You’ll have to forgive the Rundle Mountain Cycling Club’s top riders from this weekend’s stage race for skipping the champagne ceremony – most of them are too young to drink.
Seventeen-year-olds Marc Dupuis and Mitch Fennell finished first and second in the omnium and U17 riders Lucas Fabbri, Sam Hendry and Eva Poidevin led the charge for the local club with a huge haul of medals.
Dupuis took the overall title with two gold medals – one in the crit and another in the road race. Fennell won the prologue at the Canmore Nordic Centre, finished third in the crit and was fourth in the road race, which gave him 29 points.
“It’s good to see the training paying off. It bodes well for the rest of the season,” Fennell said.
“It feels great. I’m reaching my goals I set for the season. It’s paying off,” Dupuis said, whose crit win resulted in his first provincial road title.
Both are products of the RMCC system and worked as a team to earn top results this year. As opposed to years past where the duo would simply try and survive, Dupuis, Fennell and the rest of the RMCC crew controlled the peleton, co-ordinating attacks and reeling in the opposition.
“I had the team backing for sure. That was the theme all weekend. Our plan worked out and we stuck to it,” Fennell said.
The results mean both will now move up to Cat. 3 racing, and next year they want to return to the Canmore stage race in Cat. .
“I want to go as far as I can take this. The Tour de France would be the ultimate goal,” Fennell said.
“You see the Tour de France and the big guys there, and all the guys we’ve seen cycling in Canmore, it’s inspiring,” Dupuis said.
Both are products of the self-described RMCC monster-making machine, and are also working with private coaches Ben Chaddock and Paul Dupuis. Cross-country skiers in the winter, both put in between eight and 15 hours of training a week in a sport they love.
“It’s fun. You see more scenery, travel more places and it’s more of a team sport than mountain biking,” Dupuis said.
Following in her sister Sarah’s footsteps, Eva Poidevin captured her first omnium with a first place finish in the U17 women’s prologue and road race. Although her category was tiny, Poidevin was grinning throughout the weekend and took inspiration from her family.
“My sister is into road riding, so I thought it would be cool to try it out,” Poidevin said. “The crit was really hard because the pacing was high, the time trial was tough to pace because you’re by yourself … so I think I like the road race the best.”
Although there was only one other rider in her category (Devaney Collier of Juventus), Poidevin would like to try road racing again against a bigger field. She’ll attend the provincial championships in Fort McMurray and the Alberta Summer Games later this month.
“It was fun the first time, so why not try again,” Poidevin said.
Fabbri and Hendry ensured RMCC’s dominance in the U17 men’s category. Half the field was wearing the black and gold, but Fabbri and Hendry proved to be the strongest. Fabbri won the prologue and crit and recovered from a mechanical in the road race to finish third. Hendry was second in all of his races.
For Fabbri, the crit race resulted in a provincial championship in what was a hotly contested race.
“I just tried to stay on someone’s wheel. We had a plan to attack on lap five, but the field was too strong. Instead it came down to a sprint, I tried to stick on (the leader’s) wheel and take it at the line, and I didn’t,” Fabbri said.
Fabbri crashed at Banff Bikefest in the crit, and said he was happy to get some redemption in Canmore. Now, his plan is to get faster while training with Hendry and his other teammates.
“We’re pushing ourselves to get better. If you train with fast guys, you will get better,” Fabbri said.
Connor Howe had a strong U17 weekend for RMCC as well. He finished fourth in the road race and fifth in the omnium. Kyle Burt finished eighth, Brad Saunders was 10th and Neo Gleason was 12th overall in the U17.
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