The fastest bikes of Canadian cyclocross national championships
Six speedy race whips spotted at Layritz Park
Canadian cyclocross national championships returned to Victoria’s Layritz Park for a second-straight year over the weekend. With the countries top riders all coming together there were plenty of interesting, and fast, bikes on display in the pits. Here are six of the fastest.
Ava Holmgren: Orbea Terra
Ava Holmgren celebrates back-to-back elite women's cyclocross championship titles. Photo: Nick Iwanyshyn
Ava's Orbea Terra
Since there are so many Stimulus-Orbea racers in each event, each with multiple bikes, each bike gets a nickname and number.
Holmgren was one of many racers on Shimano's Di2 GRX groupset
Ava opted for a 1x set-up in Victoria
Challenge Limus S3 33mm mud tires up front with Shimano Dura Ace rims
Team Edition red in Challenge's hand-made tubulars definitely stands out
While the sun was out, full miud tires were on many athlete's bikes this weekend, and for good reason
Industry Nine wheels for ultra-quick engagement out of each of the many courners on course
Gravel frames mean plenty of mud clearance
Tidy headset routing for hoses and wires on Holmgren's Terra
XTR pedals are a mainstay, and cross over to Holmgren's XC mountain bike nicely
Stimulus Orbea had quite the impact at 2023 cyclcorss nationals
Ava Holmgren rode to a second-straight elite women’s national title on Saturday aboard this Orbea Terra. It will be one of the last few races aboard the Terra before Holmgren and her sister switch to the Lidl-Trek team mid-cross season in January. Until then, Holmgren will continue to chase wins on this Shimano Di2 GRX-equipped carbon fibre race rig. Full mud tires were the name of the game for Layritz’ slippery mud side-hills on Saturday and Holmgren had Challenge Limus tuburlars glued to her Shimano Dura-Ace wheels for the occasion.
Ian Ackert: Orbea Terra
Ian Ackert cruises across the line, winning his first U23 national title in style. Photo: Nick Iwanyshyn
Ian Ackert's Orbea Terra
Guesses on what YOG stands for?
More GRX Di2
Ackert was on Challenge's Flandrien tubulars
A little faster, but still plenty of cornering traction
Ackert's on Shimano hubs
GRX Di2 hoods
More headset routing
And more XTR on Ackert's bike. Like the Holmgren's, he races XC mountain bikes all summer
Pro seat, titled forward, and Pro seatpost for Ackert
Terra is technically Orbea's gravel bike, but that didn't seem to slow down any Stimulus racers over the weekend.
Ok, we promise this whole list isn’t Orbea. But, with Stimulus-Orbea all riding Terra’s, the Spanish brand was at the front of a lot of races at Layritz Park over the wekeend. Ackert rode his to the top podium step in the under-23 men’s race on Saturday. Other than a larger size and opting for a black-on-matte black finish, Ackert’s is, understandably, quite similar to Holmgren’s Terra. Ackert did opt for Challenge’s Flandrien tubulars, though. He’s also running a slightly larger chainring with his GRX Di2 drivetrain and Shimano hubs on the Dura-Ace hoops, not Industry Nine. Slight difference aside, the result was the same: a national title.
Rafaelle Carrier: Specialized S-Worx Crux
Carrier leads out the junior women on Saturday. Photo: Nick Iwanyshyn
Rafaelle Carrier's Specialized S-Worx Crux
Eggshell white meets copper splatter and Layritz mud
Name plate for the Pan Am champ
How anyone else would feel trying to hold Carrier's pace
Carrier rode a 1x SRAM Red group with powermeter and a solid K-Edge chain guard
Wireless Red AXS shifting out back
Specialized Crux disc
S-Worx Terra Gripton tread as a tubular
Plenty of grip and mud shedding on the Terr
All laced to Roval's CLX 50 Rapide carbon fibre wheels
SRAM AXS wireless hoods
The gleaming copper flecked accents on Carrier’s white paint were quickly complemented by clumps of mud, but this S-Worx Crux still stood out on course over the weekend. Mostly because it was flying around Layritz off the front of the junior women’s field on Saturday and Sunday. Also because its pilot was wearing the jersey of Pan Am champion. But the paint caught the sun quite nicely, too. With the stunning season Carrier is having so far in North America, it will be exciting to see what she does overseas during Christmas Cross season!
