CANMORE – The Canmore Nordic Centre was the playground for elite mountain bikers at the 2023 Canmore Coupe Canada Cup last Thursday and Saturday (June 15, 17).
The event combined the short but technically sweet cross-country short track and the longer trails of the cross-country Olympic (XCO).
For 15-year-old Larix Hallett, it was the first time he suited up to represent Alberta in Canada Cup races. It was the perfect time to debut for the Canmore-raised biker, who knew the courses at the Nordic centre like the back of his hand.
“It’s a great honour to do, I love wearing this jersey. I’m really proud,” said Hallett. “I pushed hard and I’m proud of my performance.”
Hallett’s best performance was in Saturday’s XCO, finishing sixth in U17 expert men. The final moments came down to a race to the line between Hallett and two other older boys.
“Last weekend in Missoula, they were way ahead of me, so I was happy to catch them this weekend in the home court advantage,” said Hallett.
The teen will get a chance to wear Alberta blue in upcoming Canada Cups and nationals throughout the summer.
Eva Poidevin of Canmore got in more of a spin workout than an actual race in Saturday’s elite women’s XCO.
At the start, the 23-year-old biker's rear derailleur was damaged when all the racers were squeezed together.
“Basically, it meant I was stuck in one gear for the whole race,” said Poidevin. “It was just in a really hard gear on the climbs and a way too easy of a gear on the flats.”
The Canmore biker finished 13th, but laughed off the mechanical issue that was out-of-her-control. She fared much better in June 17’s short track, finishing fifth overall. The podium came down to a sprint finish with the other four top women.
“I tried to stay near the front and stay safe from the back and ended up a big five-up sprint to the finish,” Poidevin said. “Unfortunately, I didn’t quite execute that properly, but it was super fun and the big crowds were out, so it was awesome.”
Canmore’s Logan Sadesky, one of Canada’s top mountain bikers, had two top-five performances at the Canada Cup in town, finishing fourth in the elite men’s short track and second in XCO. Finn Borstmayer of Banff was 16th in short track.
Always pushing the pace near the front of the pack, Sadeksy was making up time in the technical sections of the courses.
“I feel they went really well,” said Sadesky. “It’s cool being able to see my progression throughout the years and this is definitely another good, very good step forward.”
It’s been a year since Sadesky was last racing in Canmore. However, the local biker won’t be sticking around long in the mountains – or at least the ones in Canada.
The 2022 Canada Cup overall winner is currently in Italy, ready to compete at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.
“The elite men is definitely a whole other ball game right now than the Canada Cups,” said Sadesky. “I've heard there's always someone like a few seconds ahead of you or a few seconds behind you, so there's never a chance to let up. Never a chance to really make too many errors and it's just definitely a different style of racing and I'm looking forward to the experience of that.”
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