Michael van den Ham solos to elite men’s Canadian cyclocross championship title in Sherbrooke
Former champ Geoff Kabush finished second, while Mark 'Hot Sauce' McConnell was third
Michael van den Ham (Garneau-Easton) rode the challengers off his wheel to take a solo victory at the 2017 Canadian cyclocross championships in Sherbrooke, Que., on Saturday.
A group of four formed with van den Ham, Raphäel Gagné, Mark McConnell and Geoff Kabush leading the race after one lap. McConnell had the hole shot and early lead. He took off after two laps with van den Ham on his wheel. Kabush and Gagné could not hold the pace.
Van den Ham and McConnell rode together for a lap before van den Ham pushed the pace and gapped Hot Sauce. Kabush was now solo in pursuit as Gagné was fading.
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On the next lap, van den Ham extended his lead while Kabush caught McConnell. The next time they crossed the line, Kabush accelerated dropping McConnell. Kabush still sat 19 seconds back of a charging van den Ham who went into the race wearing No. 1 on his back with defending champion Jérémy Martin not on the start line.
Van den Ham rode a clean final lap to solidify the win despite a charging Kabush. The win was a long-time coming for van den Ham, having entered the Canadian championships as the top UCI ranked elite men the past three years.
