Sun Peaks Resort, British-Columbia. After a long break, the Canada Cup series wraps up on the west coast with the series finals, hosted by Sun Peaks Bike Park. Sun Peaks is no stranger to hosting major events; the beautiful mountain town hosted the 2006 World Masters and a Canada Cup round in 2005. This weekend’s track was a combination of the two previous race tracks, to make a fast and dusty course with very little technical riding. This made for a very close race with only ten seconds separating 1st through 27th in the elite men’s class.

Junior racer Kyle Marshall with a disappointing 5th place finish after crashing in the high speeds

    The story of the day was the Australian domination in the Elite men’s race. They must have felt right at home on the drifty track, taking four spots in the top 10. Australian Alan Crisp (3.43.06) took home the win, followed by Whistler local Kevin Bartowski (3.43.09). Andrew Mitchell (3.44.34), Canadian National Champion, rounded off the podium and held onto the leaders jersey to finish off his stellar season and take the Canadian overall title. Notable mentions go to sixteen-year-old Chayse Marshall (3.43.72), with a time that placed him 3rd in the elite men’s class and Cadet racer Luke Stevens who would have finished in the top 10.

    On the women’s side, Micayla Gatto (4.04.78) took the win and also took back the leader’s jersey from Danice Uyesugi to take home the Canadian overall title. In second, fresh off her Crankworx AirDH victory was Rebecca McQueen, followed by young Miranda Miller.

    Once again British-Columbia fails to match the bar set by Québec for hosting National level events. After last year’s troubles at the Western Canada Cup, no french riders made the trip out West for this Canada Cup. The organizers don’t care to attract riders from far away, as they only offered one day of training to racers, and a hefty 100$ fine to racers who chose to poach the course on Friday. This made for a very thin elite field of under fifty racers. The course was very basic and locals where embarrassed to be hosting a Canada Cup on this trail. It was furiously fast, but lacked basic elements needed for a good racecourse. Race day lacked excitement, as there was no live timing or hot-seat to keep spectators on their feet. Hopefully organizers pull up their socks and we can see our National series grow in the coming years.

Dean Tennant, a disappointing 13th place finish after a crash.

Australian and Whistler local Harry Armstrong, keeping Canadians out of the top 10 with an 8th place finish.

Our 2008 Canadian overall series winners: Andrew Mitchell and Micayla Gatto.

Story by Harold Woolnogh, special to UBikeTV 

photos by Mike Goldstein