Tales of mud, crashes and celebrations at the Canadian cyclocross championships

Recently, the country’s top cyclocross riders took on a slick, muddy course in Lévis, Que., site of the 2024 national cyclocross championships. Just past the finish line, Canadian Cycling Magazine was there to capture the reactions of six new champions.

Regular contributor Jake Williams was at the event, not only racing in the relay and the championships themselves, but taking in the action. In this episode, he shares his interviews and stories from Lévis with editors Matthew Pioro and Matt Hansen.

Emilien Belzile grabbed his first championship win in the junior men’s category. He faced a tough race and even went down on the course. In the end, he had to sprint hard against Evan Moore for the finish line. In early November, Belzile was third in the junior race at the Pan Am championships. This past June, the Fédération québécoise des sports cyclistes named him mountain bike athlete of the month for his podium placings in Canada and Quebec Cup events.

Nineteen-year-old Mika Comaniuk is no stranger to CX nationals or racing in Lévis. In 2023, he won the C2-level Cyclocross de Lévis. Back in 2022, he was second in the junior race at CX nationals in Victoria. This past weekend, he got a gap on his fellow racers in the under-23 men’s group that he was able to maintain until the end.

Marin Lowe took a break from her studies at the University of Victoria to jet across the country, borrow a bike and win the under-23 women’s race. Lowe already has a maple-leaf jersey in her collection: she is the 2023 junior cross country champ. Also that year, at the cross country world championships, she crossed the line in second place, behind her then-teammate Isabella Holmgren. In this episode, Lowe reveals the unique indicator she has that tells her when she’s really ready to race.

Like Comaniuk, Rafaelle Carrier won in Lévis in 2023. Actually, Carrier has won in a whole bunch of places the past two years, including Gullegem in Belgium and in Missoula, Mont., at the 2023 Pan Am championships. This year, Carrier was second in the junior category at the cross country world championships. In a way, it’s no surprise she defended her 2023 national junior CX title. Still, her competition was top-notch. In second was USCX overall winner Nico Knoll. Third was Aislin Hallahan, a regular on recent USCX podiums.

While Isabella Holmgren’s elite win wasn’t much of a surprise either, she also faced some serious competition, too, like multiple CX champ Maghalie Rochette and current Pan Am champ Sidney McGill. Ian Ackert continued his relatively compact but successful 'cross season by snagging his first elite title. You’ll learn how he celebrated that win and how those festivities didn’t really seem to hinder him on his next race day at the C2 event.

Throughout this episode, Jake, Matthew and Matt bring their analysis to the event, mixed with their signature humour.