Once again, the Mont-Tremblant Canada Cup inaugurated the start of the race season. This venue always makes a memorable weekend, because of the vibe it offers. The only race on the East coast where downhillers meet cross-country riders and where there are more random tourists walking through the pits standing in awe by watching multi-thousand dollar bikes, than actual biking fans. This creates a ton of exposure for the sport of mountain biking and the companies involved in the racing scene.
With a big rainstorm of 45mm of rain on Friday, the course got soaked in a matter of minutes making some lines impossible to hit. You should have seen the course in the open terrain. Nutella would have sponsored some sections. It was one of those races where a new set of brake pads was needed after each day of practice...
Muddy train
Clearly, it was the start of the season for most East coast riders. With a never-ending winter, no Quebecors had done lift-accessed riding or full-day shuttle riding before this event. By watching riders hit the roughest sections of the track, it was evident that West Coast riders had had way more time on their bike than their fellow competitors.
Line choice was interesting in the roughest rocky section. You can see below Mark Wallace taking the inside line while Ben Rioux took the original S line. Both were fast but required a different set of balls.
West-Coast vs East-Coast
For the Lama Cycles/NS Bikes team, it was our first time this year riding a true downhill track. Nevertheless our NS Fuzz negotiated the multiple rocky sections with ease. For our U17 rider, this race was the first he ever entered. With a crash at the very top of the track, he managed to finish fourth.
Lucas Rey-Sierro
Phil Ricard finished a respectable 12th place in the Elite category while his fellow compatriot took the 7th spot. Not very happy with this result, Sam will be aiming for the top spot next weekend at the Quebec Championships in Bromont.
Phil Ricard
Sam Thibault
Kirk McDowall
Hugo Langevin and a proud father
Rob Fraser
Bas Van Steenbergen
Mark Wallace
The fastest run of the day went to Bas Van Steenbergen in the Senior Elite category with an impressive time of 4:19.82 followed by Bryden Rigets (4:21.72) and Hugo Langevin (4:21.92) The Elite women’s category was won by Kristen Courtney (5:39.07)) and the Junior Expert category was won by Jack Iles with a time of 4:27.87.
Men's Elite Podium
Women's Elite Podium
Bas informing his social network fanbase of his win.
Full Results: SportStats.ca
More pictures: Here, here and here
See you next weekend for the Quebec Championships at Bromont!
We invite you to meet up with our riders at Ski Bromont where we frequently ride and to follow up on the team's evolution throughout the season on our Website, Instagram, Facebook and our Pinkbike pages.
This success is only possible with the best products, riders and support out there. We would like to welcome our new sponsors to the Lama Cycles team for 2014 and thank the continuing ones for their commitment to the program. In addition to Lama Cycles distribution co. and NS Bikes, the Lama Cycles team is sponsored by:
RaceFace, Dainese, FiveTen, Maxxis, Industry Nine, Formula Brakes, Spy Optic, Bell Bike Helmets, Manitou Suspension,MRP, Maxima, ODI, Ski Bromont, Pro Circuit, Thule, NSK and Thomas&Betts.
