Pendrel, L’Esperance claim first Canada Cup wins of 2018 at Bear Mountain

In two very different races, Catharine Pendrel (Cliff Pro Team) and Andrew L’Esperance (Forward Racing) won 2018’s first round of Canada Cup racing on Saturday at Victoria, B.C.’s Bear Mountain venue.

Pendrel attacked late on the first lap and never looked back, leaving a three way fight for second to play out behind her. Haley Smith (Norco Factory Racing) claimed second out of a small chasing group that stayed together most of the race, with Emily Batten (Cliff Pro Team) and Emily Batty (Trek Factory Racing) behind her in third and fourth. Sandra Walter (Liv Cycling) was able to gain some separation from Quebec’s Catherine Fleury for the final podium position.

The opposite story played out in the men’s elite race, which wasn’t decided until within sight of the finish line. After building an early lead, mechanical problems brought Peter Disera (Norco Factory Racing) back into a main group of four, including L’Esperance, his Forward Racing teammate Sean Fincham and Léandre Bouchard (KMC-Ekoï-SR Suntour). The group traded leads throughout the race, with no rider able to find any lasting separation until the final lap, when Bouchard and L’Esperance pulled away from Disera, who seemed to have a slow flat tire, and Fincham.  L’Esperance came around the final corner with a small gap to Bouchard, taking the first Canada Cup of 2018 by two seconds. Reece Tucknott (Specialized / Shimano Australia) came all the way from Australia to claim fifth ahead of Norco Factory Racing’s Quinton Disera.

Holden Jones of Squamish, B.C. won the junior men’s race ahead of Cumberland, B.C.’s Carter Woods, with Markus Heuer of Denmark lending an international air to the podium in third. Kevin Vermaerke and Scott Funston, both up from America for the event, rounded out the podium.

Mireille Larose-Gingras of Lac Beauport, Que. took an early lead in the junior women’s race and never let go, finishing ahead of her provincial teammate Marianne Theberge. Another pair from the U.S., Madeline Robbins and Mina Ricci, finished third and fourth, respectively, while Canmore’s Eva Poidevin claimed the last podium spot.

Emilly Johnston and Jacob Yells became the first U17 Canada Cup winners, and leaders, with the new age category being added to Canada Cup rankings this season.

Elite / U23 Men: Canada Cup #1 – Bear Mountain

Elite Men
RK	NO.	NAME		CITY	PROV	CLUB	TIME
1	3	Andrew L’Esperance		Halifax	NS	Forward Racing-Norco	1:26:50
2	1	Leandre Bouchard		Alma	QC	KMC Ekoï Sr Suntour	1:26:52
3	2	Peter Disera		Barrie	ON	Norco Factory Team	1:27:18
4	9	Sean Fincham		Squamish	BC	Forward Racing – Norco	1:27:54
5	7	Reece Tucknott		Lesmurdie	AU	Specialized, Shimano Australia	1:29:21
6	4	Quinton Disera		Barrie	ON	Norco Factory Team	1:29:39
7	5	Evan Guthrie		Peachland	BC		1:30:07
8	10	Raphael Auclair		Quebec	QC	Pivot Cycles OTE	1:30:20
9	14	Cole Paton		Cashmere	WA	Giant Factory Off-Road Team	1:31:01
10	20	Felix Burke		Mont Tremblant	QC	Rocky Mountain	1:31:55
11	21	Zach Calton		Bountiful	UT	Spry-Legacy Properties West	1:32:24
12	8	Sandy Floren		Berkeley	CA	Bear Development Team	1:32:37
13	13	Felix Belhumeur		Quebec	QC	Pivot Cycles OTE	1:32:44
14	11	Alexandre Vialle		Prevost	QC	Equipe du Quebec/Toyota St-Eustache	1:32:55
15	16	Stephan Davoust		Durango	CO	Giant Factory Off-Road Team	1:33:03
16	6	Marc-Andre Fortier		Victoriaville	QC	Pivot Cycles OTE	1:33:36
17	15	Jacob Sacket		Durango	CO	Pivot-Competitive Cyclist	1:35:10
18	19	Quinn Moberg		Garibaldi Highlands	BC		1:35:29
19	17	Gunnar Holmgren		Orillia	ON	Hardwood Next Wave	1:36:45
20	22	Tyler Orschel		Uxbridge	ON	Durham Shredders	1:37:57
21	12	Cory Wallace		Jasper	AB	Kona Factory Team	1:38:13
22	31	Brody Sanderson		Severn	ON		1:38:36
23	34	Philippe St-Laurent		Lac Beauport	QC	Pivot Cycles OTE	1:39:33
24	23	Malcolm Barton		Uxbridge	ON	Durham Shredders	1:39:54
25	32	Alexander Sugarman		Santa Rosa	CA	Bear Pro Team Powered by Trek	1:41:10
26	30	Parker Bloom		Victoria	BC	Broad Street Cycles	1:42:39
27	33	Victor Verreault		St Felicien	QC	Equipe du Quebec	1:42:52
28	24	Alex Schmidt		Vancouver	BC	Team Giant Vancouver	1:43:20
29	18	Liam Mulcahy		Brooklin	ON	Durham Shredders	1:45:13
30	27	Samuel Beaudoin		Edmonton	AB		1:46:30
31	29	Darren Schmidt		Canmore	AB	Rundle Mountain Cycling Club	1:50:27

