Gallery: Belgian Waffle Ride arrives in Canada

Belgian Waffle Ride made its debut in Canada over the weekend, launching racers into 218km of gravel, road and even a few stretches of singletrack. The massive course, which packed in a punishing 3,500m of elevation gain and loss between start and finish lines, toured lower Vancouver Island, from Cowichan almost to Victoria and back again.

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Canadians lept at the chance to race a major series on home turf. Haley Smith won the women’s race with Rob Britton pre-race outrunning expectations and the competition to win the men’s. The dynamic course saw the two taking very different paths to solo victories on Sunday. The top 10 was packed with homegrown pros and a few fast locals, as well as BWR regulars and even a few former WorldTour pros.

Gallery: 2023 Belgian Waffle Ride Canada

The scenic Kinsol Trestle was a nice view, and a nice break, in the middle of a very long stretch of rail-grade gravel late in the race

The day's second climb started just above sea level before punching up Mount Tzouhalem at grades frequently in excess of 10 per cent

After Maple Mountain, the steep pitches up to Tzouhalem, stretched out the field early on in the race

Some riders suffered. This rider took the slow climb as a chance to FaceTime with his family

It wasn't all steep climbing. Joseph Laverick found some singletrack speed on his way to 10th for Ribble Racing

Mountain bikers Carter Nieuwesteeg and Geoff Kabush were flying through the jumps and berms on Double D

Flavia Oliveira Parks flying down the Great Trail

Young local Red Truck racer Cody Scott sent the steep section faster than most on his way to 11th overall

Rob Britton head down and hammering after attacking over 100km from the finish as the group hit the base of South Shawnigan Lake climb

Britton had a sizeable group of strong riders chasing him but was still gaining time the entire length of the climb

Canadian gravel national champ Evan Russell waves for someone to take over the chase. The group wouldn't see Britton again until the finish line

Descending the gravel roller coaster down from the top of Goldstream Heights

Austin Killips looking fast, and relieved to be near the finish line

Flavia Oliviera Parks pushing serious watts up Tzou gravel on her way to a podium finish

The steepest section on course had the vast majority of riders dismounting. Especially after 215km of racing.

Mathieu Blenager Barrette looks like he hit the deck early, but bounced back for 12th. He and Red Truck's Aidon Oliphant spent much of Sunday locked to each others wheels

Ruckus Racing over from Vancouver to take on steep Tzou climbs

Nicolas Roche womes from a road background, but wasn't lacking speed through the woods

Geoff Kabush was, as expected, still hauling when the race hit Prevost after 200km of racing

Nathan Haas had some mechanical difficulty late in the race, dropping him to eighth, but still had fun on Prevost singletrack

All in, the course included 50 per cent road and 50 per cent “unroad.” The latter included four trail networks, mixing gravel and singletrack climbs and descents in with road race tactics. The course also included two crossings of the historic Kinsol Trestle, several sections of The Great Trail, a drainage ditch underpass and all kinds of other challenges.