As many New Brunswickers prepare to leave for Mount Ste. Anne, and the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships this weekend, here’s some interesting info for those who didn’t follow what happened in Kentville at the Canada Cup this month or with the XCO Canada Cup series and Canadian Championships this year.
In the Canada Cup categories on Sunday, NB had 15 athletes competeing, with all of them in the Junior/U19 and Cadet/U17 categories representing 4 different clubs (Fitworks, Radical Edge, Project Dialed In and Vélo Edmundston). This is one more than NS had as the host province, and they had several Elite/U23 where we had none.
NB managed 3 podium appearances, Emilie Chloe McIntyre bronze medal in Cadet Expert, Ella Bragdon 4th in Junior Expert and Rémi Levesque 5th in Junior Expert. This was all on a challenging course with strong competition in attendance from across the country. You’ll see some of the competitors this weekend at the World Championships.
With the 15 athletes in Kentville, and the podiums achieved throughout the year, New Brunswick increased the athletes at the event, and doubled the podium count from 2018 Canada Cups. Earlier in the year, Hayden McKinnon picked up a podium with a 5th in Sherbrooke to add to the tally from Kentville.
On top of Sunday’s participation and strong performances, New Brunswick had more athletes participate in the Challenge XCO Races and Short-Track in Kentville; with many podium finishes there too. On top of the clubs already mentioned, Millennium Cycles and VeloKent also had athletes involved in the Saturday events.
In addition to the Canada Cup series, Project Dialed In participated at the Canadian Championships at Hardwood Hills, ON. Ella Bragdon got top results there for the team finishing 9th in Junior Expert.
On the road side, Lorneville Cycling participated in a number of Junior, and Senior races in Quebec as well as the Canadian Championships. For the first time in many years, there was New Brunswick representation in youth categories at road races outside the province.
New Brunswick was also represented at the Para Pan-Am Games, World Cup, and Canadian Championships in para-cycling, as Matt Kinnie continues to improve and race towards international success.
As we move into the fall and winter months, remember that well we maybe a small province in size we continue to work towards national success, and world glory. You never know when the next New Brunswick athlete may show up at a UCI World Championship event.