Stage racing is always exciting because of the element of the unknown. The longer racing goes on, the better competitors know each other, the better they can race each other and the more likely it is that pushing your luck will result in pushing too far. Add in the literal unknown of racing in a remote area of the B.C Rocky Mountains and anything can happen.
On the final of three days of TransRockies Gravel Royale racing, quite a bit ended up happening.
Poutine Mafia owns podium, keeps rolling
Alexis Cartier and Julien Gagne, the self-made Poutine Mafia, had a stranglehold on the 2024 Gravel Royale from day one. Cartier won both stages and started the final day with a small advantage over Gagne, who finished second in a sprint and third in the preceding stages. The Quebec duo were facing a mounting challenge, though, from the combined efforts of Cory Wallace and Carter Nieuwesteeg. The two Rocky Mountain locals, though from different locales (Wallace is from Jasper, Alta, and Nieuwesteeg is from Fernie, B.C.) were intent on defending their home turf.
On Monday, that challenge fell flat. Literally. Wallace was doing his best to stay with the two leaders when a major flat tire slowed him down considerably. Nieuwesteeg had even less luck, reportedly breaking a rim early in the stage and being forced out of the race. That left multi-time Canadian cyclocross national champion Michael van den Ham to roll across the line third on the day and, with that, move up onto the overall podium.
But the challenge wasn’t the only upheaval on the day. Gagne chose the final day to launch an attack of his own. Taking the win on the final day, Gagne also moved 1:14 ahead of Cartier to win the 2024 TrackRockies Gravel Royale overall.
In the true spirit of gravel, the two Quebec riders bike packed several hundred kilometers from the Calgary airport to the race venue at Nipika Mountain Resort. Their extended cool down includes continuing on across the province all the way to Vancouver, B.C.
Chelsee Pummel K.O.’s women’s TransRockies Gravel Royale
In the women’s race, Bozeman, Montana’s Chelsee Pummell rode to a clean sweep of the Gravel Royale. The U.S. racer never put a tire wrong in three days in the Rockies,…
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