Olympian Tory Nyhaug takes 13th national title, BMX Canada Cup series wraps up in Calgary
Canadian national champs and BMX Canada Cup series winners were crowned
Over the weekend, Calgary hosted the 2016 BMX Canadian Championships and the final round of the BMX Canada Cup national series. Over 600 athletes competed with the top riders racing for the maple leaf jersey in each category. The event held particular significance as a primary qualified for the 2017 world championships which will be held in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
From 5 years old to Masters, everyone can BMX. #canbmxchamps #hoponcanada pic.twitter.com/U5PrRzSks0
— Cycling Canada (@CyclingCanada) August 27, 2016
It came as no surprise to see two-time Olympian Tory Nyhaug take the time trial on Friday, August 26. James Palmer was second and Gaby Malenfant rounded out the podium in the elite men’s category. Drew Michielsen took the elite women’s title.
On Saturday, Nyhaug who is fresh off a fifth-place performance at the Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro took his 13th national title in the elite men’s race. James Palmer took the silver medal and Gaby Malenfant finished third.
Canadian national champion! ?? Thanks for the love from all the home fans this weekend, you're awesome Canada pic.twitter.com/D1IXZNBHgC
— Tory Nyhaug (@Tnyhaug49) August 28, 2016
“The event was awesome and I loved the support from the local fans,” said Nyhaug. “I came into the weekend pretty tired, and it was hard emotionally to come back from the Olympics and get right back into it. But I’m happy I was able to come out with the win.”
“The sport is growing and it’s fantastic to see. Every year the race gets more difficult to win because everyone is going faster.”
In the combined elite/junior women’s final, Drew Mechielsen added to her time trial title with a win over Megane Belanger who finished second to win the junior title followed by Emily MacPherson in third taking the silver in the junior category. Erin Kinnie was fourth in the final to take the silver medal in the elite category. Cayleigh van Staalduinen rounded out the women’s junior podium. Daina Tuchscherer entered the race as one of the favourites for the elite women but crashed in the final.
“I’m pretty happy, but it’s not exactly the way I wanted to win,” commented Mechielsen, referring to the crash of her main rival Daina Tuchscherer. “But other than that, I’m happy with how the day went and of course I’m happy about the title. It’s my first elite title and I’m really excited about that. It’s really awesome and it was a big goal of mine, so I’m very happy.”
Alex Tougas took the junior men’s title followed by Josh Samells and Ben Leslie.
“I’m really happy with how it went,” said Tougas. “I felt good coming into the race but there is always tough competition, so it was a good day overall. I just took it like any other race; the guys you are racing are fast and you never know what’s going to happen.”
Following the national champs, the 2016 edition of the BMX Canada Cup national series concluded with the seventh and final round on Sunday, August, 28. In the series fourth year it traveled to four different provinces with Rounds 1 and 2 in British Columbia with the next two rounds in Quebec. Ontario hosted Rounds 5 and 6 with the final being hosted in Calgary the day after the national championships.
The best five out of the seven events were counted to determine the final rankings. Daina Tuchscherer (Calgary BMX) took the elite women’s title with three wins and two third places for a total of 3420 points. New national champion Drew Michielsen (Abbottsford BMX) won the final round to secure second overall with 2060 points while Olympic champion Mariana Pajon of Colombia was third with 1400 points.
James Palmer (Yess BMX) won the series overall with three victories and 3420 points. Jared Ennis (Maple Ridge Cycle) finished in second with 3260 points and gaby Malenfant (BMX Drummond) was third with 3150 points.
New national champ Alex Tougas swept the series with seven straight victories in the junior men’s category while Cayleigh van Staalduinen (Team Alberta) had four victories taking the junior women’s title. In the junior devo categories, Avriana Hebert (Team Alberta) was the women’s overall champion with five wins and Aidan Webber was the devo men’s champion with six wins.
