Bouchard and Berkenpas win Canadian eliminator championships

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Léandre Bouchard (Équipe du Québec-Cyclones d'Alma) and Jean-Ann Berkenpas (Xprezo-Borsao) are Canada's first-ever eliminator champs after the title races on Thursday.

Bouchard and Berkenpas both took the first Canadian titles for the new mountain bike discipline, which consists of an elimination-type format, with the top two of each heat moving on to the next rounds until the gold medal race.

Men

In the men's race, Leandre Bouchard rode to the gold medal in an exciting race, edging at the finish line junior rider Peter Disera (Team Ontario/CSAJCC p/b Norco LG) and Mitch Bailey (Trek Canada Mountain Bike), second and third respectively.

"It's always a pride to wear the red and white colors. I have a lot of speed in me right now, and I'll be ready to apply this speed to the cross country race on Saturday. There are some very good riders in the U23 category in Canada, and that's what this race has demonstrated," said Bouchard, beaming of joy after crossing the finish line.

"The race [eliminator] is much shorter. It happens very quickly, hence the start is very important. Sometimes there are strategies to apply. With high speeds, the slightest mistake can be very costly, so you constantly have to be very careful."

Women

Jean-Ann Berkenpas took the women's title, winning the ultimate race in front of Andreane Pichette (Opus-OCG) in second place and Cindy Montambeault (CVM 2 Vals) in third place.

"I am thrilled about this win. I had good luck with the heats with attacking in the start, and getting a small gap in the first section entering the technical forest. In the final, my plan didn't quite work out as I entered third in the forest. After that, I just had to pass. I was lucky to have that opportunity in the BMX features, and after that I just went as hard as I could, and managed to hold them off," said Berkenpas, who was taking part in her first ever eliminator race.

"The eliminator is a very spectator-friendly event, focussing on speed and action. There are usually some technical features, but it really favours the rider who is powerful and can sprint well. It's quite different from the cross country which would normally favour a better climber, with endurance who will be strong at the end of the race. This race suits me very well, and it's a very fun event to participate in."

The crowd-pleasing race was held on a short 1-km course. Earlier in the day, riders qualified for the elimination heats in a time trial format to determine the final seeding.

The fast-paced race is organized for the first time on the UCI World Cup as a full event.

Full Results