BOUCHARD 27TH IN MEN'S MOUNTAIN BIKE AT RIO | Cycling Canada Cyclisme

BOUCHARD 27TH IN MEN’S MOUNTAIN BIKE AT RIO

(Rio, BRA – August 21, 2016) Léandre Bouchard was the top Canadian in the Olympic mountain bike race for men on Sunday, finishing 27th. Raphaël Gagné, Canada’s second rider, finished 40th. Bouchard finished the 34.5-kilometre race in a time of one hour, 42 minutes and 43 seconds. He was nine minutes and 15 seconds behind gold medalist Nino Schurter of Switzerland. Defending Olympic champion Jaroslav Kulhavy of the Czech Republic took the silver medal and Carlos Coloma Nicolas of Spain won bronze.

Heavy rain overnight made the course muddy and slippery. Both Bouchard and Gagné had good starts, exiting the start loop for the first of seven laps positioned in the mid-20s. Gagné struggled with the slippery conditions and dropped back, while Bouchard maintained his positioning until the second lap, when a rider stopped abruptly in front of him in the feed zone, causing the Canadian to crash. He dropped to the mid-30s, but gradually moved up in the final two laps from 32nd to his final finish of 27th.

“A rider stopped in front of me very quickly,” explained Bouchard, “and I had too much speed to brake or go around him, so I had a crash. But I tried to keep thinking positive and keep riding. It was more slippery after the rain than I expected, but it was the same for everyone. I’m satisfied with this result.”

“I am happy just to be here at the Olympics, it’s really amazing, everything is so big and it was like magic. After our team mates Catharine [Pendrel, bronze in women’s mountain bike] and Emily [Batty, fourth] did so well it helped my preparation. It was inspiring to see them, and I know that at my age I can still progress. This was a good experience for future Olympics.”

“It was definitely a hard race and I am disappointed with my result,” admitted Gagné. “My goal was top-20, so I’m disappointed. I was too far back for the first technical climb and got caught in traffic. Then I had problems getting into a good rhythm. It was pretty slippery and I maybe didn’t have the best tire on the back, but it was the same for everyone around me; everyone was off their bike to run up the climb. I have no regrets, I prepared as best as I could, and July and August was really good training. I just didn’t have it today.”

Canada concludes the Rio Games with two bronze medals in cycling, the best result since 2004.