Plaxton wins Canadian cross country national title

In the Canadian Cross Country National  Championships, Max Plaxton (Specialized) retained his title on Saturday in scorching heat that caused many competitors to drop out.

The men's race was a battle between seven-time champion Geoff Kabush (Scott-3Rox) and Plaxton, the rider who broke his consecutive win streak last year. Raphael Gagne (Rocky Mountain) opened the action on the first lap, but the other two dropped him on the second lap. Gagne held the bronze medal position until the last lap, when the heat and pace cracked him, allowing Derek Zandstra (Scott-3Rox) to slip by for the final medal.

The front duo rode together for the first four laps of the six lap race before Kabush launched an attack, gaining 10 seconds on Plaxton. The defending champion clawed his way back and launched his own attack with a lap and a half to go, and Kabush had no response. Plaxton powered away impressively to win his second title, with Kabush coming in for silver, 42 seconds down.

"Last year was special, winning my first elite title," said Plaxton, "but this one shows that I'm really the top rider in Canada now, possibly in North America. It was a tough race, with the two of us watching each other, and then Geoff attacking. But I was able to get back to him, and then just opened a gap through some of the technical sections and built from there. This gives me a lot of confidence going into the next couple of World Cups, and I think a podium is possible."

"I was hoping to get that eighth title this year," said Kabush. "Now I'll have to wait another year, I guess. It was a tactical race; we were both trying to get the other guy to go to the front. I got a bit of a gap on one of the climbs, but Max was able to come back up to me, then he got away from me in technical section and I couldn't respond."

Leandre Bouchard (Cyclone dAlma/Devinci) took a highly popular local win for the under 23 men's title.

Full Results

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Elite men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Max Plaxton (Specialized Factory Racing)1:32:48
2Geoff Kabush (Scott -3Rox Racing)0:00:42
3Derek Zandstra (Scott 3 Rox Racing)0:03:48
4Raphaël Gagné (Rocky Mountain /ProCycle)0:04:32
5Cameron Jette (Scott -3Rox Racing)0:07:40
6Peter Glassford (Trek Canada)0:08:03
7Craig Richey (Raleigh)0:10:41
8Matthew Hadley (XPREZO-Borsao)0:11:48
9Andrew Watson (Norco Factroy Team)0:13:28
10Mathieu Bélanger-Barrette (Opus/OGC)0:13:34
11Félix Côté (Espresso Sports)0:13:43
12Kristofor Sneddon (Kona)0:14:09
13Graham Torrie (Bike Bros/TCR)0:14:43
14Jamie Lamb (Cyclesmith/Team Nova Scotia)0:14:47
15Marc-Andre Daigle (Garneau-Québecor-Norton Rose)0:18:27
-1lapDanny Souter (KHS bicycles)Row 15 - Cell 2
-1lapMaxime Lemay (Advanced Fuel/Ste Julie cycles)Row 16 - Cell 2
-1lapTim Carleton (Tall Tree Cycles/Steelwool Bicycles)Row 17 - Cell 2
-1lapStu Alp (KHS bicycles)Row 18 - Cell 2
-1lapJonathan Cantin (Equipe VESR)Row 19 - Cell 2
DNFAdam Morka (Trek Canada)Row 20 - Cell 2
DNFJean-Philippe Thibault-Roberge (CVM 2 VALS)Row 21 - Cell 2
DNFEric Jeannotte (Advanced Fuel/Ste Julie cycles)Row 22 - Cell 2
DNFRaphael ForestRow 23 - Cell 2
Swipe to scroll horizontally
U23 men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Léandre Bouchard (Cyclone d'Alma/Devinci)1:22:32
2Mitch Bailey (Team Ontario - Trek Canada)0:00:47
3Jérémy Martin (Rocky Mountain /ProCycle)0:01:11
4Antoine Caron (Équipe du Québec/CVM Subway-Génétik)0:01:57
5Patrick Chartrand (Les Yables)0:03:01
6Steven Noble (Team Ontaio/Opus/OGC)0:03:27
7Evan Guthrie (Cycling BC/Rocky Mtn Factory)0:04:34
8Felix Wilberg (Cyclemeisters/Bow Cycle)0:04:48
9Andrew Lespérance (Norco Factory Team)0:05:40
10Alex Lavertu (CVM 2 VALS)0:07:05
11Daniel Varga (Team Ontario/Opus/OGC)0:07:45
12Evan McNeely (Specialized Racing Canada)0:08:20
13Samuel Tremblay (Rocky Mountain /ProCycle)0:09:08
14Philippe Dépault (XPREZO-Borsao)0:09:11
15Xavier Perreault (CVM 2 VALS)Row 14 - Cell 2
16Tyson Wagler (Scott -3Rox Racing)0:10:32
17François Lehoux (CVM Subway-Génétik)0:11:09
18Emmanuel Boily (CVM 2 VALS)0:11:14
19Matthew Farquharson (Lapierre POC)0:11:40
20Étienne Moreau0:13:07
21Jon Slaughter (Cycle Solutions/Angry Johnnys Racing)0:13:43
22Steven Turcotte (Lessard Bicycles)0:14:41
23Bretton Matthews (Norco Evolution)0:16:52
24Jérémi Bussières (Espresso Sports)0:17:20
-1lapKelsey Krushel (Lapierre/POC)Row 24 - Cell 2
-1lapBrandon Curry (Valley Stove & Cycle)Row 25 - Cell 2
-1lapChris Fruetel (Trek Store Cycling Club)Row 26 - Cell 2
-1lapNicholas Bruce (Trek Red Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes)Row 27 - Cell 2
-1lapTrent Meyers (Cyclepath Oakville Race Team)Row 28 - Cell 2
-1lapNikita Touchette-Lebel (La Vie Sportive)Row 29 - Cell 2
DNFDavis Ross (Team Ontario/Mountainview Cycling Club)Row 30 - Cell 2
DNFCorey BrioschiRow 31 - Cell 2
DNFAlex Schmidt (Liberty! Bicycles)Row 32 - Cell 2
DNFTyler Darcy (Team Nova Scotia)Row 33 - Cell 2

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