Cody Scott – Trek Boone
Cody Scott mixing it up with Luke Valenti in Sunday's elite men's race. Photo: Nick Iwanyshyn
Scott's Trek Boone
Stem slammed right to the frame
Scott opted for the 2x option of Shimano's Ultegra Di2 drivetrain
That gives him closer steps between gears for powering down Layritz Park's straight-aways without losing range. Cable tucked in tight and taped down to avoid getting caught up in the chaos of cross.
Scott rides for the Competitive Edge Racing team. And his Boone has Trek's IsoFlex seat-tube for a bit of forgiveness. An overpowerful powerwasher was also causin havoc for the chip timing system, requiring some DIY fixes.
Bontrager RSL wheels with Challenge Grifo tubulars
Bontrager hubs, also labelled with the team stickers
Shimano's Ultegra Di2 hoods
Scott spends quite a bit of time racing in the U.S.A. and so his Boone honoured recently killed 17-year-old XC/CX racer Magnus White.
Another local Vancouver Islander that had a big weekend was Cody Scott. The Competitive Edge racer was second, just behind Pan Am champ Ian Ackert in Saturday’s under-23 men’s championship race. In Sunday’s Bear Crossing UCI C2 race, he finished fourth among the elite men. Scott’s Trek Boone was one of the few bikes running a 2x drivetrain over the weekend.
Carter Woods: Giant TCX
Carter Woods making easy worrk of the barriers on Sunday.
Woods' Giant TCX
When you're a World Cup winner, even your off-season bike gets a name plate
And so does your mechanic. Kevin Smith travels around the world all year with the Giant team.
CADEX is Giant's high-end wheel brand
Woods added CushCore inserts bewen the CADEX rims and Maxxis All Terrane tires
HT's golden Titanium axle pedals
Di3 charging port
Stack height of a mountain biker?
One-by Shimano GRX
Electronic shifting but a tighter cassette than the GRX maximum.
GRX Di2 hoods work well for the power and grip needed in cross
Giant TCX cross frame
Former under-23 national champion Carter Woods took advantage of having nationals in his back yard to return to skinny-ish tires. The cross country World Cup winning racer hails from the Comox Valley, just a couple of hours north on Vancouver Island. While the Giant Factory Off-Road Team racer’s season just wrapped up at Pan Am Games, he did catch the last Cross on the Rock event before lining up in Layritz Park for championships. That was enough of a refresher to put him in fifth overall. Woods dangled just a handful of seconds behind the leaders for much of Saturday’s race, but was smiling the throughout the race, clearly enjoying the extra support from the local crowd.
Fabian “The People’s Champ” Merino: Cervélo R5-CX
Fabian Merino chasing back through the elite men's field on Saturday.
Cervélo's R5-CX
The pink and red pain scheme Cervélo gives the R5-CX stood out no matter who was riding it
Long awaited, finally arrived: Cervélo's cyclocross bike
Easton EC90 SL carbon fibre cranks
With SRAM Force AXS shifting
More Easton: the new EC90 ALX bar is technically for gravel, but it suits cross very well
Deep Easton EC90 SL carbon fibre wheels helped cut through Saturday's mud
While Challenge Limus Pro tubulars held grip
Easton Vault hubs anchor the EC90 rims
More Limus up front. Sun all day didn't make the Layritz Park mud any less slippery on Saturday. Sunday was a bit faster
UCI legal.
Local fast guy Fabian Merino may not have ended up at the front of Saturday’s championship race and, after podiuming at B.C. provincials a week before, did not have the race he was expecting. But, after snapping his chain off the line and running the first half lap to the pits, he did earn a different title: the People’s Champ. Most laps, the loudest cheers around the course were for the Broad Street Breakaway rider as he valiantly chased back through the field to make the best of a less-than-ideal day (“most laps” because the crowd also got quite fervoured when Evan Russell took over the lead from Luke Valenti with a lap and a half to go).
