NCES announces 2021 Canadian enduro national championships
New location and new ownership for NCES
Photo by:
James Cattanach
Norco Canadian Enduro Series is gearing up for an exciting year of change in 2021. There’s new venues, a return to racing and new ownership for the national series.
2021 Norco Canadian Enduro Championships head to Whistler
NCES is returning with a three event calendar this fall. The first two, Panorama and Sun Peaks, were announced months ago. The third, and the host venue for Norco Canadian Enduro Championships, remained secret. Now, NCES has revealed it’s heading to Whistler for the national championship event.
Panorama’s hosted enduro nationals twice in the past. The resort above Invermere, B.C. hosted the inaugural event in 2018. In 2019, it returned with official UCI / Cycling Canada sanctioning. While the Kootenay Rockies venue is back on the NCES calendar for Aug. 28-29, it won’t be championships this time.
Whistler, making its debut appearance on the NCES calendar, gets the honour of handing out the maple leaf jerseys for 2021. With a long history of hosting Enduro World Series events during Crankworx, the premier mountain biking destination is sure to deliver championship-level racing. That event takes place Oct. 16-17, 2021. Registration is open now.
NCES gets new ownership
The other big news for this year is that BC Enduro Series, the ownership behind Norco Canadian Enduro Series, is changing hands. Canadian Enduro Series founder, Ted Morton, will be moving on. Matt Holbrook is stepping in his place.
“Enduro racing in Canada is the most sought after type of racing at the moment, and I believe that Matt and his team will take the BC and Canadian Enduro Series to the next level, while maintaining an inclusive community for beginners, aspiring professional athletes and world-class athletes alike,” says Morton. “Over the next few months I will be working closely with Matt and the enhanced NCES team to ensure that the positive elements of our events retain their legacy. This wouldn’t be possible without the unconditional support of our long time sponsors, venues, and of course our community of racers. Our 2021 races will be bigger and better than ever as we have more staff and professionals working collaboratively than ever before!”
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Morton founded BC Enduro Series, which owns the NCES, in 2016. That happened after two years of working Megan Rose, creator of the BC Enduro Series in 2014, who continues to organize Trans Enduro events around the world. Under Morton, NCES spread from B.C. and Alberta to venues across Canada and crowned the first national champions. Under Morton, BC Enduro Series Inc. has donated more than $250,000 to trail networks across the country.
Holbrook will bring his 20+ year history of sport management to the NCES. His experience includes working with Vancouver Whitecaps, BC Soccer and Ottawa Fury. More recently, Holbrook’s company has launched Fraser Valley Trail Races (FVTR) and Fraser Valley Bike Races (FVBR).
Commenting on taking over from the always energetic Morton, Holbrook said “It’s been a slightly daunting challenge to take over from Ted, knowing the tradition and exciting product that he has established. I feel honoured to be building on years of successful events, albeit there is a challenge to grow this series coming out of a pandemic, however, we’re excited to welcome back familiar faces and reach even more riders who’ve embraced the sport during the pandemic.”
Morton is leaving the series, but not the sport. He’ll be diving deeper into trail construction and maintenance across Canada.
“Personally, I’m excited for my new endeavour, in March I became a full-time Trails Technician at McElhanney LTD., where alongside my team I have the opportunity to design and plan trails across the country for a myriad of clients both in the public and private sector,” said Morton. “This is a culmination of more than ten years spent advocating for trails, adventure tourism consulting and event production/management”.
