Canada Cup Race Report – Bromont, Quebec - Changing of the Guard?
May 22nd marked the season opener for the Canadian National DH series. The event was held at Bromont, Quebec which is one of the premier mountain bike destinations in Canada with a lift accessed bike park that can be compared to Whistler in terms of its technical and varied mountain bike trails. The weekend saw close to 500 riders on the mountain with the combination of racers and park riders.
As with past seasons, the race track was demanding. This year we raced on a new course that featured 5 sections of difficult single track and 5 sections of fire road that required all out sprinting, there was no rest to be had and at nearly 5 minutes long the riders fitness and winter preparation was really tested.It seems like there may be a changing of the guard happening in Canadian DH racing as the pro men’s podium was filled with relative new comers on the Canada Cup circuit. The race was won by all round nice guy Luke Kitzanuk (Giant Bicycles) of Montreal, QC which was cool to see as Luke has been working hard over the last few seasons and he finally has a great ride with Giant Canada. Second place went to Whistler, BC’s Tyler Morland (Cove Bikes/SRAM), keep an eye on this guy… he is fast, uber motivated and has had a string of top results since the beginning of 2004. Third place went to funny man and former junior national champion Jamie Biluk (Cove Bikes), he was super happy as last year he spent most of the season on the injury list so it was very reinforcing for him to have a stomping ride at the start of the season. The Men’s podium was rounded out by Charles-Alexandre Dube (DHRacer) and Louis-Philippe Leonard (Norco Factory Team).
Elite Men
1. Luke Kitzanuk (Giant Bicycles) 4:40.120
2. Tyler Morland (Cove Bikes/SRAM) 4:41.430
3. Jamie Biluk (Cove Bikes) 4:42.490
4. Charles-Alexandre Dube (DHRacer) 4:44.710
5. Louis-Philippe Leonard (Norco Factory Team) 4:48.700
6. Adam Cook (Independant) 4:48.760
7. Jimmy Coll (Club de velo Spin sport) 4:50.380
8. Justin Brown (Norco Factory Team) 4:50.540
9. Mathieu Laurin (Devinci) 4:51.570
10. Stuart Couper (Itona) 4:51.863
The woman’s race was fairly exciting this year. In previous seasons Danika Schroeter (Giant Bicycles) has ruled the show, but this year she has he work cut out for her as former World Cup winner Fionn Griffiths (Norco Factory Team) will now be racing the Canada Cup circuit. This is good news for racing as the level will inevitably be stepped up as the girls push it to try and beat Fionn and Danika.
Elite Women
1. Fionn Griffiths (Norco Factory Team) 5:46.680
2. Danika Schroeter (Giant Bicycles) 5:50.210
3. Adrienne Miller (Mountain City Cycle) 5:56.570
4. Katrina Strand (Rocky Mountain) 6:03.600
5. Brook Baker (Norco Factory Team) 6:12.430
Drew Mitchell (Cove Bikes/Dangerboy/Smith) continued his domination of the Junior ranks by winning the race despite having a bad run with 2 minor crashes. Steve Chan (Independent) and Guillaume Soucy-Alarie (Privateer Racing) rounded out the top three.
Junior Expert Men
1. Andrew Mitchell (Cove Bikes/Smith/Danger) 4:50.090
2. Steve Chan (Independant) 4:53.420
3. Guillaume Soucy-Alarie (Privateer Racing) 4:58.400
4. Hugo Chagnon (Gagne Velo-Ski) 5:03.480
5. Kyle Ritchie (Independant) 5:05.120
6. Derek Cowell (Independant) 5:07.890
7. Dylan Gullison (Radical Edge) 5:17.300
8. Dan CsoKanay (Norco Factory Team) 5:17.720
9. Francis Paquet (Gagne Velo-Ski) 5:18.690
10. Samuel Lagrange (Virago Racing) 5:21.350
Race Notes:
National Champion Mat Laurin (Devinci) placed 9th. He was a bit disappointed but is looking forward to next weekends race at Tremblant as it is his home course.
Canada Cup Champion Geoff Pendrel (Devinci) missed the top 10 and placed 11th. He always has a super good attitude and is already stoked for next weekend.
Canada’s leading downhiller Dustin Adams has retired… we will all miss him and have some big shoes to fill.
The race track was super muddy and slippery as it had rained very hard the night before. Riders were making last minute changes to mud tires, but Luke still managed to win on his regular rubber.
Tyler Morland crashed and still came 2nd
The Author - Mike Jones – Races for the Norco Factory Team and Dangerboy Components, he is also the host of the Ride Guide TV show (www.rideguide.ca).
