A St. Albert cyclist will be racing in Europe this month after winning a silver medal at Canada’s national cyclo-cross championships.
Christiane Bilodeau of St. Albert won a silver medal Nov. 25 during the Elite Women’s event at the 2023 Lazer Canadian Cyclo-Cross Championships in Saanish, B.C. The win puts her in contention to be one of Canada’s representatives at the 2024 UCI World Cyclo-Cross Championships next February.
Bilodeau, 22, said anyone who finishes in the top three at a national event has a chance to advance to the world championships.
“The selection criteria is looking promising on my behalf,” she said, but there’s no guarantee that she will get one of those coveted slots for the race.
One muddy race
Bilodeau represented Alberta at the 2022 Summer Games in Niagara Falls and placed 31st in the 2023 UCI World Cyclo-Cross Championships in the U23 Women category.
Bilodeau, who recently earned her Bachelor of Science from the University of Alberta, said she got into cycling in high school through triathlon and switched over to cyclo-cross three years ago after being introduced to it during a competition.
Cyclo-cross mixes the speed of road racing with the technical challenge of mountain biking, with competitors navigating short courses that are packed with obstacles, Bilodeau explained. A typical race might see riders slog through mud, bunny-hop over low walls, sprint up stairs, and ride perpendicular to steep slopes.
“One big one I find really fun is (when) they’ll put a giant sand pit in the course and you ride through the sand,” Bilodeau said.
St. Albert doesn’t have a dedicated cyclo-cross track, so Bilodeau said she generally makes up her own by riding over grass, trails, gravel, and whatever rough terrain she can find. She often trains in and around the former Father Jan school.
Cyclo-cross races require specialized bikes that cost thousands of dollars as well as pit crews to fix problems caused by the extreme course conditions, Bilodeau said. It has been a challenge for her to fund, she acknowledged, as her race schedule limits her to part-time jobs, so she has been looking for sponsors.
Bilodeau said the 3.5 km course at Saanish started out pretty cold and muddy on the 25th, but had warmed and dried up by the time her afternoon event started. The twisty course featured five laps of mud, barricades, grass, rocks, slopes, and other challenges.
“You have to learn where to put your power down and where to put your effort,” she said, and when to let your fellow competitors take the lead and plow a trail.
Bilodeau finished with a time of 47:51.01, crossing the finish line about 1:47 after defending champion Ava Holmgren (46:04.00). She said she was happy to see her hard work pay off, especially after her slow start to this season due to illness.
“It was nice to hear people cheering,” she said, with many of the senior racers sticking around to cheer on the younger competitors.
Bilodeau said she planned to head to Europe this month to take part in the World Cups series of races. She will find out if she’s headed to the world championships this January.
Bilodeau said anyone who rides a bike could learn a lot from cyclo-cross.
“It’s a really great way to push yourself to learn new things.”
