Mont-Ste-Anne, August 7, 2017 – Canadian riders appeared on the podiums in both Downhill and Cross-country over the weekend at the Mountain Bike World Cup in Mont-Ste-Anne, Quebec.

Racing began on Saturday with Round 6 of the Downhill, and BC Junior rider Finnley Iles (Specialized) continued his dominance by taking his fifth win in six events.  Iles, the reigning world champion, has been battling illness all week and came back from a flat tire in qualifying to set the fastest time in the Final with eight riders to go.  No one challenged him until the last starter, Matt Walker (Madison Saracen), who was faster at the first split before suffering mechanical problems.  Iles had already won the overall title coming into the race.

In the Elite categories, national champion Miranda Miller (Specialized) was the top Canadian in seventh place, with Kirk McDowall, the men’s national champion, finishing 12th.

On Sunday, Canadians put in top-5 performances in the XC race, with Catharine Pendrel (Clif Pro Team) and Emily Batty (Trek Factory) finishing third and fourth in Elite Women, while Quinton Disera (Norco Factory) had the best ride of his career to finish fourth in Under-23 men.  Rio Olympian Raphael Gagne (Cannondale-3Rox) was the top Elite man, in 34th.

“I’ve been feeling stronger since Lenzerheide [Switzerland, Round 4],” said Pendrel, “and today’s the first day it came together for a podium.  I felt really strong and I was descending faster than Yana and Pauline, but Yana got a bit of a gap on the switchback climb.  I think I had a bit of a mental moment and lost the fight for the front.”

In the overall standings, Batty moved up one spot from eighth to seventh, and could move into the top-5 depending on her performance in the final round.  Pendrel, who had a difficult start to the season, jumps from 17th to 11th.  In the Under-23 Men’s standings, Peter Disera (Norco Factory), who finished 15th at Mont-Ste-Anne, is fourth overall, tied for third at 151 points.

WINNIPEG, August 4, 2017 – The mountain bike events at the Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, concluded on Thursday with the women’s and men’s sprint elimination competition.  Anne-Julie Tremblay of Quebec took her third gold medal in as many events in the women’s race, while Rhys Verner of British Columbia won his second gold medal in the men’s.

The Sprint is a fast and exciting mountain bike event.  After a seeding run around the short and technical course, riders raced in heats, with the top riders from each heat moving on to the next round, culminating in the medal final for six riders.

Tremblay, who won the Cross-country on Sunday and was part of the winning Quebec squad in the Team Relay on Tuesday, won both her quarter final and semi-final rides.  In the final, it was a close race between Tremblay, Mackenzie Myatt (Nova Scotia) and Jenn Jackson (Ontario).  Tremblay beat Myatt by one second, with Jackson a further second behind.  It was the first mountain bike medal for Nova Scotia.

“I think this was more stressful than the cross-country,” said Tremblay, “because you are always racing and there is no rest.  But it’s really fun because it is full gas the whole race.  It is not my first time racing this, because I won the Canadian championship last year.”

In the men’s competition, Verner swept through his quarter and semi-finals to make the medal race.  Verner had already won a gold medal as part of the winning B.C. Team Relay squad on Tuesday.  In the Final, Verner held off Alberta’s Isaac Niles by a slim second, with cross-country gold medalist Felix Burke of Quebec taking bronze.

“I’ve done a few Sprints before,” admitted Verner.  “Three times at national championships and this is my second one at Canada Games.  At nationals I’ve taken gold, silver and bronze, and today I had big goals, so I’m glad to pull it off.  I like the sprint events; it’s fun for spectators and it’s all out from the gun.  It’s full on racing.”

Mathieu Boucher, Performance Development Director at Cycling Canada, said, “we are extremely happy with the execution of the mountain bike events.  The team here really stepped up and help us to deliver three days of great racing.  Teams are happy with the courses and the services that were provided, and we had awesome performances from all the provinces.  We now want to make sure that this mountain bike venue will be a legacy for years to come for the Manitoba Cycling Association, so that we can help them build quality programs here.”

WINNIPEG, August 2, 2017 – After a one day break, mountain bike competition resumed on Tuesday at the Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with the Team Relay events for women and men.  Quebec added their second victory in the women’s event, while British Columbia took their first cycling win in the men’s race.  Teams consisted of two or three riders, with each rider handing off to the next after doing a lap of the cross-country course.

Ontario took the lead on the first lap of the women’s race, with national Under-23 champion Jenn Jackson followed by Nova Scotia and Quebec.  Quebec’s Marine Lewis managed to move into second place before handing off to their next rider, however, Ontario’s Dana Gilligan extended her province’s lead on the second lap.  Gilligan handed off to Soren Meeuwisse, with Quebec having Anne-Julie Tremblay, the winner of the XCO title, as their anchor rider.  Tremblay set one of the fastest lap times of the race to overtake Meeuwisse and give Quebec their second title.  British Columbia took bronze.

“I just wanted to go consistently, without a lot of stress,” explained Tremblay.  “I rode like I did in the XCO.  It was a big gap [to Meeuwisse at the start of the lap] but when I came to the climb I saw her and I knew the gold medal was possible.”

