Live coverage replay: 2013 Canadian cyclocross championships

Good afternoon and welcome to our coverage of the Canadian cyclocross championships. The races are held for a second consecutive year in at the South Surrey Athletic Park in Surrey, B.C., but this year the races are on a brand new course.

The championships are held in conjunction with the B.C. Grand Prix of Cyclocross, which will take place tomorrow.

Stay tuned for the elite and junior women’s race, which starts in about ten minutes. The junior me, aged 17-18, will be on course at the same time, starting two minutes after the women. The riders are all rolling to start line…

There are lot of fans hovering with umbrellas over the women’s starting area. They all want to catch a glimpse of their favourite riders as they prepare for the start of the race.

The elite and junior women are 30 seconds from the start.

The front row includes defending champion Mical Dyck (Pro City Racing-VAC), Catharine Pendrel (Luna), Wendy Simms, Maghalie Rochette (Cyclocrossworld.com) and Natasha Elliott (Rare Vos Racing-Stevens).

Last year, Mical Dyck won the elite women’s race ahead of Wendy Simms and Emily Batty. Batty is not racing today.

And Pendrel is leading the elite/junior women’s field, taking the hole shot and leading the race into the first of three sand pits on course.

Pendrel is followed by Dyck, Simms and Sandra Walter (Liv/Giant Canada)

The women are on the staircase run-up. Pendrel, Dyck and Simms are gaining a few seconds.

Our reporter Rob Sturney is on the ground and told us that the course is very soggy. All the grass sections have turned to mud. Riders who have already raced are saying that it has a peanut buttery texture and it’s very sticky. Some racers are taking multiple bike changes because of the heavy mud sticking to their frames, tires and drive chains.

The women have started lap 2 with three leaders sticking together; Pendrel, Simms and Dyck. Walters is about 10 seconds back and on her own.

Our reporter Rob Sturney said the weather conditions are getting worse and worse as the day progresses. It’s raining very hard and there are strong gusts of wind blowing riders all over the course.

Here we have a picture of Dyck winning the race last year.

Race organizers have designed a great course this year. It’s on what looks like a high school field. It’s very serpentine-looking and not too spread out, which is great for the spectators. Volleyball sandpits are being used for the three sandpits on course, there is a set of stairs to run up and one set of barriers.

The women are about to finish lap 2. Pendrel is now in the lead by herself. Simms is trailing by about three seconds, followed by Dyck, Walter and then Elliott.

Both Pendrel and Dyck crashed during lap 2. They slid out in the same muddy corner.

Cycling Canada Cyclisme is pleased with the new championships course this year, “We are excited for Cycling B.C. to build on the success of the 2012 Canadian championships to host another great event. B.C. is the hotbed for cyclocross in Canada with a large numbers of grassroots riders,” said Nicholas Vipond, Competition Coordinator at Cycling Canada Cyclisme.

The women are on lap 3 and Pendrel is building a pretty big lead, now 16 seconds ahead of Dyck and Simms.

Elliott is riding in fourth place, over one minute behind the leader. Walter is riding in sixth place, a minute and a half back. Chantell Widney is riding in sixth place and Dawn Anderson is riding in seventh place.

The women are seeing one lap to go …

Pendrel is racing each lap in about 9:15 minutes.

Dyck and Simms are racing for second place. This is a photo of them racing together from last year.

Pendrel is leading the race by 15 seconds and she has half a lap to go to the finish line.

It looks like Dyck is going to have to settle for second place today. She is riding in second place, 15 seconds behind Pendrel.

Pendral is your new Canadian cyclocross champion!

Mical Dyck rode in for second place about 20 seconds behind the winner.

Simms crossed the line in third place about 30 seconds back.

Natasha Elliott was fourth and Sandra Walter was sixth today.

correction, Walter was fifth.

Willem Boersma (Cycle-Smart) won the junior mens race!

Unofficial results for the Elite women:
1. Catharine Pendrel (Luna Pro)
2. Mical Dyck (Pro City Racing-VAC)
3. Wendy Simms
4. Natasha Elliott (Rare Vos Racing-Stevens)
5. Sandra Walter (Liv-Giant Canada)

Unofficial results for the junir men:
1.  Willem Boersma (Cycle-Smart)
2. Mason Burtnik (Team AB-Juventus)
3. Sean Germaine (Team AB-Juventus)

Unofficial results for the junior women:
1. Siobhan Kelly (Specialized)

The elite and under-23 men are warming up on course. Stay tuned for their race in about 15 minutes.

The rain is absolutely pouring down as the elite/junior women and the junior men wait for the awards ceremony.

The rain is going to thin out that sticky mud and make for a very slippery course during the elite and under-23 men’s race. We’re certain that defending champion Geoff Kabush (Scott-3Rox Racing) is welcoming this weather today.

Here is what winner Catharine Pendrel had to say before the start of her race today,“Every time I go to ‘cross nationals, I always leave feeling like I could have done better if I had one more race on my legs. The idea was to come to the U.S. to race against a strong women’s field and work on some ‘cross specific skills.”

“Having a good start is always critical. You can lose a lot of time in traffic and burn a lot of matches trying to get to the start. It’s also something that I’d really like to improve in my mountain bike racing.”

She is no doubt pleased with her winning performance today.