Elite / U23 Women: Canada Cup #1 – Bear Mountain

RK	NO.	NAME		CITY	PROV	CLUB	TIME
1	2	Catharine Pendrel		Kamloops	BC	Clif Pro Team	1:21:25
2	3	Haley Smith		Uxbridge	ON	Norco Factory Team XC	1:22:19
3	4	Haley Batten		Park City	UT	Clif Pro Team	1:22:22
4	1	Emily Batty		Brooklin	ON	Trek Factory Racing XC	1:22:43
5	5	Sandra Walter		Coquitlam	BC	Liv Cycling Canada	1:24:18
6	7	Catherine Fleury		Saint-Gedeon	QC	Equipe du Quebec/Cyclone d’Alma	1:24:39
7	11	Jenn Jackson		Oro Medonte	ON	Team Ontario / AWI Racing	1:24:45
8	15	Savilia Blunk		Inverneses	CA	Whole Athlete p/b DNA Cycling	1:25:14
9	8	Kelsey Urban		Kentfield	CA	Whole Athlete p/b DNA Cycling	1:26:28
10	17	Mackenzie Myatt		Musquodoboit Harbour	NS	Cyclesmith Cycling Club	1:26:52
11	10	Elyse Nieuwold		Kamloops	BC	Pendrel Racing Development	1:27:11
12	14	Laurie Arseneault		Terrebonne	QC	ACQ	1:27:17
13	13	Emily Unterberger		Revelstoke	BC	Pendrel Racing Development	1:28:11
14	16	Dana Gilligan		Craighurst	ON	Team Ontario	1:30:04
15	12	Anne-Julie Tremblay		Saguenay	QC	Club Cyclone d’Alma	1:30:26
16	21	Sarah-Claudie Dostie-Menard		Quebec	QC	FELT MTB	1:32:50
17	9	Juliette Tetreault		Val-Des-Monts	QC	Equipe du Quebec/Skinouk-VDM	1:33:05
18	19	Sarah Tucknott		Lesmurdie	AU	Specialized/Shimano Australia	1:33:24
19	26	Sidney McGill		Edmonton	AB	Focus CX Canada	1:33:43
20	20	Katelyn Button		Sechelt	BC		1:34:04
21	22	Amelie Simard		Beaupre	QC	Equipe du Quebec	1:34:19
22	24	Elissa Lok		Garibaldi Highlands	BC		1:36:40
23	27	Julia Long		Whistler	BC	TaG Cycling/Cycling BC	1:37:13
24	25	Kierstyn Hawke		Oshawa	ON	Durham Shredders	1:43:29
	6	Cindy Montambault		Val-David	QC	Equipe du Quebec	DNF
	18	Marine Lewis		Piedmont	QC		DNF
	23	Melanie McQuaid		Victoria	BC		DNF

