Russell and Holmgren crowned Canadian CX national champs on Vancouver Island
One repeat winner and one hometown hero
Photo by:
Nick Iwanyshyn
Two very different elite races played out on Saturday outside Victoria, B.C. at Canadian cyclocross national championships. In one, a rising star continued to prove her abilities. In the other, a dramatic six-way battle crowned a hometown hero.
Elite women: Holmgren defends
While some of Canada’s top riders opted to head to Ireland for a World Cup, the reigning elite women’s national champion was back in Layritz Park to defend her title. 12 months after her astonishing elite win as a junior Ava Holmgren lined up to keep her maple leaf jersey. While the sun had thawed out the course a little, it was still looking treacherous.
“I was expecting it to be slick no matter what. Even if it dried up a bit, it was still going to be a mudder,” said Holmgren, adding “I really enjoy those conditions, it’s a lot of fun.”
The Stimulus-Orbea rider, headed to Lild-Trek in just over a month, did appear to be enjoying herself on course. Quickly separating herself from the field, Holmgren continued to extend her lead until she crossed the finish line for the win. Back-to-back national championships are impressive for any rider, especially such a young racer, but Holmgren also had a personal victory on course.
“It feels really good. I’m really excited to represent the maple leaf again in Europe, it’s such an honour. Im’ really happy with how my race went,” Holmgren said of her second elite win. “I just want as hard as I could for as long as I could. I’m finally happy with the feeling in the race after my injury, so it’s a really good day overall.”
Behind, Alberta’s Christiane Bilodeau also separated herself from the field to cros the line in second place ahead of Ontario’s Katelyn Walcroft.
“It was honestly pretty perfect,” a beaming Bilodeau said after her silver. “I was riding well technically, I’m feeling really good and I’m really happy with this course as well. So it all came together.”
Bilodeau was one of several Albertan women stepping onto the podium Saturday, across the junior, u-23 and masters races. That shows ‘cross is still thriving in the province.
“It’s awesome! We have so many up-and-coming young riders,” Bilodeau said of the Alberta cross scene. “It’s great to have older people competing at a higher level. The young riders get exposure to that high level racing then they can come to nationals and do really well. I’m really happy to see everyone on the podiums. ”
Both Holmgren and Bilodeau are now headed to Europe for Christmas Cross season with eyes on world championships.
Elite Men: Russell lands hometown win
Canada is, as anyone who has chased races across the country knows, a very spread out country with a very close cycling community. That makes having national championships close to home a special opportunity for racers, who might not otherwise have their friends and family on the sidelines to share in the experience.
On Saturday, Evan Russell took full advantage of having ‘cross nationals on Vancouver Island. After dominating the local Cross on the Rock series all fall, Russell was carried around Layrtiz by the cheers of friends and family as he chased the elite men’s title.
“It was amazing, Just so much energy,” Russell said of the loud support. “You’re riding around the entire course you’re hearing your name every single place. It was so awesome.”
Even with the roaring crowd support, Russell had a stacked men’s field to contend with. A strong group of four formed at the front with Russell, Luke Valenti, Quinton Disera and reigning national champion Tyler Clark. With Carter Woods and Tyler Orschel chasing just off the back of that group, it was full gas all day.
That pressure, and a still-slippery course, led to mistakes. The lead changed constantly for the first three laps. Valenti and Russell separated themselves by a handful of seconds and it looked like a re-match of last year’s under-23 battle between the two would play out again. But, just as Valenti started to pull out an advantage, he had a mechanical at the barriers that dropped him back to Disera and Clark. That left Russell alone on the front with just under two laps to go.
“Luke broke away from those two other guys and started chasing me down. It was a proper tiger hunt. It was pretty scary seeing him make gains every single corner,” Russell said after. I just tried to stay consistent and make it last until the end.”
Valenti closed rapidly for one lap but, on the bell lap, Russell found the pace to match the flying Ecoflo Chronos rider. The gap stayed steady, leaving Russell time to celebrate his first elite men’s cyclocross national title. It’s also his second elite title of the year, after finishing as fastest Canadian at Paris-to-Ancaster’s Canadian gravel nationals.
“It feels super good,” said Russell of the win. “I was national champion for gravel, but finished second at paris-to-Ancaster, so I really wanted to get the official, first across the line. It feels really good to get it.”
Valenti held off the chasers for silver. Behind him, Quinton Disera’s advantage over Tyler Clark evaporated when he broke a chain on the last lap. Tyler Clark returns to the elite men’s podium in third, just 10 seconds ahead of a hard charging Disera.
Racing at Canadian cyclocross national championships continues on Sunday. While all the maple leaf jerseys have been awarded there is still pride, and UCI points, to race for at the C2 Bear Crossing Grand Prix.
Results: 2023-24 Canadian Cylocross National Championships (Layritz Park, Victoria)
Elite Women
| 1 | Ava Holmgren (Stimulus Orbea) | 46:04.00 | ||||||
| 2 | Christiane Bilodeau (Juventus CC ) |
47:51.01 | ||||||
| 3 | Katelyn Walcroft (Red Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes) |
49:06.69 | ||||||
| 4 | Francesca Seal (The Bike Shop) |
49:19.14 | ||||||
| 5 | Adele Van Wyk | 50:44.92 | ||||||
| 6 | Natascha Piciga | 51:46.72 | ||||||
| 7 | Emma Skaug |
53:10.63 | ||||||
| 8 | Keely Hammond | 55:35.69 | ||||||
| 9 | Mikayla Neal (Element Race Team) |
-1 lap | ||||||
| 10 | Brittany Georgia Imlach (TEAM Giant Vancouver) |
-1 lap |
Elite Men
| 1 | Evan Russell (Global 6 Cycling) |
57:21.48 | ||||||
| 2 | Luke Valenti (Team Ecoflo Chronos) |
57:32.31 | ||||||
| 3 | Tyler Clark (Hockley Valley Armada) |
58:16.50 | ||||||
| 4 | Quinton Disera (Pivot Cycles – OTE) |
58:27.50 | ||||||
| 5 | Carter Woods (Giant Factory Off Road Team) |
58:34.36 | ||||||
| 6 | Tyler Orschel | 58:34.48 | ||||||
| 7 | Edward Walsh (Project Dialed In) |
1:00:33.10 | ||||||
| 8 | Logan Sadesky (Rundle Mountain CC) |
1:00:36.05 | ||||||
| 9 | Ryan Maclean (PRW ) |
1:01:06.95 | ||||||
| 10 | Mac Napier | 1:02:31.02 |
Full results from all categories are live on Webscorer.com
