The winners of the 2019 BC Cup Downhill Series presented by Cobotix were decided this past weekend amidst a barrage of wild west coast weather at the Steve Smith Memorial Race at Mt.Washington’s Bike Park. Riders have been battling for BC Cup supremacy all season long including races in Whistler, Big White, Sun Peaks, Silverstar, Kicking Horse and lastly at Mt.Washington. The seeding runs on Saturday saw 70km/hr winds that blew the tent off at the start ramp and Sunday morning started off with sun that was soon covered by cloud, providing very little visibility for the riders. Throw in some hail, snow, and heavy rain, and we had ourselves one very muddy Sunday final.
Kirk McDowall (Devinci Factory Racing/Unior) of Anmore took the win in the Elite Men’s category at the final, followed by Mark Wallace (Canyon Factory Racing) in 2nd, and Henry Fitzgerald (Norco Factory Team) in 3rd. A 5th place finish by reigning Provincial Downhill Champion Adam Woodhouse (C4/Norco Racing) of Coquitlam was enough for him to secure the 2019 BC Cup series win. Sophie Tyas (Hunt) of Whistler finished first at Mt.Washington and topped all Elite Women in points to claim the BC Cup overall winner’s jersey.
In Junior Women, Emmy Lan (Gravity MTB, Trail Bicycles Racing) beat out Aleda Toronitz (2nd) and Amy Ertel (3rd) for the day but it was 2019 Junior Women Provincial Champion, Gracey Hemstreet, of Sechelt with enough points in 4th place to add the BC Cup title to her list of accomplishments for the season. Heavy-hitting Junior Expert Men, Elliot Jamieson (Norco Factory Team), Seth Sherlock, Lucas Cruz (SRAM/TLD Racing), and Jack Pelland (C4 Norco Racing) came in first, second, third, and fourth respectively, while Dylan Fysh’s 5th place finish was enough to earn him the BC Cup winner’s jersey which he can show off in his home province of Alberta.
For full results of the Steve Smith Memorial Race, click here (PDF)
The overall 2019 BC Cup Downhill Series Winners are:
U15 Men (13-14) – Tegan Cruz
U15 Women (13-14) – Bella Caswell
U17 Sport Men (15-16) – Trevor Mohl
U17 Expert Men (15-16) – Jakob Jewett
Junior Sport Men (17-18) – Kahleb Bosson
UCI Junior Expert Men (17-18) – Dylan Fysh
UCI Junior Women (15-18) – Gracey Hemstreet
Elite Men – Adam Woodhouse
Elite Women – Sophie Tyas
Senior Men (19+) – Jordan Romaniuk
Master Men 30-39 – Tait Geue
Master Men 40-49 – Arden Greanya
Master Men 50+ – John Nihsner
View the full 2019 BC Cup Downhill Series Standings
It has been a fantastic season of Downhill racing and Cycling BC would like to thank all the riders, officials, organizers, staff, and volunteers for coming out to the races. A special thank you goes out to Cobotix Manufacturing for sponsoring the BC Cup series.
Series winners receive a BC Cup winner’s jersey and will be honoured at the 2019 Cycling BC Season Wrap-up Party in November 2019.
