Batty, Zandstra Canadian Champs

Emily Batty and Derek Zandstra earned their first Elite level Canadian Champion titles at Nationals on Saturday. Both are now privileged to wear the maple leaf jersey for the next twelve months.

The women’s elite and U23 races ran concurrently, starting at 10:30am. Temperatures were moderate, but climbing quickly under a cloudless sky.

Batty quickly opened a lead, and continued to add time each lap. On the fifth and final circuit of the course, the Trek World Racing rider had a margin of one minute, 30 seconds over the second place rider, Sandra Walter. Batty finished in a time of one hour, 40 minutes, 14.3 seconds.

“When the gun went off, after the first few corners I was able to get to the front, and lead into the singletrack,” said Batty. “Because this is kind of home turf for me, I was able to rock the descents and rock the technical sections. I was able to get a little bit of gap early.

“I’m so honoured to be able to finally as an elite wear the maple leaf on my jersey to another country. It was unfortunate that Catharine [Pendrel] couldn’t be here because of her injury. I think we both agreed that it would have been a really fun battle to race with one another.”

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Walter finished in a secure second place in a time of 1:41:45.1. The B.C.-based rider has been unstoppable in the Canada Cup series, wining every race of the 2013 season so far.

“I’m really pleased,” said Walter, who rides for Liv/Giant. “It was really really hard. It started super fast, and Emily got a gap on the first lap, which wasn’t surprising. After that, I was trying to keep tabs on her, but I was also was a bit realistic and needed to stay within myself. She definitely pushed me beyond my limits, which resulted in a couple of fumbles and crashes. I’m not normally someone who crashes a lot, so that shows how hard I went.”

Third place in the women’s elite went to Amanda Sin of Scott-3Rox Racing with a final time of 1:42:19.1. Sin battled to distance herself into a solid position ahead of the chasers.

“There was two girls behind me that were challenging for a bit,” said Sin. “I just kept going and eventually they dropped back a bit. I feel really confident and was really looking forward to racing here.”

Derek Zandstra won a highly combative men’s elite race, working with teammate Geoff Kabush to pressure defending champion Max Plaxton. Zandstra capitalized on the situation to open a lead of over 30 seconds in the closing laps of the race, claiming his first national title in a time of 1:40:40.5.

“I’m super stoked. I’m Canadian champion, for the first time ever. I’m fired up!” said Zandstra. “[Teammate] Cam Jette went out front, and we started to back off a bit in the single track to let a gap develop. The we let Max [Plaxton] do some work to catch up.

“Geoff ran some fast tires out there, and the tactic was that he’d go fast on the double track, so he went. I stayed on Max’s wheel and then we all came through together, and then started doing little attacks. Max made a little mistake and Geoff and I both capitalized on that.”

Kabush finished second to give Scott-3Rox a one-two finish, crossing the finish in 1:41:14.7.

“It was an awesome day to be part of the team. We don’t get many chances to race like a team,” said Kabush. “I took the aggressive role, and we were sort of opposites in our tire selection, me and Derek. I took advantage on the double track sections. Derek just stayed glued to Max’s wheel to make him work.

“I’m really happy. Derek really deserves this. He’s an underrated rider and this title will be just great for him.”

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Plaxton finished third in a time of 1:41:40.1, riding for Cannondale Sho-Air. Without teammates, Plaxton was left to fend off the attacks from the Scott-3Rox team as a solo rider.

“It was a tough race,” said Plaxton. “I felt good and I think I played a pretty smart race, but I had just a small crash with a couple laps to go, and I think that was it. I’ve beat these guys before. Last year I beat them straight up, and it’s always a tough task.”

Jette went on to claim fourth place overall, the third Scott-3Rox rider in the top four.

Mitchell Bailey of Trek Canada Racing won the men’s U23 race, his first national titles since winning as a cadet in 2007 and 2008. Norco rider Evan McNeely, the 2010 Canadian Junior champion, finished second, ahead of Antoine Caron, who races for Specialized Canada.

Frédérique Trudel won the U23 women’s title, her first in that division having twice won Junior class titles. Trudel took the lead over the second half of the race, riding for Équipe du Québec/Specialized Racing Canada. Rocky Mountain rider Andréane Lanthier-Nadeau claimed second, while Maghalie Rochette took third for Powerwatts-Nord.