The Canadian cross country national championships return to St-Felicien, Quebec this weekend. Despite being five hours northeast of Montreal, in the Saguenay region north of Quebec City, St-Felicien has a distinguished history in mountain biking, having hosted both a World Cup and national championships before.
Both the elite men's and women's races will feature highly competitive fields in this Olympic year. While the Olympic qualifying period for the Canadian team has finished (with the team to be announced next week), the riders who have been battling for the spots have all been racing at the highest level all spring, so we should see some extremely close races.
In the women's field, world champion Catharine Pendrel (Luna) will be looking to defend her title against both Emily Batty (Subaru-Trek) and Marie-Hélène Premont (Rocky Mountain). Batty has beaten Pendrel once in World Cup competition this season (round one in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa), and has stated that it is one of her goals to take her first Elite title. Premont, after a World Cup season that has been somewhat disappointing, will certainly have been building for her home World Cup race next weekend at Mont Ste Anne, and will have good form.
Max Plaxton (Specialized) finally beat Geoff Kabush (Scott-3Rox) for the first time last year at the elite championship, and will be hoping to repeat. However, Kabush is still chasing that elusive eighth title, and would like to go into Mont Ste Anne as the new national champion. Expect this one to be a battle to the line. Others to watch for on the podium include Derek Zandstra and Cameron Jette from Scott-3Rox, and Neal Kindree (Serrono-Specialized).
-
Neilson Powless, Larry Warbasse, Michael Matthews among men's field at Maryland Cycling Classic to challenge defending champion Mattias Skjelmose
Alison Jackson, Tiffany Cromwell, Lauren Stephens add star-power in debut of women's UCI one-day race in Baltimore -
September will mark the end of the road for Ceratizit Pro Cycling after failed sponsorship hunt
Women's WorldTour team confirmed to compete at Maryland Cycling Classic before wrapping up at end of season after a decade of racing -
'With the team we've got, it's well within our grasp' – UAE Team Emirates-XRG ready to step into Vuelta a España spotlight at team time trial
Emirati squad looking for victory on Wednesday with leaders João Almeida and Juan Ayuso sitting 10th and 11th on GC -
'The bad and the beauty of team time trials, everyone is nervous' – Ineos Grenadiers ready to embrace the stress in pursuit of back-to-back Vuelta a España stage wins
British squad confident of challenging stage 5 team race against the clock in Figueres, but admit they 'haven't got the best lineup' against UAE and Visma
