July 18/13 23:00 pm - MTB Nationals: Eliminator - Report, Final results and Photos
Posted by Editoress on 07/18/13
The 2013 Canadian Mountain Bike National Championships opened on Thursday afternoon (July 18th) at Hardwood Ski & Bike with the first ever Eliminator competition. Jean-Ann Berkenpas (Xprezo-Borsao) and Leandre Bouchard (Equipe du Quebec) became Canada's first national champions in the discipline.
The 800 metre course started riders on a tough straw based sprint into the woods, where they had to negotiate a series of obstacles, including logs, a couple of rock gardens and a stair drop. From there they had to go over a number of BMX jumps and then a long, dusty run to the far end of the circuit before sprinting back to the finish.
Berkenpas qualified third among the women, behind Andreanne Pichette (Opus-OGC) and Cindy Montambault (CVM 2 Vals). All three made it into the final, and were joined by Rachel Pageau (Equipe du Quebec). Montambault led the final before being passed by Pichette through the BMX section. The Quebec rider looked to have the win until Berkenpas exploded by her on the final section to take the title, while Pichette barely held off Montambault for second in a sprint.
"I am thrilled about this win," commented Berkenpass. "I had good luck in the heats with attacking in the start, and getting a small gap in the first section entering the technical forest. In the final, my plan didn't quite work out, as I entered third in the forest. After that, I just had to pass. I was lucky to have that opportunity in the BMX features, and after that I just went as hard as I could, and managed to hold them off."
Bouchard qualified fifth among the men, and was joined in the final by number one qualifier Peter Disera (Team Ontario), number two qualifier Mitch Bailey (Trek Canada) and Patrick Martin (Rocky Mountain/Procycle), the eighth fastest qualifier. Bouchard led through the first technical section, after Disera struggled to get clipped in at the start. The Ontario rider moved from third to second through the woods and then into the lead after the BMX section, but washed on in a corner, dropping his chain and enabling Bouchard to retake the lead and hold on for victory. Bailey took second, just ahead of Disera in a sprint.
"It's always a pride to wear the red and white colors. I have a lot of speed in me right now, and I'll be ready to apply this speed to the cross-country race on Saturday. There are some very good riders in the U23 category in Canada, and that's what this race has demonstrated," said Bouchard.
"The race [Eliminator] is much shorter. It happens very quickly, hence the start is very important. Sometimes there are strategies to apply. With high speeds, the slightest mistake can be very costly, so you constantly have to be very careful."
Note: we have interviews with both Berkenpas and Bouchard, which will be posted shortly.
Results note: Normally, results after the first four are grouped by finishing order in earlier rounds, but those were not provided.
Women
1 Jean Ann Berkenpas (BC) XPREZO-BORSAO
2 Andréanne Pichette (QC) Opus / OGC
3 Cindy Montambault (QC) CVM 2 VALS
4 Rachel Pageau (QC) Équipe du Québec : Devinci
5 Cayley Brooks (ON) Trek Canada Mountain Bike Team
5 Laurence Harvey (QC) Rocky Mountain Bicycles/Procycle
5 Catherine Fleury (QC) Équipe du Québec : Cyclone d’Alma
5 Maghalie Rochette (QC) PowerWatts - Nord
9 Karlee Gendron (MB) Trek Canada Mountain Bike Team
9 Frédérique Larose-Gingras (QC) Opus / OGC
9 Anne-Julie Tremblay (QC) Acidose Lactique : Cyclone d’Alma
9 Marine Lewis (QC) Équipe du Québec
9 Sarah-Claudie Dostie-Ménard (QC) Équipe du Québec
9 Valérie Meunier (QC) Équipe du Québec : Devinci
9 Anna Schappert (MB) Team Manitoba
17 Siobhan Kelly (ON) Team Ontario : AdrenalineRacer / ToWheels
18 Laurie Arseneault (QC) CVM 2 VALS
19 Ashley Barson (ON) CoachChris.ca/Ted Velikonja
20 Kayla Morin-Blanchette (QC) CVM 2 VALS
21 Veronica Huggard (YK) Team Yukon
22 Frédérique Trudel (QC) Équipe du Québec : Specialized Racing Canada
23 Catherine Harnden (ON) Ind
Men
1 Léandre Bouchard (QC) Équipe du Québec : Cyclone d’Alma
2 Mitchell Bailey (ON) Trek Canada Mountain Bike Team
3 Peter Disera (ON) Team Ontario : CSAJCC p/b Norco LG
4 Patrick Martin (QC) Rocky Mountain Bicycles/Procycle
5 Bretton Matthews (ON) Norco Evolution
5 Kevin Massicotte (ON) Ride with Rendall
5 Samuel Tremblay (QC) Rocky Mountain Bicycles Factory Team
5 Marc-André Fortier (QC)
9 Raphaël Gagné (QC) Équipe du Québec : Rocky Mountain Bicycles Factory
9 Julien Gagne (QC) Dalbix Sherbrooke
9 Andrew L`Esperance (NS) Norco Factory Team
9 Felix Burke (QC) CVM 2 VALS
9 Vincent Belhumeur (QC)
9 Alexandre Vialle (QC) Équipe du Québec : Espresso Sports
9 Felix Belhumeur (QC) Lessard Bicycles
9 Isaac Niles (AB) Team Alberta
9 Guillaume Larose-Gingras (QC) Équipe du Québec : CVM Subway Sigma
17 Willem Boersma (MB) Team Manitoba
17 Raphaël Auclair (QC) CVM Subway Sigma : Pivot
17 Peter Glassford (ON) Trek Canada Mountain Bike Team
17 Marc-André Daigle (QC) Garneau Québéc
17 Stephan Boily (QC) CVM 2 VALS
17 Neil Symington (NB) Opus Atlantic
17 Olivier Lapointe (QC) Skinouk-VDM
17 Ari Robinson (MB) Team Manitoba
17 Antoine Caron (QC) Équipe du Québec : Specialized Racing Canada
17 Jake Allaire (MB)
17 Eric Johnston (ON) Barrie/Simcoe Cycling Club
17 Spencer Skerget (YK) Team Yukon
17 Luke Di Marzo (BC) C4 Cycling Club
17 Mike Smith (BC) Quadzilla Racing
17 Luc Boily (QC) CVM 2 VALS
33 Aaron Thomas (ON) Team Ontario : CoachChris.ca/Ted Velikonja
34 Paul Guenette (ON) Wolfpack Racing/Walden MTB Club
35 Benjamin Boucher (QC) CVM 2 VALS
36 Kaleb Hellreich (ON) TUF RACK Racing
37 William Clarke (ON) Team Bikeland
38 Chris Fruetel (ON) Trek Store C.C. : Peterborough Cycling Club
39 Charles Reid (ON) Wolfpack Racing/Walden MTB Club
40 Brendan Arnold (ON) Team Ontario
41 Charles Faucher Robert (QC) Lessard Bicycles
42 Drew Romanovych (MB) Team Manitoba
43 Colin Chenail (QC) CVM 2 VALS
44 Massey Baker (YK) Team Yukon
45 Émile Farrell-Dessureault (QC) Skinouk-VDM
46 Kristian Skromeda (MB) Devo Manitoba
47 Jared Fawcett (MB) Team Manitoba
48 Andrew Savard (YK) Team Yukon
49 Patrick Chartrand (QC) Équipe du Québec
DNF Quinton Disera (ON) Team Ontario : CSAJCC p/b Norco LG
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