Junior Men: Canada Cup #1 – Bear Mountain

Junior Expert Men
RK	NO.	NAME		CITY	PROV	CLUB	TIME
1	101	Holden Jones		Squamish	BC	Cycling BC	0:53:48
2	120	Carter Woods		Cumberland	BC	Dodge City Cycles/RMB/CBC	0:53:49
3	132	Markus Heuer		Bagsvaerd	DEN	Danish National Team	0:53:50
4	102	Kevin Vermaerke		Rancho Santa Margari	CA	Team USA	0:54:30
5	107	Scott Funston		Maple Valley	WA	Team USA	0:55:33
6	104	Paul Fabian		Prescott	AZ	Team USA	0:55:34
7	116	Dylan Fryer		San Amelmo	CA	Bear Development Team	0:55:53
8	103	Tyler Clark		King City	ON	Team Ontario	0:56:23
9	114	Turner Conway		Yucaipa	CA	Team USA	0:56:41
10	106	Seth Saxton		Draper	UT	Team USA	0:57:09
11	123	Elliot Jamieson		White Rock	BC	Cycling BC	0:57:24
12	109	Colton Sacket		Troy	TX	Pivot-Competitive Cyclist	0:57:30
13	110	Kade Brasher		Holladay	UT	Rouleur DEVO p/b DNA Cycling	0:57:30
14	111	Finn Gullickson		Colorado Springs	CO	Team USA	0:57:50
15	119	Charles-Antoine St-Onge		St-Denis-De-Brompton	QC	equipe du Quebec / Dalbix	0:57:56
16	118	Logan Sadesky		Canmore	AB	RMCC	0:58:11
17	131	Hamish Graham		Kelowna	BC		0:58:15
18	124	Vincent Thiboutot		Quebec	QC	Pivot Cycles OTE	0:58:24
19	112	William Cote		Sherbrooke	QC	equipe du Quebec	0:58:44
20	113	Michael Mace		Ocala	FL		0:58:55
21	115	Jake Yackle		Spokane	WA		0:59:04
22	125	Kieran Nilsen		Comox	BC	Trail Bicycles / Cycling BC	0:59:55
23	105	Calder Wood		Anacortes	WA	Team USA	0:59:58
24	108	Ethan Moyer		Steamboat Spring	CO	Team USA	1:00:05
25	122	Dylan Kerr		Coldwater	ON	AJ’s Evolution P/B Norco	1:00:08
26	117	William Maltais-Pilote		Alma	QC	Equipe du Quebec/Cyclone d’Alma	1:00:53
27	133	Dylan Joyce		Chetwynd	BC		1:02:14
28	130	Theodore Fabian		Prescott	AZ	Arizona Devo	1:02:21
29	134	Jack Menzies		Canmore	AB	RMCC	1:03:09
30	129	Zane Edwards		Allen	TX	Summit Bike Club	1:06:07
31	127	Ian Brink		North Bend	WA	Broadmark Mount Si	1:22:27
	121	Colton Woods		Midhurst	ON	Team Ontario/Trek Store CC	DNF

Junior Women: Canada Cup #1 – Bear Mountain

RK	NO.	NAME		CITY	PROV	CLUB	TIME
1	102	Mireille Larose-Gingras		Lac Beauport	QC	Equipe du Quebec/ Sigma	1:07:52
2	101	Marianne Theberge		Levis	QC	Equipe du Quebec/Mathieu	1:08:37
3	108	Madeline Robbins		Durango	CO	Team USA	1:10:22
4	103	Mina Ricci		Woodacre	CA	Team USA	1:11:02
5	104	Eva Poidevin		Canmore	AB	RMCC	1:12:51
6	109	Lucy Schick		Gibsons	BC		1:13:20
7	105	Kaitlyn Shikaze		Oakville	ON	Team Ontario/Cyclepath Oak	1:17:18
8	106	Evelyne Ward		Lingwick	QC	Equipe du Quebec	1:20:47
	107	Sorsha Henning		Garibaldi Highlands	BC		DNF

U17 Men: Canada Cup #1 – Bear Mountain

RK	NO.	NAME		CITY	PROV	CLUB	TIME
1	705	Jakob Yells		Campbell River	BC	River City Cycle Club	0:38:59
2	711	Owen Clark		King City	ON	Homestead Racing	0:39:02
3	709	Erik Ashton		Comox	BC	Trail Bicycles	0:40:16
4	707	Darwin Orsler		Bragg Creek	AB	Team Alberta/Synergy Racing	0:41:32
5	702	Nicholas Knight		Quaicum Beach	BC	Arrowsmith Cycling Club	0:42:41
6	704	Lief Rodgers		Port Moody	BC	Cannondale p/b Fortius	0:43:09
7	712	Seth Joyce		Chetwynd	BC		0:44:26
8	713	Ian Lehton		Courtenay	BC	Trail Bicycles	0:49:32
	708	Jack Hartman		Pemberton	BC	Team Whistler	DNF
	701	Hayden Flater		Edmonton	AB	Team Alberta	DNS

U17 Women: Canada Cup #1 – Bear Mountain

1	751	Emilly Johnston		Comox	BC	Trek BC Devo	0:44:20
2	752	Juliette Larose-Gingras		Lac Beauport	QC	Equipe du Quebec/ Sigma Assur	0:46:37
3	754	Nicole Bradbury		Hamilton	ON	NCCH p/b Franklin Templeton	0:51:24
4	753	Isabelle Orsler		Bragg Creek	AB	Team Alberta/Synergy Racing	0:56:21

Bear Mountain Bike Festival hosts more racing again Sunday, with a Short Track XC and an Island Cup Enduro taking place on the trails around Bear Mountain Resort in Victoria, B.C.