Canadian XC National Championship
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The picturesque town of Baie-Saint-Paul has been hosting Canada Cup races for several years now. This year though, the small town and its rocky, bumpy and rooty course are hosting the big one: the race that decides who gets to don the maple leaf jersey. Racers and fans alike are always welcomed with smiles and open arms by the locals here, and this year was no different. The course, which was already very demanding technically and physically, has been tweaked to make it more spectacular and spectator friendly.
The elite men's race promised to be a nail-biter, and it did not disappoint. Raphael Gagne was clearly superior to his Canadian rivals earlier this season, but hasn't quite been showing the same form in the last few races. Leandre Bouchard, on the other hand, has been on a roll recently. As for Derek Zandstra, his recent exclusion from the Olympic team gave him a point to prove.
On the women's side of things, with Catharine Pendrel missing out this weekend, it looked like Emily Batty was going to dominate. She did end up taking the win, but it wasn't without a fight.
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 Not sure why Gershom Morris, the Scott 3-Rox mechanic, is so angry this morning. Bad hair day perhaps? |
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| Cotton wool with Albas oil; makes you look weird, works great. |
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| Emily Handford, moments before the gun goes off. |
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| Maybe sticking your tongue out is the key to getting the holeshot... It certainly worked for Sophianne Samson. She ended the day with a 2nd place in the junior category, only a handful of seconds behind winner Emily Handford. |
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| Raphael Gagne gets the holeshot. |
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| Bouchard was fresh off his best-ever World Cup finish, with 18th place in Lenzerheide last weekend. |
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| Emily Batty and Sandra Walter broke away early and rode together until Batty's pace became too much for Walter. |
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| Haley Smith trying to stay in contact with the leading duo. |
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| Geoff Kabush through the trees. |
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| No time to look at the flowers for Sandra Walter. |
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| Sandra Walter doing her best to stay in touch with Emily Batty. |
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| Frederique Trudel had a tough start to her race, riding in 8th on the first lap, but steadily made her way up the field to finish in second place. |
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| Gagne started out strong and was among the leading quartet early on, consisting of himself, Bouchard, Zandstra, and Kabush. |
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| Haley Smith was hoping for more today. Still, 4th place at a national championship is far from embarrassing. |
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| Raphael Auclair leading the U23 race on the second lap. He had a crash one lap later and lost contact with the front group. He finished the day in 4th. |
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| Derek Zandstra and Leandre Bouchard rode together for almost the entire race. Zandstra attacked on the last lap, got a gap on Bouchard and held it all the way to the finish. |
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| Jeremy Martin has had some impressive results lately. He was riding in 4th place by mid-race and looking comfortable. Unfortunately for him, late surges from both Raphael Gagne and Davis Ross relegated him to a 6th place on the day. |
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| Derek Zandstra had a point to prove this weekend, after his recent exclusion from the Olympic team. |
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| Point proven for Derek Zandstra. |
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| What are you supposed to do when you realize that you won't be able to sprint for third place ? Raphael Gagne says: throw a whip. |
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| Tough day at the office for Raphael Gagne. Many people marked him as the favourite for the win, but he had to settle for 4th. Win some, lose some, as they say. |
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| Jeremy Martin crossing the line in 6th. |
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| Batty and Walter celebrating. |
MENTIONS: @LargeFries
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Emily Batty won the elite women national XC title...out of a field of 13.... the winning man won from a field of 26...its a sad sign of the state of XC racing in canada when our nationals only attract 1-2 dozen riders per category.
One question I have is as much as the article talks about who's wearing the "maple leaf", who's actually representing Canada in Rio? The guy that won the race (Derek Z.) apparently didn't get invited to be on the Olympic Team, so I'm confused. Anyway the guys will try, but the men's field really has no chance to medal, but for the ladies, Catherine and Emily surely have a big opportunity in front of them. Does anyone know who's confirmed to ride? All the athletes no matter what sport seem to have some indecision about attending.
Emily, Catherine, are you attending?
which is why Enduro and other types of racing are becoming more popular(ie marathons where theres 1000 racers on the start line)
Who wants to enter a XCO as an elite and finish dead last 25 mins after the last guy? lol