Canada Man / Woman Extreme Triathlon
Jerome Bresson & Lyne Bessette Claim the Titles
Press Release / 09.07.2018
Jérôme Bresson wins his bet. The 35-year-old athlete became Sunday the new master of CANADA MAN/WOMAN when he won the second edition of the XTREME TRIATHLON presented in the region of Lac-Mégantic. For a second year in a row, the fastest woman is the Olympic athlete from Sutton Lyne Bessette. The 43-year-old triathlete keeps her title won in 2017 and even reached the 3rd place overall, behind Bresson and Sylvain Lafrance.
Bresson completed the 3.8 k swim, 180 k bike and 42 k road and trail running in a time of 10:59:37, thus lowering the mark established in 2018 by British Chris Stirling, winner of the inaugural edition in 11:08:24.
The new champion from Saint-Théodore-d’Acton achieved his goal by improving his time of 11:23:58, which earned him the 2nd place last year. Accompanied by his family, the winner crossed the arrival arch just in front of the Mont-Mégantic Observatory after a long journey of endurance and tenacity totalling 226 kilometers, in better weather conditions than last year.
“My ultimate goal was 10:45, but with the wind while biking, it was quite difficult and I was more or less in the time I had set, tells Bresson. I worked on a more relaxed pace at the beginning of the running course to be able to finish in force. Once in the trail, I knew I had to run a 1 hour 22 in the last portion to go under eleven hours. I can really say that my race has been perfect from start to finish. I didn’t have a huge loss of power, my assistant helped me well. I reached my goal! ”
Bresson came out of the lake in 4th place with a time of 01:01:16. It was on two wheels that he managed to close the gap of less than 6 minutes that separated him from the leader, Nicolai Siggel, 41, of Montreal. Bresson, who is now aiming for a top 10 at the next Norseman in Norway, took the lead before the 80th kilometre and kept it until the end of the race. He maintained an average pace of 31.8 km per hour on a bike, 5:14 per km in the first portion of the marathon and 9:01 per km in the ultimate climb to the summit of Mont-Mégantic.
The winner was nearly one hour ahead of the 42-year-old Sylvain Lafrance from Victoriaville, 2nd with a time of 11:54:06, just ahead of Lyne Bessette, 3rd with a time of 12:02:00 and champion in the ladies’ category.
Lafrance, 5th in 2017, was 8th when he came out of the lake. He moved three positions during the bike course before continuing his progression to the podium and, in the meantime, cutting eight minutes to his last years’ time. “The first goal is to beat our time, then the position is secondary, but second, I’ll take it! Men’s top three was completed by Éric Gauvin, 37, from Bromont. Gauvin collapsed with joy on arrival, after 12:15:39 of transcendence. He was especially proud to have completed the course 65 minutes faster than his previous participation.
For her part, Bessette has adopted different strategies this year. She chose not to swim before the endurance race and use a time-trial bike, which was successful for her. Last year, the Sutton Olympian finished 10th among all participants at 12:37:43. ‘This year, I did not swim in front, I left behind the pack and I came out of the water five minutes earlier,’ she explains. Anyway, I hate swimming! For my biking, it helped me on the climbs, my legs were lighter. It was hot, for sure, but I did not suffer from it. ”
It then took more than two hours to know who would complete the women’s podium. 39-year-old Uruguayan Federica Frontini managed to beat 31-year-old Montrealer Joannie Desroches in the third leg of the event. The two women succeeded each other on arrival, respectively after 14:14:21 and 14:21:12 of ups and downs.
A Long Day Under The Sun And Under The Sign Of Improvement
It should be noted that the majority of extreme triathletes returning for a second participation in Lac-Mégantic have significantly improved their time. This is the case of the only athlete from the Lac-Mégantic region, Félix Guèvremont. He finished his second CANADA MAN/WOMAN with a time of 12:39:59, compared to 13:16:25 in 2017. This time, the 8th in the men’s category, allowed him to jump in the overall standings. He moved from 18th place last year to 9th this year. “When I got back into the field, it was getting hot. I tried to keep my pace. In the woods, I was fine. I had a loss of energy in Mount St. Joseph, but it passed quickly. It’s hard to ask better than a day like today, it was just perfect! ”
If Guèvremont is the only representative of Mégantic region to have reached the top in solo, he was not the only one at the start. The first Mégantic participant and the oldest woman enrolled in 2018, 62-year-old Maryse Couët made many emotions emerge early in the day when she reached the beach of the Baie-des-Sables tourist resort. The one who practically did not know how to swim 18 months ago, swam, not without difficulty, the 3.8 km in 02:29:58. She then practically completed the bike course before leaving the race.
Several other athletes from the region took part in the event, in the Team category. Moreover, a Mégantic trio, Les Jeunetrix, finished in 3rd place (11:19:39), behind Mouv C (10:35:24) of Shawinigan and Le Coureur Siboire (10:45:52) of Sherbrooke.
The CANADA MAN/WOMAN EXTREME TRIATHLON will be back in 2019 for a third year. The extreme adventure weekend is scheduled for July 6 and 7 2019.
Le CANADA MAN/WOMAN sera de retour en 2019 pour une troisième année. Le week-end d’aventure extrême est prévu les 6 et 7 juillet 2019. Will you dare to take the challenge to reach the stars before midnight?
Highlights of the day
Number of liters of water transpired by all athletes: enough to fill an Olympic pool.
Number of steps taken: recalculation in progress.
Number of kilometers crossed by participants: 38,182.
Number of marriage proposals at the top: 1
Number of marriage proposals accepted at the top: 1
About CANADA MAN/WOMAN and ENDURANCE AVENTURE
CANADA MAN/WOMAN is among the seven XTRI WORLD TOUR races, a circuit that forces athletes to push themselves beyond what may seem humanly possible. The XTRI WORLD TOUR also includes the Norseman, the Celtman, the Swissman, the Alaskaman, the Swedeman, and the Jánošík—Slovak.
The extreme triathlon was the highlight of the CANADA MAN/WOMAN weekend organized by ENDURANCE AVENTURE, a leader in the preparation and presentation of unique international sports events, in partnership with the town of Lac-Mégantic.
The sprint triathlon presented by Tafisa on Saturday, July 7th, was the affair of Philippe Tremblay, 25, from Montreal, winner in 1:13:29. Elizabeth Pellerin, 31, from Drummondville, was the women’s champion in 01:27:18. The sprint represents a not-to-be-missed event, a challenge that more than 250 athletes have signed up for this year.
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