Panorama crowns Canada’s first national enduro champions
Emily Slaco and Remi Gauvin earn championship titles at inaugural event
Panorama Resort outside Invermere, B.C. crown the first ever Canadian national enduro champions over the weekend. Over the course of seven stages of racing, and a cumulative 3,700 m of descending, 212 of Canada’s best enduro athletes raced from high up in the alpine down to the valley below.
Remi Gauvin (Rocky Mountain/Race Face) and Emily Slaco (Juliana Bicycles) emerged as the top pro riders at the end of seven stages of racing. Gauvin continued his streak of victories at home, following up wins at the MEC CNEC Kamloops round and Squamish Gryphon with his championship ride at Panorama Resort. After 35 minutes 25 seconds of timed downhill racing, Gauvin edged out Mckay Vezina (Giant Factory Off Road Team) and dual discipline XC/enduro rider Evan Guthrie (Race Face/Fox/OTE-Pivot) rounding out the podium in third.
Emily Slaco ended her Sunday by being crowned Canada’s first national enduro champion, winning Pro Women’s race ahead of Jennifer McHugh, winner of the MEC CNEC Kamloops round, and Squamish’s Laura Battista. Gauvin’s Rocky Mountain / Race Face teammate Andréane Lanthier Nadeau finished just off the podium in fourth, at her first race back from injury since August 2017.
Evan Wall (Blueprint Athelte Development) won the hotly contested U21 Men’s category, and CNES Development Team rider Lucy Schick the U21 Women’s championship. Johnny Helly was the top U15 riders, while Jacob Larouch won the 21-29 Men’s, Charles Diamond the 30-39 Men’s and Jane Jensen the 40+ Men’s, and Deb Mackillop the Open Women’s race.
The first ever Canadian National Enduro Championships was hosted by the MEC Canadian National Enduro Series. The CNEC moves to Crowsnest Pass, Alberta on 24 June for the fourth round of racing before heading east to Ontario and Quebec for the second half of the season. The series’ eastern stint starts 1 July at Camp Fortune, Que before continuing 8 July at Blue Mountain, Ont., the only Enduro World Series qualifier event outside of western Canada, and concluding 29 July at Bromont, Que.
Men’s winner Remi Gauvin had a little extra motivation during Sunday’s race. Panorama was the last place Gauvin won a national championship title, back when he was racing downhill. While he now races enduro full time for Rocky Mountain / Race Face at the Enduro World Series, stage 7 of the CNEC event went down the same track he won on eight years ago. Follow Gauvin as he hits the same trail, this time racing on his enduro race bike instead of a downhill rig:
