Cyclo-Cross Nationals

Cyclo-cross nationals at Hardwood Hills offered a championship course that most resembled the terrain of our own Prince Albert course. There was a mix of woodchip, wooded trail with two run-ups, one double barrier, a short stair-case (four steps) and a few sandy sections and two challenging descents. The weather was excellent for practice on Friday and held until half way through the women’s race when it started raining and it started to look like a proper cyclo-cross race. The women’s race saw Lynn Bessette dominate as she has done all season. Sarah finished a strong 8^th in a very good field. The men’s race saw a battle between Peter Wedge and Greg Reain that lasted the entire race with Peter eventually winning. Shawn had a cold all week and adversely affected his ability to race hard and he struggled to a 16^th placing. Rob had a slow start but got stronger as the race went on and caught Martin Lazarski with two laps to go but came up a wheel short in the final sprint to finish 4^th, an excellent result for Rob.

The next day was off to Aurora for the UCI cross race. This race attracted much the same crowd as nationals, with the addition of a handful of American riders (including Lynn Besette’s husband). The course resembled Victoria park with bigger hill run-ups, longer sandpits and lots of off-camber corners as well as lots of hair pin corners. The rain stopped in the morning so the course was super muddy and because of this, technically challenging. On top of the mud, the wind was 50kmh gusting to 80kmh and at times the marking tape would be stretched so tight that it would reach the tape and stakes on the other side of the lane. It was surprisingly warm and everyone had a good time on what was a good classic day of cyclo-cross.

National Results:

Rob Britton 4^th out of 16 Espoir Men

Shawn Bunnin 16^th out of 27 Elite Men

Sarah Robbins 8^th out of 15 Elite Women

Alana Cassidy 2^nd Master 30-39 Women

Patty Tetreault 2^nd Master 40-49 Women

Jeff Hehn 14^th Master 40-49 Women