Whistler Crankworx Hosts Canadian XC Finals

Whistler’s Crankworx festival hosted another successful cross-country finals on Friday. With the huge Crankworx festival going on, the cross-country crowd had a chance to demonstrate their skills and fitness in-front of a bigger audience then usual. The series finals have historically been subject to slightly smaller fields as energy for racing, travel budgets and busy summer schedules mean only racers trying for the overall or late season points will put in the energy to maintain form.

The women’s race had several good battles for the podium spots. Quebec, Ontario and BC were represented on the podium as Cindy Montambault ( Equipe Du Quebec-CVM 2 Vals) beat three-time Fat-Tire Crit champion Jean Anne Berkenpas (Giant Vancouver). Montambault dominated the four-lap race from start to finish, leaving no chance for Berkenpas to counter. Elyse Nieuwold (Holiday Inn Express & Suites Calgary) beat out Katie Button for the third spot after Brandy Heisterman flatted and lost her hold on that position. The Series overall was taken by Montambault who was able to maximize her trip west to Whistler with the race win moving her into the top spot overall beating out several other women who spent the season fighting for points.

For the men the race was highlighted by a thee-man Norco crew who were intent on securing the series overall and as many podium spots as they could. With BC local Evan Guthrie leading the Norco charge, the trio took on Scott-3Rox’s  Geoff Kabush, who has won the Crankworx event several times.  The top five racers quickly set off to fight for the podium spots with several changes in position as Guthrie flatted and, after losing several spots, rode back to third. Norco put all three riders on the five-deep podium but were unable to maintain the pace that Kabush set. Evan McNeely earned enough points with his strong second place ride at Cankworx to don the final red Leaders Jersey of the 2015 season, while his teammates Peter Disera and Evan Guthrie took the second and third overall spots.

An interesting race to watch was for the remaining five spots worth of C2 points available for 6-10th spots. Even one point can make a huge difference to a young racer because it can mean they start early races a few rows further ahead in 2016. With racers from across the country and even the USA, the competition for the hard-to-get points between a mix of young elites and strong mountain-bikers turned road-racers was great to watch.

Many nations were represented in the Junior races as Rhys Verner of BC took the win followed by Amando Martinez of Mexico and Nathan Johnson of New Zealand. The overall Canada Cup series win was taken by National Champion Raphael Auclair of Quebec, who was not in attendance. The Junior Women’s race was won by Emily Handford of BC, while the Junior Women’s Overall was taken by Soren Meeuwisse.

With the XC finals wrapped up, the next focus will be any provincial championships that have not been completed, including Ontario’s event on September 30th, and the XC World Championships happening in Norway August 30th – September 6th, 2015 (read about selections here). Canadian Championships resume September 13th in Barrie, Ontario as Superfly Racing hosts the 2015 Marathon MTB Championships.