Guthrie wins on home soil

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Canadian national champion Evan Guthrie crushed the competition at Bromont, winning his second consecutive World Cup race by over three minutes today. Dirk Peters of New Zealand was second, Andrew L'Esparance of Canada was third. Zach McDonald, a cyclo-cross specialist in the United States, took fourth spot and Carlos Enrique Moran Manzo of Mexico rounded out the podium with fifth.

"The course was much faster today...and almost everything was rideable," said Guthrie. "I've been feeling awesome." When asked about his impressive victory he added, "It was hard today. It wasn't easy at all."

The weather was the big story at Bromont this week. The newly-designed cross country course had been very muddy, particularly the singletrack sections in the woods. However, a very warm day on Saturday combined with a break in the rain showers dried the course dramatically for the Junior racing. Just a few hours later, the Elite men raced in extremely heavy rain.

The Bromont course rewarded good climbers who also had solid technical skills. Riders headed straight up the mountain before turning downhill for some spectacular singletrack switchbacks. Water was still flowing off the mountain in several areas which made for a few wet crossings. Rocks and log water bars were quite slick and demanded the rider's full attention.

Evan Guthrie, a powerful rider, took the hole shot at the start and never had to look back. Racing five laps, he increased his lead constantly during the event. Behind him riders quickly strung out and most of the competitors essentially settled into riding their own time trial.

Nine of the racers were from Canada while there were six from the United States. New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, and Chile were also represented.