July 26, 2009 (Mont Sainte-Anne, QC) – The Junior XC competition will soon be underway with a start time of 9am for the men followed by the women one minute later. It’s chilly this morning and overcast but there’s no rain. There are six (6) Canadian women racing and they complete 3 laps of the 6km course, and there are 22 junior men on the start line with nine (9) Canadian men competing including current National champ Evan Guthrie (BC) – the men will complete 4 laps.

Lap 1
Canada’s Evan Guthrie, Mitch Bailey, Tyler Allison and Antoine Caron are off the front as the Junior men’s race is underway.

The women are off and Kristina Laforge has jumped to the front followed closely by Laura Bietola with Anna Schappert at 15 sec. and Cayley Brooks another 10 sec. back in 4th.

Correction – it’s Dirk Peters from New Zealand not Tyler Allison in the group of four leaders in the men’s race. The chasers are 20 sec. behind.

Bietola has taken the lead in the technical downhill section which was modified to include a longer but less difficult route as requested by the UCI because of the danger in wet conditions. Bietola took the tougher rocky section and Laforge is in second at 5 sec. with Schappert in 3rd and Brooks in 4th. Natasha Oldcorn crashed but is ok and is continuing.

Lap 2
The four leaders in the men’s race – Guthrie, Bailey, Peters and Caron – have started lap 2. Canada’s Andrew L’Esperance is in 5th at 20 sec. with the USA’s Zach McDonald in 6th at 20 more sec. Brendan Johnston (Aus) is 7th, BC’s Allison (Can) is 8th and Jeremy Martin is 9th.

No change in the women’s order as Bietola is leading. Laforge has taken over the lead as Bietola flatted and now has a 40-second gap on her. Schappert and Brooks are in 3rd and 4th.

Lap 3 Final Women
Guthrie is in front with a 20-sec. gap over Peters in 2nd with Bailey in 3rd another 10-sec back and Caron trailing him. L’Esperance is another minute behind them.

With a strong surge Bietola attacked and regained the lead over Laforge and now has a 1:20 gap starting the final lap. Schappert is in 3rd about 3 minutes behind Laforge.

Laforge is fading a bit with 1/2 a lap to go…

Lap 4 Final Men
Guthrie is powering away now on the final lap with 40-sec. over Peters in second. Caron has overtaken Bailey and is now in 3rd at 40 seconds behind Peters with Bailey another 30 seconds back in 4th.

With 1/2 a lap to go there’s no change – a bit of rain has started to fall which could affect the upcoming Elite women’s and men’s races scheduled today.

Unofficial

Women – 18km

1. Laura Bietola (Canada) 1:32:03
2. Kristina Laforge (Canada) 0:30
3. Anna Schappert (Canada) 2:55

Men – 24km

1. Evan Guthrie (Canada) 1:25:22
2. Dirk Peters (New Zealand) 1:08
3. Antoine Caron (Canada) 1:51
4. Andrew L’Esperance (Canada)4:42
5. Mitch Bailey (Canada) 5:06
6. Zach McDonald (USA) 5:49
7. Nicolas Tremblay 5:50