The 27th season of the Mountain Bike Canada Cup cross-country series opens on March 4th at Bear Mountain Resort, just outside of Victoria, BC. The Canada Cup has been the career starting point for many of Canada’s top professional and Olympic riders.
Situated in the foothills of Mount Finlayson with breathtaking views of Victoria’s seaside harbour, Bear Mountain Resort is the national training centre for Canada’s mountain bike squad, and offers vistas of the Olympic Mountain Range, the Strait of Georgia and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
In addition to the UCI sanctioned competitions for Elite and Junior men and women, the Bear Mountain Canada Cup will offer racing for age categories from kids to Masters. The 5.97 kilometre circuit opens with a sustained climb on pavement and singletrack before a long rough and rooty descent.
As many as five Canadian Olympians will begin their season at Bear Mountain, including Rio bronze medalist Catharine Pendrel (Clif Bar), Emily Batty (Trek Factory Racing), Raphael Gagne (Cannondale-3Rox), Leandre Bouchard (BH SR Suntour KMC) and Geoff Kabush (Scott Sports-Maxxis), as well as national Elite men’s champion Derek Zandstra (Cannondale-3Rox).
Mathieu Boucher, Director of Performance Development at Cycling Canada, says, “We are thrilled to open the Canada Cup series for the second year in a row at Bear Mountain Resort, the Training Center for our national Mountain Bike Program. Riders will be treated to an amazing and challenging course with all the hospitality that Bear Mountain Resort has to offer. The event will showcase Canada’s top riders as well top international pros who will begin their season with the opening round of the Canada Cup; it will be a week-end packed with action and fun for all the Mountain Bike Community!”
