It would be every Canadian mountain-biking fan鈥檚 dream to have what happened Saturday on Bear Mountain in the sa国际传媒 Cup replicated this summer at the Rio Olympics.
With two-time world champion Catharine Pendrel currently No. 2 in the world and 2015 Pan Am Games champion Emily Batty world No. 7, that is not out of the realm of possibility at the five-ring circus in Rio.
Pendrel won the sa国际传媒 Cup race on the Bear, an official Olympic points qualifier for Rio, while Batty was second.
鈥淚 felt great today and I enjoyed the challenging course,鈥� said Pendrel, who got her start on the Island riding the adjacent Hartland trails.
鈥淲e [her and Batty] are propelling each other to be better and stronger.鈥�
Batty crashed in the second of five 5.5-kilometre loops that made up Saturday鈥檚 women鈥檚 World Cup race. It brought back eerie reverberations from when she did the same in training just four days before the 2012 London Summer Olympics, breaking her collarbone, before gutting it out to place in the Olympic top-25.
鈥淚 brushed off today鈥檚 fall,鈥� said Batty, who admitted to being a little sore.
She wasn鈥檛 using the crash as an excuse.
鈥淐atharine opened up a gap right from the start,鈥� said Batty.
Pendrel did so with a broken thumb. To compensate, all her handlebar gear switches were moved to her good-hand side.
They certainly grow them tough on the mountain trails of sa国际传媒.
鈥淥ur women have medal potential. On the day, it could be either one of them at Rio,鈥� said national team head coach Dan Proulx of Victoria.
鈥淥ur men, meanwhile, are climbing up the ladder.鈥�
Raphael Gagne of Quebec City won the men鈥檚 elite race Saturday, which was six loops of the Bear Mountain course. The torch has been passed from Max Plaxton of Victoria and three-time Olympian Geoff Kabush of Courtenay, the two men who represented sa国际传媒 at the 2012 London Olympics.
鈥淲e are still trying to qualify two men鈥檚 spots for Rio and we are all chasing those points,鈥� said Gagne.
鈥淚 was at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow two years ago, won gold at the Pan Am Games last year in Toronto . . . the next step is the Olympics,鈥� Gagne added.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a fair fight to grab those Olympic spots, as you can see by the fact there was only 10 seconds between the top-three [men鈥檚 finishers] today. I had to hold off Derek [Zandstra, who finished second].鈥�
The national team training centre is now officially located at Bear Mountain under Proulx. Numerous riders from Ontario and Quebec have relocated to Victoria to train here. There were raves Saturday over the newly-constructed Bear Mountain course.
鈥淭he course was great, with good technical features,鈥� said Gagne. 鈥淎nd there is a snowstorm in Quebec. It鈥檚 good to be here.鈥�
Batty concurred.
鈥淭he hype is real. These are world-class trails,鈥� said the native of Toronto. 鈥淚 plan to spend quite a few weeks here each year.鈥�
With the form charts for Rio 2016 pretty much formulated, the training centre is looking beyond that.
鈥淭he national centre is really about developing our young talent for Tokyo 2020 and 2024,鈥� Proulx said.
A young prodigy to watch is 17-year-old Max McCulloch of Victoria, who wowed everybody with his riding Saturday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing to see all these guys racing in my hometown,鈥� said McCulloch. 鈥淭he goal is to be up there with them one day.鈥�
He might just get there.
Gagne went up to McCulloch after the race and said: 鈥淵ou are a heck of a rider.鈥�
The Oak Bay kid responded: 鈥淭hat means the world to me. I really look up to [Gagne]. It鈥檚 amazing to be in this company.鈥�
