it’s going to be a really competitive, exciting race,” she said.

“You’d better bring your rodeo gear, “˜cause it’s like riding a bucking bronco,” said Sandra Walter (BC) X.O-Felt Women’s MTB Team about the course. Walter is currently the fourth-ranked Canadian in the UCI standings.

Neal Kindree (BC) Kona-Les Gets, who won the Espoir Men’s National title last year, is on the hunt again, and with now Plaxton riding in the elite category, he is the definite favourite. Another top U23 contender is Quebec’s Raphael Gagne (QC) Rocky Mountain-Haywood, who has been riding well this season.

In the U23 Women’s race, Emily Batty (ON) Team R.A.C.E.com has the potential to pull off another National Championship title in her first year out of the Junior category. She placed third in the final Canada Cup event last weekend and had been in the Canada Cup series lead.

The Junior Men’s race should be exciting to watch, with several strong racers expected to duke it out on the technical course. Vancouver Island’s Jeff Clarkson (BC, BC Team) has shown his strengths this season, and could do well this close to home. Canada Cup Series winner Francis Morin (QC) Equipe du Québec will also do his best to take the Junior win, but Jacob McClelland (ON) Team Ontario, who won the Canada Cup event last weekend could put a wrench into both of their plans.

For the Junior Women’s race, Canada Cup Champion Andréanne Pichette (QC) Opus/OGC, Canada Cup #5 winner Alexandra Gélinas (QC) Indépendant and Bianca Adolf (BC) Team BC are all potential candidates for the win.

The Junior Men and Women start at 9:30 a.m. local time / 12:30 p.m. EST on Saturday. The Junior Men will do four laps and the Junior Women will do three laps.

The Elite Women start at noon local time / 3:00 p.m. EST and will do five full laps. The U23 Women will do four laps, starting thirty seconds after the Elite Women. The Elite Men’s race kicks off at 2:00 p.m. local time / 5:00 p.m. EST and the U23 Men start two minutes back. Both categories will do six full laps.

Organizers have created an alternate wet weather route in case the rain keeps up in order to bypass an extremely muddy section of singletrack near the end of the course. The route will only be implemented if it’s still raining the morning of the race, according to organizers.