New Canada Cup leaders, coast to coast May long weekend results

Maghalie Rochette and Félix Burke take home Canada Cup wins in Baie-Saint-Paul

Terry McKall May 23, 2018

Felix Burke Bear Mountain Canada Cup 2018 — Félix Burke racing at the 2018 Bear Mountain Canada Cup in Victoria, B.C.

It was a busy May long weekend across Canada with the Baie-Saint-Paul round of Canada Cup XCO racing delivering first time winners and new series leaders, while regional races from Vancouver Island to Nova Scotia gave riders a chance to stretch their legs with some racing action and still take the time to relax and enjoy the weekend.

Maghalie Rochette racing the 2018 Sea Otter Short Track XC earlier this spring

Canada Cup #2 – Baie-Saint-Paul (XCO/XCC)

Round 2 of Canada Cup cross country racing saw new winners shake up the standings and new leaders take over in the overall standings in the Elite and Junior categories. Maghalie Rochette (Clif Pro Team) won the Elite Women’s XCO, with second place finisher Jenn Jackson (AWI Racing) moving into the overall lead after finishing 7th at Round 1 earlier this spring. Elyse Nieuwold (Pendrel Racing) was third in Baie-Saint-Paul on Sunday, and moves into second overall behind Jackson.

Under-23 racer Félix Burke (Rocky Mountain) took his first Canada Cup win in Baie-Saint-Paul, with Daniel Johnson (Bear Pro Team) and Felix Longpre (Mont-Ste-Anne) in third. With his 10th place finish in Victoria and win in Quebec, Burke pulls on the leaders jersey as the series returns to his home venue at Mont Tremblant May 26-27.

Carter Woods (Dodge City Cycles/RMB/CyclingBC) and Holden Jones (Pendrel Racing) continued their back and forth battle that has carried on all spring, with the two trading top placings at US ProXCT and Canada Cup rounds in the UCI Junior Series. Woods came out on top this weekend in Quebec and Jones in B.C. so, tied in points, it is Woods who wears the leader’s jersey going into next weeks racing.

Marianne Theberge (Equipe du Quebec/Mathieu Performance) won the Junior Women’s race followed by Magdeleine Vallieres Mill (Quebecor/Stingray) and Mireille Larose-Gingras (Equipe du Quebec/Sigma). Theberge’s win at Baid-Saint-Paul adds to her second in Victoria to push her just ahead of Larose-Gingras, 185 points to 170, with Team USA’s Madeline Robbins in third at 120 points.

Emilly Johnston (Trek BC Devo) claimed her second straight victory in the new U-17 Women’s category, and leads that series, while Jakob Yells (River City CC) finished second to Jeremie La Grenade (Skinouk-VDM) to retain his lead in the U17 Men’s standings. (Full Baie-Saint-Paul Canada Cup results)

Island Cup Enduro Forbidden Plateau — A rider drops into Dustwitch high above Comox Lake during the Island Cup Forbidden Enduro

Island Cup – Forbidden Enduro

With a late Saturday night downpour holding down the dust, the third round of Island Cup enduro racing went off under perfect conditions on Forbidden Plateau. Jeff Beeston repeated his win from the inaugural Forbidden Enduro in 2017, with Tristan Geisel again taking the runner up position and Simon Stevenson placing third. Mical Dyck (Juliana Bicycles) won the Women’s Elite category, with Christiane Godin in second and Seana Wright in third. (Full Forbidden Enduro results)

Cannondale XCM Series – Long Sock Classic

Jon Slaughter won the second round in the Cannondale XCM Series, finishing the full Long Sock Classic course in 3:30:25.2 ahead of Brendan Mackillop and Nicholas Emsley. On the Women’s side, Joanne Beattie finished in 4:31:22, ahead of a tight battle between Andrea Bowker and Lenka Branichova, who finished under two minutes apart after over four and a half hours of racing. While the weather was an improvement over the snow covered first round of the Cannondale XCM series, racers still had to battle the elements through rain and chill temperatures for the long marathon race. (Full Long Sock Classic results)

Kelowna Spring Classic Bike Festival

Bringing together marathon cross country racing and a BC Enduro Series round into one busy weekend, the Kelowna Spring Classic Bike Festival kept riders busy on the Crawford trail network all weekend. Severin Nowak won the Elite Men’s BC Enduro Series by a single second over Spencer Graf to double up on his victory in Saturday’s XCM, with Isaac Nielson placing third in the enduro event. Melanie Edwards won the Women’s Elite BC Enduro over Sage Riegel and Sabrina Gauthier, while the XCM was won by Annie Bergen with Emanuela Bandol and Jennifer Schulz rounding out the podium. (Full BC Enduro Series results and Kelowna XCM results)

Novia Scotia XC Series: Victoria’s Secret

Brandon Curry and Jenny Jones took home the first East Coast cross country wins of 2018, winning the Victoria’s Secret XC race on Sunday. Jon Burgess and Ryan Shaun MacDonald filled out the Men’s Elite podium while Suzie Ketene and Kimberly Abbott were second and third in Women’s Elite. (Full Victoria’s Secret results)