Quantcast
Channel: Blogs
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 10

Team Canada ISDE Round Up Report

0
0
Team Canada ISDE Round Up Report

It has been a long road to Olbia Italy for the 2013 Canadian ISDE team.  With many first time riders mixed with veteran ISDE riders, Canada put together one of its best results in many years.  11 of Canada's 13 riders will be returning to Canada as ISDE medalists which is one of the best showings in Canadian history.  Here is a rider by rider recap from the 2013 ISDE event in Olbia.

Womens World Trophy Team

DSC08536

With a completely revamped Womens team for 2013, first time ISDE attendees Shelby Turner, Lexi Pechout and Felicia Robichaud put together the best team performance for Canada.  Running as high as 2nd place, the Canadian girls proved that they are a player on the world stage.  The team came home from Olbia with 1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze.

DSC09818

Shelby Turner made Canadian history by bringing home Canada's first gold ever medal in Womens Trophy competition. Running in the top 6 for the entire event, Shelby put together a consistent fast ride that has grabbed the attention of many people back home in Canada and on the International stage. Shelby plans to return to Team Canada again in 2014 with her sights set on Argentina and working towards moving up in the womens world of off road.

DSC09865

Not to be outdone, Lexi Pechout grabbed Canada's first ever Silver medal at the 2013 ISDE.  It was an up and down week for the young 16 year old from Alberta, but Lexi pushed through the adversity to nab her first ever ISDE medal.  The youngest competitor in the Womens Trophy class, she has proven that she is among the best young up and coming riders in the womens off road world.

DSC09600

Felicia Robichaud got her first Bronze medal in international competition and pushed through the event to finish her first ever ISDE.  The terrain proved challenging for the 18 year old from Quebec, but Felicia kept a positive attitude and completed the event with a smile on her face.  Riding with top club riders for the last three days of the event, she showed her Canadian pride and completed the event with a strong motocross on Day 6.

Jr. World Trophy Team

Jr._Team

With three of the four members of the Canadian Jr. Trophy team being new to the event, Team Canada had high hopes for this group of young riders, and they did not disappoint at all.  Riding with the worlds best young off road riders, they proved their place in the off road world and came home with 1 gold medal and 2 silvers.

DSC09758

Tyler Murray was the top Canadian this year and showed he has a place amongst the worlds best junior riders.  Tyler finished in the top 40 and was consistent on gold medal pace all week.  Tyler is now getting set for his second passion of skiing and is on his way to Innsbruck Austria to start training for his winter season.  

DSC09765

What can you say about Jared Stock?  Well you can now call him an ISDE silver medalist.  The 22 year old from Medicine Hat Alberta who crossed over from MX this year showed he has what it takes for the grueling 6 day event.  With a few crashes and a black eye to go with them, Jared showed the determination to complete his first ever ISDE.   Jared plans on attending the 2014 ISDE in Argentina to once again represent Canada.

Ty

Returning Team Canada ISDE rider Ty McKenna came home with a Silver medal.  Improving on his Bronze medal from the 2011 ISDE in Finland, Ty showed great determination and adjusted to the terrain of Olbia.  The Alberta natived from Medicine Hat was consistent throughout the entire event and showed that the future is bright for Canadian off road.

Phil

Finally, Team Canada rider Philippe Chaine from Quebec was running a solid race.  Unfortunately for Philippe his race was cut short on Day 4.  Philippe required 6 stiches to close a cut that went straight to the bone after a crash on Day 4.  Up until that point, he was running second amongst the Canadian junior riders and in the top 40.  Hopefully, this will not be the last we see of Philippe at the ISDE, as he has shown that he belongs with the worlds best riders.

Club Team West


Team Canada West was comprised of three veteran ISDE riders.  Shane Cuthbertson, Mark Dzikowski and Craig Murray showed they were here to medal right from the start.   

Shane

What can you say about Shane Cuthbertson that hasn't already been said before.  Arguably Canada's most prolific international rider in recent memory was a calming and consistent presence in the Team Canada paddock over the entire event.   He made time to talk with Canada's women and junior teams and lend his experience to them along the way.  Shane led by example and came to the ISDE with his eyes set on the gold, and he acheived his goal on winning his first ISDE gold medal.  

Mark

Returning from Germany was Alberta rider Mark Dzikowski who came to Olbia looking to improve on his result.  Mark rode a solid and consistent race and walked away from the 2013 ISDE with a Bronze medal.  Now with two ISDE bronze medals and with even more experience, Canada will hopefully have this great rider back in Argentina to lend his experience moving forward.

Craig

When you think of over coming adversity, you now have to think of Craig Murray from British Columbia. Craig overcame a 15 minute delay on Day 5 to change his stator to claim yet another ISDE Bronze medal.  He also showed that age is no reason not to come to the ISDE and wear the maple leaf with pride.  At 54 years old, Craig was the measure of calming influence for the young crop of Canadian riders at their first ISDE.

Club Team Interprovincial

In 2013, Club Team Interprovincial was led by ISDE veteran Patrick Tremblay of Quebec and first time ISDE riders Kenny Beach of Ontario and Sean McKenzie of Alberta.  

Patrick

Entering his third ISDE in a row, Patrick repeated his Bronze medal performances from Finland and Germany. Being a veteran ISDE rider, Patrick was also a great role model for fellow Quebec rider Philippe Chaine who has refered to him as "Uncle Patrick". He is also getting married while in Olbia to make his time at the 2013 ISDE even more memorable.  Congratulations Patrick and Kathia!

Kenny

Perth Ontario native Kenny Beach attended his first ISDE and came home with a Bronze medal for his efforts.  Kenny has been training for this event for over a year and his efforts paid off.  Kenny worked through a few challenging diciplines to earn his medal, even riding his first ever MX on day 6.

Sean

Last but not least was Sean McKenzie.  Sean had a challenging ISDE with his bike and had to rebuild his top end road side on Day 3.  He restarted on Day 4 and had more bike issues which was the end of his ISDE.  Sean provided the team with a smile throughout the event and always provided the team with a positive attitude with his fun loving nature.  If you ever see Sean at one of your local race.....just ask for a hug and you will surely get one.  Watch for Sean to return to Argentina in 2014.

Overall, the 2013 ISDE was a great success for Canada.  As stated above, 11 of the 13 Canadian riders are returning home with medals and represented Canada at a truly high level.  Everyone in Canada from Newfoundland to British Columbia should be proud of every single rider that attended this year.  

On a personal note, it was a great priviledge to be at the 2013 ISDE with this team and covering the event for the magazine and would like to thank everyone who checked in on the photo reports in the first week.  The sense of patriotism shown by these riders was truly inspirational and uplifting in the good and bad times at the event.  They came together as a family over these past two weeks and everyone came away with a remarkable experience.

Whether you were a family memeber, a sponsor, a rider or a media guy like myself, be sure to thank these riders for representing Canada at the highest level on the international stage.  Not only did the riders come home winners, the entire country of Canada are winners and should be proud that this team wore the maple leaf with great pride.

Congratulations everyone and Congratulations to Canada!

{fcomment}



Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 10

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images