With several junior and senior national championships already under his belt at the age of 21, Daniel Sessford is far from a rookie.

Competing mainly in mountain biking, but also in road races, the Whitehorse cyclist has been climbing up the national rankings with five appearances on the Canada Cup circuit this past season also.

Sessford also won Yukon's first medal in more than 20 years at the 2005 Canada Summer Games in Regina a bronze in the men's mountain bike race.

But this past weekend was Sessford's first time on the podium at a senior national championship. He was the third under-23 rider across the finish line in the elite men's cross-country mountain bike event, at the Canadian National Mountain Bike Championships held at Mount Washington on Vancouver Island.

'It was really good,' stated Sessford, in an interview back home Tuesday. 'It's my best result ever for nationals, so I'm happy with it.'

It helped that Sessford was somewhat familiar with the course, as he raced it during a Canada Cup event last season.

He described it one of the harder courses in the country, with steep climbs, a mixture of both fast and technical, single track and double track. It has 'pretty much everything that could be wanted in a mountain bike race.'

However, with the added mud from the rain in the area, as well as cool temperatures, things grew a bit more difficult.

'It was raining and it was also cold ... about 8 C ... so it was not a warm rain and it was really muddy.'

Sessford said he was nervous off the start, but pulled into third place after the first climb and stayed there throughout the course. He tried to move up, but couldn't catch the two riders in front of him.

'For the first few laps, it was close, but not after that. Both guys I race with regularly. The guy who won it (B.C.'s Neal Kindree) won the overall Canada Cup points title and is also a national champion.

'Raphael (GagnÈ, of Quebec) won some Canada Cups this year too and is also a national team member.'

Sessford's third-place finish in the U-23 category means he has a shot at the national development team, a step he will need to take in order to achieve his ultimate goalthe 2012 Olympics in London.

He did most of his training for this past season in Whitehorse, although he did travel to some races in Eastern Canada throughout May and June.

If he makes the development team, he'll likely be spending a lot more time outside of the territory, although he plans on training on Vancouver Island for the second half of the winter regardless.

Depending on the time of year, a typical training session for the cyclist runs between two and four hours per day. Right now, he's preparing for the TransRockies Challenge, a mountain bike adventure race through the Canadian Rockies, from Panorama to Fernie, B.C.

Hundreds of competitors from all over the world, including Olympians, take part in the race.

The event runs over seven days and is done in two-person teams. Sessford will race with fellow Yukoner Jonah Clark. The duo also raced as a team in the local 24 Hours of Light event earlier this summer, and are hoping for a podium finish in Fernie.

'It's about six hours a day of riding, so it will be tough,' said Sessford. 'But I think we can do really well.'

The TransRockies Challenge is done is two-person format for safety reasons, since it runs through a lot of backcountry.

The TransRockies Challenge runs August 12-18. Clark finished 11th overall in the 2005 event.

This weekend's Tour de Whitehorse will provide the two local athletes with one of their last competitive tests before they head to the Rockies.

The Tour de Whitehorse starts Friday at 7 p.m. and runs over three days.

The Prologue the opening salvo of the three stages of the Tour will be a four-kilometre charge down the Robert Service Way.

Starting at the visitor rest area at the top of the hill, riders will leave at 30-second intervals and by the time they reach the finish near the SS Klondike, will have averaged speeds of approximately 50 km/hr.

Saturday will see a 33-km time trial starting at 10 p.m.

Once again with riders starting at 30 second intervals, they will go south on the Alaska Highway over a rolling course approximately 16.5 km from the rest area at the top of the Robert Service Way. At that point, riders will cross the highway and return to the start.

Sunday will see a 90-km road race start at the junction of the North Klondike and Alaska Highways and ending at Braeburn Lodge, where the awards ceremony and BBQ will be held, and riders can enjoy one of the lodge's great cinnamon buns.

Registration will be Thursday night at 7 p.m. on the deck at the High Country Inn, and also on Friday night at 5 p.m. at the start of the Prologue.

If anyone has questions regarding the Tour, they can call Mike McCann in the evening at 668-3531.

VeloNorth Cycling Club would like to acknowledge and thank the City of Whitehorse and the Yukon government's Department of Highway's and Public Works for all their help and support.