Mont Sainte Anne races kick off North American stretch of World Cup tour
It happened again.
With fans lining both sides of the course, Victoria’s Roland Green had the lead for the first two laps of the race until he flatted out on a rocky downhill section.
Although he had the tire repaired in two minutes, seven cyclists passed him, and Green found himself in a hole behind some of the top riders in the world. Green increased his pace, and one by one he started to reel the other riders in until he found himself battling for third place on the last lap.
The race ended with Julien Absalon of France in first with a time of 1:51:20. Christoph Sauser of Switzerland was second in 1:52:07, and Green was just ten seconds back in third place.
"If the race had have been one lap longer it could have been a bit better," Green told Canadian Cyclist. "But I’m really happy because I look at my last four races and it has been steady, steady improvement."
The reigning world champion for two years running, Green got off to a slow start this season. Third is his best result this year.
Still, he has been consistent, and currently sits in ninth place on a close World Cup tour within 270 points of the overall lead.
Other Canadians also finished strong. Ryder Hesjedal, Green’s training partner, finished in 10 th place overall. Geoff Kabush of Victoria was 12 th , and Seamus McGrath of Ontario finished in 16 th after ranking as high as seventh in the race.
In the women’s cross-country, the win went to Dahle Gunn-Rita of Norway, followed by Sabine Spitz of Germany and Barbara Blatter of Switzerland.
Marie-Helene Premont of Quebec was the top Canadian in fifth place overall. Chrissy Redden of Ontario was seventh, followed by Alison Sydor of Vancouver in eighth. Kiara Bisaro of Courtenay was 20 th , Trish Sinclair of Victoria was 24 th , and Karen De Wolfe of Nova Scotia was 25 th .
The men’s downhill went to Steve Peat of Great Britain, followed by Gregb Minnaar of Russia and Cedric Gracia of France.
Jordie Lunn of Parksville, B.C., was the top Canadian in 11 th place, 2.68 seconds back of the winning time on a very short course. Dustin Adams of Kamloops was 15 th .
In the women’s downhill, Fionn Griffiths of Great Britain took the win, followed by Tracey Mosely and Marla Streb of the U.S.
Michelle Dumaresq was the top Canadian in 13 th , and Whistler’s Claire Buchar was 15 th .
In the Four-Cross, Eric Carter of the U.S. topped Cedric Gracia of France, Wade Bootes of Australia and Brian Schmith of the U.S. in the final. The women’s Four-Cross went to Katrina Miller of Austria, followed by Jamie Lilly of the U.S. Mio Suemasa of Japan, and Jill Kinter of the U.S.
Buchar was the top Canadian, finishing eighth overall.
The Mont Ste. Anne competitions kicked off a three-stop World Cup series in North America. The next stop is Telluride, Colorado on July 5 to 6, followed by the events at Grouse Mountain from July 12 to 13.
