The carnival that is the sport of cyclocross descended on Whitehorse last Saturday when Velonorth Cycle Club hosted the fourth annual YXYCross. Combining elements of road riding and mountain biking, cyclocross is one of the fastest growing cycling disciplines, but is not well-known outside Belgium where it is considered the national sport.

This esoteric sport involves unique traditions such as spectators ‘handing-up’ cans of beer or slices of bacon to riders mid-race.

Such was the scene at YXYCross, with event MC Mike McCann dishing out good-natured heckles to the adult riders over a thumping soundtrack of Euro-EDM. The overall winner, embodying the off-beat-cool aesthetic of the sport, was adorned in a collar-turned-up denim jacket for the entirety of the race. Chapeau sir!

Cyclocross courses are typically run on a 2-3km circuit, with a variety of terrain and obstacles including sand, mud, forest, stairs, steep climbs and descents, ramps, ‘flyovers’ and running. The YXYCross course at the Mt. Mac Ski Stadium included almost 100m of climbing per lap, stairs, wheel-sucking sand, hurdles and a monstrous flyover structure that gave spectators frequent opportunities to see the riders.

More than 90 riders took on the course across Junior (ages 6-11) and Senior (12 and up) races.

The six lap Senior Race saw defending champ Matthias Purdon take the win (complete with stylish jean jacket ensemble) by just 36 seconds over second place finisher Willie Bell. Ian Parker rounded out the podium, 1:23 off the pace. On the women’s side, Laura Salmon was the lone woman to tough out the full six laps and crossed the line in just over one hour.

The senior XC Ski Squad athletes tackled a shorter four-lap version of the Senior course. Master and pupil sprinted it out for the win with master Alain Masson taking a narrow victory over Jonah McConnell, in 37 minutes flat. Isidore Champagne claimed third, just 34 seconds behind the duo. On the ladies side, Minty Bradford was at the sharp end for the whole race, crossing the line fifth overall, first among females, in 39 minutes flat. Maude Molgat and Bella Mouchet finished second and third, respectively.

Forty-four youth ages 6-11 raced the Junior course, which consisted of a slightly modified, shorter version of the Senior course. Smiles were abundant, as they are when bicycle-riding is the order of the day. Junior results are unofficial as of press time but will be posted, along with photos, at https://velonorthyukon.ca.

Next up for Velonorth is the massively popular season finale, Gravel Growler, taking place October 2nd. Information and registration can be found on the club website https://velonorthyukon.ca.

Submitted by Joel Macht

OPEN RESULTS 4 LAPS. 2.96km/lap

NAME / PLACE / BIB # / TIME (GAP) / GAP

Alain Masson / 1 / 103 / 37:00 / -

Jonah McConnell / 2 / 111 / - / 0:00

Isidore Champagne / 3 / 107 / 37:34 / +0:34

Reid Sandiford / 4 / 79 / 38:19 / +1:19

Minty Bradford / 5 / 90 / 39:00 / +2:00

Phil Hoffman / 6 / 80 / 40:25 / +3:25

Finn Gallant / 7 / 106 / 40:49 / +3:49

Maude Molgat / 8 / 112 / 40:58 / +3:58

Alex Lebarge / 9 / 77 / 41:18 / +4:18

Fin Bradford / 10 / 81 / 41:48 / +4:48

Johannes Benkert / 11 / 84 / 42:06 / +5:06

Jan Zumer-Brewis / 12 / 109 / 42:30 / +5:30

Bella Mouchet / 13 / 104 / 42:42 / +5:42

Heron Land-Gillis / 14 / 83 / 43:10 / +6:10

Sylas Sanderson / 15 / 91 / 43:49 / +6:49

Kieran Horton / 16 / 85 / 45:04 / +8:04

Kolya Grottoli / 17 / 86 / 46:25 / +9:25

Sophia Giangrande / 18 / 114 / 46:45 / +9:45

Constance Lapointe / 19 / 105 / 46:50 / +9:50

Finnian Hanley / 20 / 82 / 47:15 / +10:15

Mavik MacKinnon / 21 / 92 / 47:16 / +10:16

Micah McConnell / 22 / 89 / 47:40 / +10:40

Colin McCann / 23 / 116 / 48:51 / +11:51

Sitka Land-Gillis / 24 / 93 / 49:16 / +12:16

OPEN RESULTS 6 LAPS. 2.96km/lap

NAME / PLACE / BIB # / TIME / GAP

Matthias Purdon / 1 / 135 / 49:46 / -

Willie Bell / 2 / 139 / 50:22 / +0:36

Ian Parker / 3 / 140 / 51:09 / +1:23

Joel Macht / 4 / 141 / 52:37 / +2:51

Peter Sandiford/ / 5 / 144 / 52:52 / +3:06

Vincent Lapierre / 6 / 145 / 53:38 / +3:52

J.P. Molgat / 8 / 143 / 54:30 / +4:44

Geof Harries / 7 / 134 / 55:00 / +5:14

John Stamp / 9 / 133 / 55:24 / +5:38

Michael Marceau / 10 / 132 / 55:26 / +5:40

Evan Wise / 11 / 138 / 55:50 / +6:04

Daniel Phillips-Freedman / 12 / 136 / 56:05 / +6:19

Jonah Clark / 13 / 146 / 56:13 / +6:27

Kevin MacGillivray / 14 / 130 / 56:33 / +6:47

Ross Phillips / 15 / 137 / 57:26 / +7:40

Brian Horton / 16 / 129 / 58:15 / +8:29

Laura Salmon / 17 / 142 / 1:02:00 / +12:14

Thomas Tetz / 18 / 131 / 51:01 (5 laps) / +1 lap