Last Thursday and Saturday, the Canmore Nordic Centre hosted the 2023 Canmore Coupe Canada Cup, a big event for talented mountain bikers.
The competition included two types of races: the short and technical cross-country short track and the longer trails of the cross-country Olympic (XCO).
One young rider, 15-year-old Larix Hallett from Canmore, was proud to represent Alberta in the Canada Cup races for the first time. He was familiar with the Nordic Centre’s courses and felt honoured to wear Alberta’s jersey.
“It’s a great honour … I love wearing this jersey. I’m really proud…I pushed hard, and I’m proud of my performance,” Hallett told the Rocky Mountain Outlook.
After finishing sixth among U17 expert men in Saturday’s XCO against older boys, who wouldn’t be proud of Hallett?
“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.
Eva Poidevin, also from Canmore, faced a mechanical issue during the elite women’s XCO race. Her rear derailleur got damaged at the start when all the racers were crowded together.
This meant she was stuck in one gear throughout the race, which made it challenging on the climbs and too easy on the flats. Despite the setback, Poidevin finished 13th.
However, Poidevin had a better experience in the short track race on June 17, where she finished fifth overall. It came down to a sprint finish with the top four women, but she couldn’t execute it properly.
“I tried to stay near the front and stay safe from the back and ended up a big five-up sprint to the finish…Unfortunately, I didn’t quite execute that properly, but it was super fun, and the big crowds were out, so it was awesome,” commented Poidevin.
Logan Sadesky, another talented mountain biker from Canmore and one of Canada’s best, had impressive performances at the Canada Cup. He finished fourth in the elite men’s short track and second in XCO.
Sandusky was always at the front, pushing the pace and making up time in the technical sections of the courses. He was pleased with his progress and saw this as a positive step forward in his career.
Despite racing in Canmore, Sadesky will soon be heading to Italy for the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, where he expects tougher competition among the elite men.
Sadesky enjoys the challenge of racing at the World Cup level, with riders always closely matched in times and no room for mistakes.
