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Burke second at nationals

Whistler rider earns spot at World Cup, World Championships
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ON THE TEAM Felix Burke descends a section of the nationals course called Boneshaker. Photo by Robert Jones canadiancyclist.com

Whistler's Felix Burke's bid for a national junior expert cross-country mountain bike title fell just short on Saturday as Burke placed second overall at Hardwood Hills, Ontario, losing to a rider that grew up riding the trails. The heat was also likely a factor, with temperatures climbing near 40 C with the humidity.

Peter Disera, who races for Team Ontario, finished the 24km course in 1:10:04, with Burke, racing for Quebec-based CVM 2 VALS, finished 2:03 back. Felix Belhumeur of Quebec was over 45 seconds back of Burke.

Whistler's Mahon Lamont also raced, placing 11th overall.

Burke said he was hoping for better, but was still happy to finish second.

"(Disera) is a year older than me, he's been racing at this level for a long time, and it was his own course, so he had all the cards on his side. But I had a good race, and I was really happy with what I did," said Burke.

While Burke has been training and racing out east, he said the extreme heat did catch him off guard.

"That was definitely a huge factor for me because I'm not used to this kind of heat yet," he said. "I really had to race within myself because I knew that if I went out too hard at the start I could overheat and probably crash. I might not be able to finish the race, or I could drop back, so I knew I had to be really careful."

Burke said his result at this race and results all season on the Canada Cup tour — he's still sitting first overall in that series — were good enough that he was extended an invitation to join Team Canada at a few events this year, including the World Cup at Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec on Aug. 10-11 and the UCI World Championships in South Africa from Aug. 26 to Sept. 1.

Burke said that making the national team was a goal at the beginning of the season, and it was a relief to reach it.

"I'd say it's kind of a relief because you train so much in the winter by yourself and you build everything up so much, and now I've finally achieved that goal I can relax a bit in some ways and focus on riding. Now I've been selected I have to do the best race of my life."

Burke is also excited to return to Whistler for the Canada Cup finals, which take place on Aug. 14.

"That's a big race for me too, I'm really excited to come back and have the Canada Cup leaders jersey and see all my friends again — it's just a huge thing for me."

While he could probably ride the Whistler course blindfolded, he doesn't know what to expect in Quebec or South Africa — although he's been spending time watching race videos online to prepare.

"I've never been (to Mont-Sainte-Anne) before, but I've heard it's pretty technical and there's a big, hard climb in there that suits me pretty well... It will all be new to me," said Burke. "(For South Africa) I've watched the World Cup races on Red Bull TV and I've seen the course, and it's really different than anything here — it's really green and there's jungle, and I imagine the temperatures are going to be hot. And there's also a really big climb on that course that plays to my strengths."

His goal is to finish in the top five in Quebec — although he'd be happy in the top 10 — and then try to place in the top 30 in South Africa. The top 20 is in the cards as well.

"I have no idea how I'm going to do, I've never raced at that international level before so all I can do is base (my goals) on what Peter (Disera) did before. He finished a World Cup in eighth, and if I can finish not that far behind him I should be able to get into the top 20."

Like recent Canada Cups, the men's elite category became a team race once again with the SCOTT-3Rox Racing team using superior numbers to lock up the national jersey, plus second and fourth place in the overall. Max Plaxton, the reigning champion for the past two years, put up a good fight, but in the end he placed third overall.

"Yeah, the wind came into play and there was a fair bit of drafting," said Plaxton to Canadian Cyclist. "I mean, if I had three or four teammates we would have done exactly the same thing... hats off to Derek, it was a great win for him."

Derek Zandstra earned his first career national title, while Geoff Kabush was a close second. Cameron Jette was fourth for the team.

With World Cup star Catharine Pendrel currently recovering from a broken collarbone, Emily Batty was the favourite going into nationals and didn't disappoint on her home course. She had a 20 second gap after the first lap, and built on it steadily over the course of five laps (30km). B.C.'s Sandra Walter was second by 1:20, followed by Amanda Sin about 34 seconds later. B.C.'s Wendy Simms, who recently won the BC Bike Race title, was ninth.

Squamish's Quinn Moberg also raced in the U23 category, placing 16th.

As well as the main race, there was an 800-metre "Elminator" race like a criterium. Burke hung in until the second last round to place ninth overall along with eight other racers. Squamish's Luke Di Marzo was knocked out the previous round to place 17th.

Burke also placed fourth with his team in the Club Challenge Relay.