The elite and under-23 men are about to start …

The elite and under-23 men are on the start line. The front row includes defending champion Geoff Kabush (Scott 3Rox-Racing), Evan McNeely (Norco Factory), Mike Garrigan, Craig Richey, Derrick St. John (Stevens p/b The Cyclery), Evan Guthrie (Norco Factory) and Aaron Schooler (Team H&R Block).

The elite men will race for 60 minutes and the under-23 men will race for 50 minutes. There are 30 seconds to the start of the race.

And Garrigan took the hole shot ahead of Guthrie and Kabush …

Kabush told our reporter Rob Sturney before the start, “I’m excited. This is what cyclocross is about. There will definitely be some pinch points. It’ll be a race of attrition.”

He also told us earlier this week that his, “riding and training has been a little inconsistent, but I’m definitely hoping to hold onto some form and defend my cyclocross national title for Scott-3Rox Racing. I’m finally getting settled at my new home base in North Vancouver, which should help make things a little simpler moving forward.”

Garrigan is leading the field over the set of stairs followed by Kabush, McNeely and Schooler.

Earlier this week, Garrigan told us, “I hope to have a smooth race and see what result that achieves. To win again would be pretty sweet.”

He looks like he is racing to win today, that’s for sure.

Garrigan is still leading the race followed by Kabush and McNeely. The trio have gained a few seconds on the next set of riders.

Schooler is racing in fourth place, six seconds behind the lead group of three riders.

Kabush’s teammates Cameron Jette and Derek Zandstra are racing in fifth and sixth place, together.

The next group of riders on course are Andrew L’Esperance (Norco Factory), Mark McConnell (Synergy Racing – Cyclepath), Evan Guthrie (Norco Factory), Craig Richey and Kevin Noiles.

Michael van den Ham (Cycle-Smart) and Connor Wilson (Team AB-Juventus) are leading the under-23 men’s race.

It’s still raining and the sun is starting to set on the elite and under-23 men’s race. It could be nearly dark by the end of the race.

Lap 3, Kabush is now leading the race. He overtook Schooler on the staircase run-up.

Schooler had fallen into fourth place on the second lap due to a crash but he got back up and he is trying to win this race.

Schooler is five seconds behind Kabush.

Garrigan and McNeely are together, riding in third and fourth place, 15 seconds back.

The mechanic’s pit has been very busy today. The mud isn’t as thick as it was earlier in the day, but it’s still causing problems in the racer’s drive chains.

In the under-23 race, van den Ham is leading by 35 seconds ahead of Wilson and Marc-Antoine Nadon (Scott-3Rox Racing) and

Kabush is gaining time at the start of lap 4 (4 laps to go).

Schooler is racing in second place, 10 seconds back.

McNeely is riding in third place, 25 seconds back.

Jette and Zandstra just caught and passed Garrigan. They are 45 seconds back.

van den Ham is putting on a show in the under-23 mens race. He’s riding away with the championships title, more than a minute ahead of Wilson and Nadon.

van den Ham told us earlier this week that, “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t going to nationals with the hopes of taking the jersey home.”

The under-23 men have two laps to go.

In the elite men’s race, Schooler is trying desperately to pull those 10 seconds back to Kabush. Ealier this week he told us,“I’m gunning for a podium again, and to try and put some pressure on Geoff, which is no easy feat.”

Kabush’s teammates Jette and Zandstra are making up for their slower start. They have catch and passed McNeely!

Kabush is leading the race by 12 seconds ahead of Schooler. His teammates Jette and Zandstra are racing together in third and fourth place, 45 seconds back. McNeely is now over a minute back. And under-23 race leader van den Ham, is riding in sixth place.

Although van den Ham is riding in sixth place overall with the elite men at the moment, he is on his last lap and about to win the under-23 men’s title.

Here’s a picture of Kabush winning the title last year.

The sun has set and the elite and under-23 men are racing in the dark.

Not to worry, though. The race organizers have turned on the lights around the race course.

van den Ham is about to win the under-23 cyclocross title. The elite men still have two laps to go. Kabush has increased his lead to 30 seconds over Schooler and a 1:30 minutes to his teammates Jette and Zandstra.

It looks like Schooler is going to spoil Scott-3Rox Racing’s plans of sweeping the podium in the elite men’s race. He’s riding in second place, behind Kabush and infront of Jette and Zandstra.

Michael van de Ham (Cycle-Smart) was exstatic to have won the under-23 men’s title. He told our reporter Rob Sturney, “I can hardly believe that I’ve come this far. It shows how much my coach has helped me.”

The elite men are on their last lap.

van den Ham won the under-23 race ahead of Marc-Antoine Nadon and Connor Wilson.

Kabush is leading the elite men’s race to the finish line nearly one minute ahead of Schooler and nearly two minutes ahead of his teammates Jette and Zandstra.

The crowds are ringing their cowbells as Kabush leads the last lap of the elite men’s cyclocross championships.

Geoff Kabush wins the 2013 Canadian cyclocross championships!

The unofficial results of the elite men’s race,
1. Geoff Kabush (Scott-3Rox Racing)
2. Aaron Schooler (Team H&R Block)
3. Cameron Jette (Scott-3Rox Racing)
4. Derek Zandstra (Scott-3Rox Racing)
5. Mike Garrigan
6. Evan McNeely (Norco Factory)

Thank you for following our coverage of the 2013 Canadian cyclocross championships. Please visit our website for a full race report, photos and results,  http://cyclingmagazine.ca.