May 20/07 12:17 pm - Bromont Canada Cup DH #1 Preview

Posted by Editor on 05/20/07
 

Canada Cup Downhill #1 - Bromont, Quebec

Today the Canadian downhill scene begins with the first round of the Canada Cup in Bromont. A record 386 riders will race the 2.5 kilometre course, which forced organizers to move the start time one hour earlier than the original 1:00 pm (EDT) start. This race also offers valuable UCI points, for elite riders hoping to race the Mont Ste Anne World Cup next month - 20 UCI points are required in order to be allowed to race a World Cup.

The weather has turned colder - barely into the double digits - and rain is a definite possibility, which will make muddy sections even muddier. The course is one that has been used for many years, and is well packed down, so even the muddy sections should still be rideable.

Canada's top men are here (with the exception of Tyler Morland), but the women's field is a little sparse with only 10 riders. Claire Buchar (Specialized), Danika Schroeter (Cove), Michelle Dumaresq (nsmb.com) and Adrienne Miller are all missing. For the 77 elite men, the top hopes are Eric Goss (Giant), Jeff Beatty (Orange/Mojo), Andrew Mitchell (Cove), Luke Kitzanuk (Giant), Geoff Pendrel (Primary/Daredevil), Jamie Biluk (Cove) and Quebec riders Dominick Menard (Giant), Charles Alexandre Dube (Cove) and Mathieu Laurin (Marin). On the women's side, Micayala Gatto (Rocky Mountain-Haywood), Mylene-Kim Fortier (Mathieu Performance), Genevieve Gagnon (Gravitesse) and Sheila Morris (Gravitesse).

One interesting note is the presence of Australian Junior national champion Mitchell Delfs, plus riders from Bolivia, Colombia, Italy and the U.S. Remi Berube of the CCA pointed out that outside of the World Cups, there are very few UCI sanctioned downhills anywhere in the world. He estimates that Canada has as many as 20% of the total.