Title photo courtesy of Formulaphoto.com and the Pinkbike archives.
As with past seasons, the race track was demanding. This year we raced on a new course that featured 5 sections of difficult single track and 5 sections of fire road that required all out sprinting, there was no rest to be had and at nearly 5 minutes long the riders fitness and winter preparation was really tested.It seems like there may be a changing of the guard happening in Canadian DH racing as the pro men’s podium was filled with relative new comers on the Canada Cup circuit. The race was won by all round nice guy Luke Kitzanuk (Giant Bicycles) of Montreal, QC which was cool to see as Luke has been working hard over the last few seasons and he finally has a great ride with Giant Canada. Second place went to Whistler, BC’s Tyler Morland (Cove Bikes/SRAM), keep an eye on this guy… he is fast, uber motivated and has had a string of top results since the beginning of 2004. Third place went to funny man and former junior national champion Jamie Biluk (Cove Bikes), he was super happy as last year he spent most of the season on the injury list so it was very reinforcing for him to have a stomping ride at the start of the season. The Men’s podium was rounded out by Charles-Alexandre Dube (DHRacer) and Louis-Philippe Leonard (Norco Factory Team).
Elite Men
1. Luke Kitzanuk (Giant Bicycles) 4:40.120
2. Tyler Morland (Cove Bikes/SRAM) 4:41.430
3. Jamie Biluk (Cove Bikes) 4:42.490
4. Charles-Alexandre Dube (DHRacer) 4:44.710
5. Louis-Philippe Leonard (Norco Factory Team) 4:48.700
6. Adam Cook (Independant) 4:48.760
7. Jimmy Coll (Club de velo Spin sport) 4:50.380
8. Justin Brown (Norco Factory Team) 4:50.540
9. Mathieu Laurin (Devinci) 4:51.570
10. Stuart Couper (Itona) 4:51.863
The woman’s race was fairly exciting this year. In previous seasons Danika Schroeter (Giant Bicycles) has ruled the show, but this year she has he work cut out for her as former World Cup winner Fionn Griffiths (Norco Factory Team) will now be racing the Canada Cup circuit. This is good news for racing as the level will inevitably be stepped up as the girls push it to try and beat Fionn and Danika.
Elite Women
1. Fionn Griffiths (Norco Factory Team) 5:46.680
2. Danika Schroeter (Giant Bicycles) 5:50.210
3. Adrienne Miller (Mountain City Cycle) 5:56.570
4. Katrina Strand (Rocky Mountain) 6:03.600
5. Brook Baker (Norco Factory Team) 6:12.430
Drew Mitchell (Cove Bikes/Dangerboy/Smith) continued his domination of the Junior ranks by winning the race despite having a bad run with 2 minor crashes. Steve Chan (Independent) and Guillaume Soucy-Alarie (Privateer Racing) rounded out the top three.
Junior Expert Men
1. Andrew Mitchell (Cove Bikes/Smith/Danger) 4:50.090
2. Steve Chan (Independant) 4:53.420
3. Guillaume Soucy-Alarie (Privateer Racing) 4:58.400
4. Hugo Chagnon (Gagne Velo-Ski) 5:03.480
5. Kyle Ritchie (Independant) 5:05.120
6. Derek Cowell (Independant) 5:07.890
7. Dylan Gullison (Radical Edge) 5:17.300
8. Dan CsoKanay (Norco Factory Team) 5:17.720
9. Francis Paquet (Gagne Velo-Ski) 5:18.690
10. Samuel Lagrange (Virago Racing) 5:21.350
Race Notes:
National Champion Mat Laurin (Devinci) placed 9th. He was a bit disappointed but is looking forward to next weekends race at Tremblant as it is his home course.
Canada Cup Champion Geoff Pendrel (Devinci) missed the top 10 and placed 11th. He always has a super good attitude and is already stoked for next weekend.
Canada’s leading downhiller Dustin Adams has retired… we will all miss him and have some big shoes to fill.
The race track was super muddy and slippery as it had rained very hard the night before. Riders were making last minute changes to mud tires, but Luke still managed to win on his regular rubber.
Tyler Morland crashed and still came 2nd
The Author - Mike Jones – Races for the Norco Factory Team and Dangerboy Components, he is also the host of the Ride Guide TV show (www.rideguide.ca).
Title photo courtesy of Formulaphoto.com and the Pinkbike archives.
Author Info:
Smithers, BC, Canada
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