ZANDSTRA, BATTY WIN AS ONTARIO DOMINATES CANADIAN CROSS-COUNTRY MOUNTAIN BIKE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Two new Canadian Champions are crowned at Hardwood Hills and Bike, in Ontario
(Barrie, ON – July 20, 2013) On a day where six of the eight Canadian Champions crowned hailed from Ontario, two new Canadian Champions stood up at the Canadian Cross Country Mountain Bike Championships on Saturday, with Derek Zandstra (Trenton, ON) and Emily Batty (Brooklyn, ON) both taking their first ever Elite Mountain Bike titles.
Derek Zandstra of Ontario-based SCOTT-3RoxRacing took the title by attacking both teammate and three-time Olympian Geoff Kabush, and the two-time defending Canadian Champion Max Plaxton of Victoria, BC with two laps to go in the six-lap, 36km race.
“I am pretty fired up to win the title and wear the Red and White jersey. I have had a lot of second and third places in the past, always being so close.” said Zandstra, who was elated of his first Elite title. “ddd” added the veteran rider.
“We certainly had some team tactics today. We had three of us [SCOTT-3 Rox Racing] in the Top 4 today. We played around at the beginning of the race, something we tried last weekend to see how it would work. It worked out pretty awesome today. Geoff and I had some different setups out there, and we were to capitalize on our strengths and weaknesses, and use it to our advantage.”
“It was a long race today. Going into the last lap, I couldn’t feel my legs, but I stayed focussed and relaxed and try not to mess it up! I’ve been doing it for so long that you just know what you got to do at the end, and hope for the best. It’s a bonus to know that you are pulling away time as you are just pacing yourself. It gave me a little more confidence.”
Kabush went on to take the second place by attacking in the last sections of the course, with Plaxton taking the third place.
In the women’s race, it was no surprise to see Emily Batty, racing with team Trek Factory Racing, win the title as the four-time defending Champion Catharine Pendrel was not on the start line, nursing a fractured collar bone. Batty has been in fine form this season, stepping once on the World Cup podium.
Batty started her domination very early in the 5-lap race, and never looked back riding with confidence throughout the race.
“I was so excited way back when it was announced that Hardwood Ski and Bike would host the Canadian Championships. I just know the course like the back of my hand. I know it very well. I am really happy on how I was feeling throughout the race, despite waking up this morning with an extremely bad sore throat”, said Batty after the race, surrounded by a large crew of supporters. “I am really honoured to not be wearing my black team kit! I am excited to go to Europe proudly wearing the Maple Leaf on my back as Canadian Champion.”
“I was really looking forward to getting a chance to win the Elite title. It’s so unfortunate that Catharine couldn’t be here (nursing a collar bone fracture). I know exactly what she is feeling having been through the same injury last summer. I think both of us acknowledged that we would have had an awesome battle.”
The Elite title is the first for Batty in cross-country, after winning four consecutive U23 titles before turning elite two seasons ago.
The two Elite titles represent a milestone for Ontario, which had not won an Elite title at the Canadian Cross-Country Mountain Bike Championships since 2000, when Chrissy Redden won back-to-back titles in 1999 and 2000, both races held at Camp Fortune, QC.
In the U23 races, Frédérique Trudel of Breakyville, QC, riding for the Équipe du Québec/Specialized Racing Canada, sent a strong message today, imposing herself in her first Canadian Championships within the U23 age category. Trudel, a two-time Canadian champion in the Junior group and past Canada Cup Champion, started her race with a nice tempo, and managed to bring herself back to the front of the group in the last two laps to take the victory. In second place came Andréane Lanthier-Nadeau of Rocky Mountain Factory Racing Team, while Maghalie Rochette of Powerwatts-Nord rounded the podium in third place.
Mitchell Baily of Barrie, ON (Trek Canada Racing Team) took his first Canadian Title in the U23 category since winning back-to-back title as a Cadet (U17) rider in 2007 and 2008. Baily ended Léandre Bouchard’s run of two consecutive titles in the highly competitive age category. 2010 Junior Canadian Champion Evan McNeely of Ottawa, ON took the second place, followed by Antoine Caron of Stoneham, QC (Équipe du Québec/Specialized Racing Canada) in third.
The races were held at the Hardwood Ski and Bike Resort, near Barrie, ON, which underwent dramatic changes to its trails to welcome the best Canadian riders for these Championships, including the addition of climbs and man-made technical sections which offered the riders a tough course.
Racing resumes tomorrow with the presentation of the exciting and face-paced Team Relay, with Team Ontario looking to defend its two-year reign at the top, as well as the Championship races for the Masters categories.
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The 2013 Canadian Cross-Country Mountain Bike Championships is Canada’s top domestic cross-country mountain bike event. The event annually attracts some of the country’s best mountain bikers challenging for the Red and White Jersey awarded to the Canadian Champions. Organized by the Pulse Racing Club at the Hardwood Ski and Bike Resort near Barrie, ON, the event is governed by the Cycling Canada, a member of the International Cycling Union (UCI).
The 2013 Canadian Cross-Country Mountain Bike Championships is made possible thanks to the close collaboration between the Cycling Canada, the Ontario Cycling Association, and the Pulse Racing club. The event will be held from July 17th to 21th and showcases racing in junior and elite categories.
RESULTS – 2013 CANADIAN CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS – HARDWOOD SKI AND BIKE, ON
Elite Women
1. Emily BATTY (Trek Factory Racing) [Brooklin, ON] – 40:14.3
2. Sandra WALTER (Liv/Giant) [Coquitlam, BC] – 41:45.1
3. Amanda SIN (Scott−3 Rox Racing) [Collingwood, ON] – 42:19.1
Elite Men
1. Derek ZANDSTRA (Scott − 3 Rox Racing) [Trenton ON] 40:40.5
2. Geoff KABUSH (Scott − 3 Rox Racing) [Courtenay BC] 41:14.7
3. Max PLAXTON (Team Sho−Air/Cannondale) [Victoria, BC] 41:40.1
Espoirs (U23) Women
1. Frédérique TRUDEL (Équipe du Québec-Specialized Racing Canada) [Breakyville, QC] 24:18.7
2. Andréane LANTHIER-NADEAU (Rocky Mountain Bicycles Factory Team) [Québec, QC] 25:11.4
3. Maghalie ROCHETTE (PowerWatts – Nord) [St‐Jérôme, QC] 25:36.8
Espoirs (U23) Men
1. Mitchell BAILEY (Trek Canada Mountain Bike Team) [Barrie, ON] 25:07.9
2. Evan MCNEELY (Norco Factory Team) [Ottawa, ON] 26:07.7
3. Antoine CARON (Équipe du Québec/Specialized Racing Canada) [Stoneham, QC] 26:42.6
