Quebec Cup Round 4, Vallée du Parc - Race Recap

Last weekend was the closure of this year's Quebec Cup and even though it had a rocky start on the organisation level, it did end up being quite awesome, with even some of our top riders qualifying for the World Cup at Ste-Anne. Lets say it, races around here aren't just about racing, they're all about the community, the beers, the laugh, the fun. VDP didn't make an exception to the rule. A fire was lit at night by the racers that brave the cold and camped in the parking lot, one team made a big barbecue and beers (and more) were crack all weekend long. The race, as always at VDP, was held at the same time than the Color Festival, which made it the one that had the most spectator of the year. People hiked up all weekend for the festival and cheered for our riders, even though the colors were kind of late this year, showing off mostly greenish leaves. The track was a little bit different than last year, the two last jumps were replaced by one big wood step down feature that wasn't that difficult to hit but looked absolutely massive. It definitely took more balls than skills to do it, but still made it quite amazing to watch to the spectators that gathered around.

La dernière course de l'année de la Coupe Québec prenait fin la fin de semaine dernière, et malgré un début un peu plus difficile en terme d'organisation, la saison a été plutôt marquante, certains de nos tops coureurs se qualifiant pour la Coupe du Monde à Ste-Anne. Avouons-le, dans le coin courses et compétitions s’allient avec communauté, broue, rires et plaisir, Vallée du Parc n'ayant pas fait exception à la règle. Un feu a été allumé pour ceux qui ont bravé le froid et campé dans le stationnement. Une des équipes a fait un barbecue communautaire géant, bières et consommations ont été ouvertes tout au long de la fin de semaine. Comme la tradition le veut, la course de Vallée du Parc a eu lieu en même temps que le Festival des Couleurs, ce qui a probablement permis d’atteindre le plus grand nombre de spectateurs de l’année. Même si les couleurs étaient un peu en retard cette année, les gens ont gravi la montagne et encouragé nos coureurs. La piste était un peu différente des autres années; les deux derniers jumps ont été remplacés par un gros step down en bois, qui finalement était plus impressionnant que difficile d’exécution. Il fallait définitivement plus de cran que de technique pour le réaliser, mais il a permis de faire sensation en offrant tout un spectacle à ceux et celles venus voir la course !





If Saturday was quite cold (and even colder at night with temperature going under 0 Celsius), Sunday was quite better, riders took off their coat, the sun was out and warm. Making it the perfect weather to watch and race.



















Félix Laroche takes the first step on the junior expert podium with a time of 02:05,400, followed by Lucas Rey-Sierro at 02:06,480 and Shawn Querry at 02:33,070




In the women side, with Audrée Vaillancourt on the bench because of a broken arm and Serah Konefall out of sight, we all knew that Maxine Bergeron would take the win, and she did, with a time of 02:38,260, she is followed by Marie-Michelle Faucher at 03:05,780 and Anne-Marie Lauzon at 3:19,100. Let's say it though, it's awesome to see that more and more women are racing in the Belle Province!





In the previous years, Sam Thibault always dominated on the track. He was the man to beat, but a crash made him took the eleventh position. Jonathan Lefrançois took the win (and the Quebec Championship 2017 victory at the same time) with a time of 01:49,070 followed by Benjamin Desprès-Morin with 01:49,690 and Patrick Paré Martin with 01:53,180


Thanks to Patrick Pratte for the race organization this year, this has been a wonderful season.

Merci à Patrick Pratte pour l'organisation des courses cette année! Ce fût une saison formidable.

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