After six consecutive years, Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) has finally be dethroned as the Canadian elite men's cross country champion. Max Plaxton (Specialized), who has been pursuing this title for all of those years, took charge of the race early to record his first elite title.
Held in perfect conditions beneath the Three Sisters mountains in Kananaskis Country, the men's five lap, 35.5 kilometre race was expected to be a fight between Plaxton and Kabush. Plaxton has been inching closer to victory over the past few years, but the veteran Kabush has always managed to have something extra for the national championships. This year, Plaxton skipped the last two World Cups to training specifically for the national championships, and it paid off. He dropped Kabush on the second lap and steadily increased his lead over the remainder of the race to win by one minute and 41 seconds. Derek Zandstra (3 Rox Racing) finished third, three minutes and 22 seconds back.
"I've been chasing this a long time," admitted Plaxton. "I know it was a bit risky not doing the World Cups, but I also know my body pretty well, and this was the better choice for me. We were just sort of feeling each other out on the first lap, and then I attacked on the second lap and got maybe 20 seconds. Geoff held me there for a while, but then I pushed it on the fourth lap and was able to open it up. I'm super happy right now, this is probably the biggest result of my career."
Kabush was clearly disappointed with losing the title. "I knew that Max would be strong, but I have had good form the past few weeks, so I thought I had a good chance. He got a small gap on me in the second lap, and I was able to keep it to 18-20 seconds for the next couple of laps. But clearly he had more left in the tank than me and opened it up on the fourth lap."
Leandre Bouchard (Equipe Quebec) took the U23 men's title, after a tough race-long battle with Mitch Bailey (Team Ontario) and Evan McNeely (Team Ontario). Bouchard dropped everyone but Bailey by mid-race, and then attacked to leave Bailey behind on the final lap. McNeely faded to finish fifth, while Jeremy Martin (Equipe Quebec) moved up to take the bronze medal. In earlier morning races, Marc-Antoine Nadon (3 Rox Racing) scorched the Junior men's field to lead from start to finish and Marc-Andre Fortier (Sarto Gagne) won the U17 men's title.