The men’s race saw Quebec take the lead on the opening lap, followed by British Columbia and Ontario.  Quebec continued to lead on the second lap, extending their lead to 16 seconds as they began their final lap with Felix Longpre.  However, BC’s third rider was Sean Fincham, the recently crowned Under-23 national champion, who set the fastest lap time of the day, overtaking Longpre to give British Columbia the win. Ontario took the bronze medal.

“I didn’t have a strategy,” admitted Fincham, ” but I saw that we were about 15 seconds back.  My plan was to try in each section to get a second here, a second there, and slowly work my way up.  I think I did exactly that, I didn’t go too fast and burn out.  I caught him, sat behind for a little bit, and then attacked.  I got a gap and then just knew I had to hold it to the line.”

Josh Peacock, Competitions Coordinator at Cycling Canada, said, “today went very well.  We knew it would be a battle between B.C., Ontario and Quebec, and it certainly was.  The teams fought the whole way and we had exciting finishes in each race, and that’s all you can ask for.”

WINNIPEG, July 31, 2017 – The cycling events at the Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, opened on Sunday with the women’s and men’s XCO mountain bike races.  Quebec riders took both titles at this first medal event of the Games.

Held at Bison Butte outside of Winnipeg on a six kilometre course built for the Games, racing took place under hot and sunny conditions; hot enough that officials knocked a lap off the planned six for the men, with both men and women racing five laps.  While Manitoba is not known for lengthy climbs, the course designers made up for it with multiple short, steep climbs and technical descents.

Anne-Julie Tremblay of Team Quebec became the first gold medalist of the Games with a dominating performance in the women’s race.  Tremblay, who raced at European World Cups in national team colours earlier in the season, went to the front on the first lap, chased by Team Ontario riders Jenn Jackson and Soren Meeuwisse.  Tremblay won with a time of one hour, 30 minutes and one second, 45 seconds ahead of Jackson, the national champion for Under-23 women.  Meeuwisse finished a further 23 seconds in arrears.

“I’m very happy to take the first gold medal of these Games for Team Quebec,” said Tremblay.  “I think now for the Team Relay this will give us a lot of motivation, because Marine [Lewis, Team Quebec] also had a good race in fourth place.  The course was very good and they did a lot without a lot of features to work with.”

Tremblay’s Quebec team mate, Felix Burke, won the men’s race in a similar fashion, with a time of one hour, 17 minutes and one second.  The silver medal went to Brody Sanderson (Team Ontario), the national Junior men’s champion, only 17 seconds behind Burke.  Team Quebec’s Felix Belhumeur finished third, a further ten seconds behind.

“I’m over the moon,” said Felix Burke, “this is a really special win for me.  I’m so excited, and I wanted to pay back my team, my sponsors and my family.  I couldn’t have gone harder and it’s always a good feeling to cross the finish line and know that you gave everything you had out there.  The heat was a huge factor.  Starting on the third lap I was alone on the front, but I didn’t want to let up and I could feel the heat … and I could tell it was going to be a sufferfest.”

Josh Peacock, Competitions Coordinator at Cycling Canada, said “it was an action packed day and heat definitely played a factor out here with an exposed course and no wind in close to 40 degree [Celcius] heat with the humidex.  Athletes were tested for sure and they didn’t disappoint the fans.”

Mountain bike competition continues on Tuesday with the Team Relay.

The first official day of training started today for athletes taking part in the Mountain Bike competitions and many were surprised to find that the course had been considerably changed and improved since the test event. The hill, which is located on the outskirts of Winnipeg, was built from scratch several years ago, and tons of man-made features have been added since then.  

According to the course designer, Alex Man, whose daughter will be racing this weekend “We started having discussions around building a Mountain Bike course several years ago, and then we found out that Winnipeg would be hosting the Canada Games. We designed the course with the help of Matt Hadley and purposefully built the trails so that they would be challenging for the athletes. There are many ride arounds, steep climbs and A and B lines to make sure that experienced and less experienced riders both enjoy the course.”

Soren Meeuwisse from Team Ontario says, “I am impressed with what they have created with such a little hill available. There are uphill and downhill features challenging enough for this level of competition. I’m excited to race it, but I think tactics will come into play a lot with a course this fast, that offers little climbing and lots of open sections.”

The 6 kilometer course will give spectators the chance to see the athletes climb up and down the hill several times per lap, with many different areas offering a full view of the course. So far, athletes seem to agree that the race will be a strategic one.  

“The course will be challenging to race in a different way from most. The track is wide which will allow many passing opportunities and for the wind to play a decisive role as the race unfolds. There are also some technical features which could potentially take people off guard, especially when people are riding hard,” commented Gunnar Holmgren, who won the Junior Men’s Canada Cup title this season.

World Cup Elite athlete Anne-Julie Tremblay thought the course was “very technical, which is good for me. It’s very smooth and there aren’t too many challenging climbs, so I’m pleased.”

Mountain Bike competitions for both men and women start this Sunday at Bison Butte with the XCO event, where the first medals of the Canada Games will be awarded.