Van den Ham wins Canadian 'cross championships

Michael van den Ham (Garneau - Easton p/b Transitions Lifecare) finally won his first Elite title on Saturday at the Canadian Cyclo-cross championships in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

The Elite men's race was wide open, after the retirement of 2016 champion Jeremy Martin. Alberta's Mark McConnell (Hot Sauce Cycling) went to the front on the opening lap, joined by multi-time national champion Geoff Kabush (Scott Sports - Maxxis) and Rio Olympian Raphael Gagne (Cannondale 3Rox Racing). However, Michael van den Ham (Garneau - Easton p/b Transitions Lifecare) moved up quickly to join the leaders. Gagne faded and Kabush couldn't manage the pace of the other two. When van den Ham attacked at the midpoint in the race it proved to be the decisive move, and the B.C. rider rode away to take his first Elite title. Kabush put on a late surge to take second ahead of McConnell.

"It feels amazing," said van den Ham. "I've gone into the last three Nationals ranked number one, so, to be honest, this feels like a weight off my back. It feels good to finally get the maple leaf jersey; I've been dreaming about it for a long time. I didn't have a great start, so I decided to sit tight for a lap or two and follow the front group. I could see Mark [McConnell] was starting to make mistakes, and I could ride the run up, that was my secret weapon. I got five seconds and then just rode it steady."

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