There's a new sheriff in town, and his name is Elliot Jamieson.
Okay: Jamieson isn't exactly new to Whistler. His first Crankworx was in 2015, but on Sunday the White Rock native broke through for the maiden Canadian Open Enduro gold—and first elite podium—of his career (33:39.20). Wei Tien Ho nipped at Jamieson's heels for silver (33:40.10) and Lief Rodgers held onto bronze (34:01.20).
Elly Hoskin is likewise accustomed to Whistler's offerings. She followed up last year's victory as a U21 with another in the elite division, winning four out of five stages (39:21.00). Beloved veteran Andréane Lanthier Nadeau filled the runner-up hole (40:12.00) and third went to Katy Winton (40:37.50).
All of that means Jesse Melamed's luck finally ran out. Melamed had prevailed at the last two Canadian Opens and the 2022 Enduro World Series (EWS) race on home soil, but a debilitating mechanical failure knocked him down to 31st place despite his record-breaking fourth-stage time (2:44).
"Jesse and Remi Gauvin, I really look up to them," admitted Jamieson. "They're honestly legends of enduro and have paved the way for so many young Canadians to come up in the sport. I'm sad for Jesse today because it would have been awesome to have a neck-and-neck battle all day, but my [Commencal] teammate Wei Tien Ho was absolutely ripping. He was keeping me honest, and I had to really be sharp all day."
Hoskin—the first non-British, non-French woman to prevail at an Enduro World Cup (EDR)—might have been considered a betting favourite, but she takes nothing for granted.
"It's always special racing at home," said the Squamolian. "This is the only race that I get to have my whole family at, and to back up the U21 win last year with a win in elite is more than I could ask for. I still get butterflies thinking about that [EDR victory] but I feel like I'm finding more of my place among these amazing women that I get to race with. Every time I back it up…it's just another vote that I deserve to be here."
'It's hard to be 100 per cent on every stage'
Whistler's trails are expansive, varied and demanding for everybody regardless of talent or experience level. Jamieson believes he distinguished himself on the lengthy Stage Three (a.k.a. Top of the World), gaining valuable seconds on Ho and Rodgers. Jamieson's bike held up admirably, and his only real close call was an encounter with the track tape just before finishing.
Home field advantage proved useful for Ho, who relished the prime riding conditions and told himself not to get overzealous at any point in time.
"I'm pretty happy with it," said Ho about his outing. "To come in a tight second against Elliot was pretty cool…he was on fire all day and he put some time into me on Stage Three. That's what I was most excited for: to battle with my close friends who are the top guys. Jesse's been a local legend—I was bummed to see him [get a mechanical] on Stage Two. I was really looking forward to having a good battle, so we'll have to wait for next year."
Rodgers, meanwhile, is happy to grab his second Canadian Open Enduro bronze medal in as many years.
"It's been a couple weeks off of racing now for me, so it's good to get a race in before heading back out to Europe and I'm super happy to be in third place with two of my really close friends," he remarked. "We all train together almost every day and we're always riding together, going to the gym together.
"[Whistler has] some of the best trails in the world. I'm pretty happy with my riding and I was just really smooth all day. I felt like I maybe could have had a little bit more, but it's hard to be 100 per cent on every stage."
'The race is never over'
Despite triumphing, Hoskin wasn't able to execute a flawless day. She nailed Stage Two but crashed in Stage Three, felt discombobulated during parts of Stage Four and had a quick but preventable mishap late in the day. Acknowledging that it was "a roller coaster day", the EDR ace nonetheless regained poise at every turn.
"The race is never over, especially a race like this," Hoskin said. "There's so much time where stuff can hit the fan and then come back. We raced for [over 40 minutes]. That's more than any other race on the circuit."
Nadeau has been focusing more on downhill as of late. In fact she's the newly-minted Canadian DH champ from Sun Peaks, but turned back the clock for a vintage enduro effort after wiping out in 2022 and falling just short of the podium last year.
"Just happy to be racing in Whistler. It's such a treat," she remarked. "Can't wait for our World Cup to come back here. We have everything it takes, and today we were treated to insanely perfect dirt. I wasn't firing on all cylinders, but Elly is the future of our sport. It's great to see her shine and she has so much to learn. She'll only get faster, so as I'm aging in athlete years, I'm happy to see some fast Canadians taking up the reins."
Then Nadeau laughed and added: "I can't seem to win a race here, so maybe I'll have to race one more next year."
Credit must be given to Geza Rodgers, Lief's sister, for deciding on short notice to leave her natural U21 age division and go with the elites—which she must do abroad since U21 is no longer part of the EDR circuit. She wound up fifth (41:34.10), not too far behind three-time Olympic ski cross competitor Brittany Phelan (41:23.10).
"My game plan was just to have fun, go fast and pedal hard," Geza explained. "I didn't really know exactly where I'd place because there were some girls I don't often race, but nothing too unexpected. I think I was pushing my limits a little bit on some of the trails, which was good for me because I have trouble doing it sometimes."
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