CROSS-COUNTRY CRUISERS
Pushing hard in Gatineau Loppet
Andy Shields could feel his legs burning, his body was telling him to stop.
But as a cross-country skier who’s competed on a world stage, the 27-year-old with strong local roots pushed on, winning the Gatineau Loppet 51K Free technique race Sunday. It was his second straight win — on Saturday, he took the lead with about 30K to go and with a time of 2:35:57.8 to beat Gatineau’s Dominique Moncion-Groulx by almost 40 seconds.
On Sunday, he battled right to the finish line at Mont-Bleu High School — his time of 2:17:20.4 was just one second ahead of Francis Izquierdo-Bernier of Saint-Adolphe D’howard. David Gregoire was third in 2:20:31.9.
“My tank was really running on fumes,” said Shields, who was born in Ottawa, grew up in Kitchener-Waterloo and lives in Thunder Bay. “I was getting pretty dizzy and was really close to bonking entirely. My legs were seizing up. It was a tough two days. (Saturday) was the hardest I’ve gone for Day 1 here. Today was not easy.
“I’m used to it. We do it in training a lot. Today was a bit special — it’s been 102K of racing in two days so you’re at your limit for a lot longer. Everyone else is in the same boat as you, you have you to remember they’re suffering as well and that kind of helps.”
Izquierdo-Bernier, a 20-yearold racing in his first 51K competition (normally he races 15 or 20 km), gave Shields all he could handle after sitting out Saturday’s race to be rested.
“Francis really put the gears to us, he was really strong,” said Shields. “I’m super impressed with how he skied. That was not easy. He was pushing the pace, I had to follow him for the last 15K.”
Asked about taking Saturday off, Izquierdo-Bernier, in his first year as a senior competitor, said: “I was always better in the skating technique. I thought I could do the two 51s, but I’m better to do one good in the skate than two mediums.” The race took its toll. “The last five kilometres were really hard,” he said. “Your legs are so burning all the downhill. The tuck is so hard. At the end, it’s all flat, but you don’t have anything left in the body.
“I hoped Andy was more tired from (Saturday). My strategy was to test his legs from how hard he worked (Saturday), but he did a great job. His strategy was pretty good — when we did the gap, letting me go through knowing he probably had a better sprint than me.
“I’m really happy. But next year, I will be better. I do cycling in the summer so it helps me a bit for the longer distances. I’m used to doing 180K races. It’s not the same muscles. Bicycle is easier for the first 150Ks. Here, you have to work hard for the whole race.”
Shields’ parents Kevin (a coach with the Nakkertok ski club) and Susan live not far from the finish line of the race. Shields has been staying at his parents’ home.
“I ate lots of food, I was at the dinner table for three or four hours (Saturday),” said Shields. “There were a lot of leftovers in the fridge at the start, now there aren’t many. A lot of rice went down the hatch, some meat and some salad.”
Next up for Shields is an all-expenses-paid trip overseas for the China Sprint Tour, then he’ll return to this area for the Canadian Ski Nationals March 13-20 (a qualifier for the World Cup finals) at Nakkertok. Late in 2018, Shields competed in World Cup events.
“The level of skiing at the start of the year on the World Cup is insane,” he said. “I had two 60ths, that’s actually pretty solid for me.”
Shields sells ski wax online during the competitive season and co-owns a painting company that keeps him busy the rest of the year.
“It’s kind of physical, you’re putting up ladders and climbing up and down,” said Shields. “I seem to be able to work full-time and still maintain my shape.”
27K FREE WINNERS: Gatineau’s Luc Campbell, who won the 27K Classic a day earlier, completed his weekend sweep by finishing first in the men’s 27K Free Sunday in 1:23:01.9, followed by Shawinigan’s Stephane Martel (1:23:02.5) and Chelsea’s Dave McMahon (1:23:07.6). Val d’Or’s Myriam Grenier-Levesque won the women’s 27K Free (1:37:22.9), followed by Claudia Egginger (1:38:52.9) and Annie Chenard (1:39:12.7).
10K FREE WINNERS: Gatineau’s William Berube won the men’s 10K Free (27:45.6), followed by Mathieu Pelletier (29:11.1) and Adrian Hayden (30:21.6). Chelsea’s Tove Halvorsen won the women’s 10K Free (27:46.5), followed by Jazmine Lavergne (31:27.3) and Britt Halvorsen (31:57.3).
10K SNOWSHOE WINNERS: Gatineau’s Maxime Leboeuf won the men’s division (53:55.2), followed by Nikolas Dube-Nakata (55:40.6) and Dave McMahon (55:48.2). Ottawa’s Lynda Gingras was tops in the women’s division (56:01.4), followed by Mary Thompson (59:49.6) and Marika Mougeot (1:00:38.6)
5K SNOWSHOE WINNERS: Levis’ Olivier Garneau was the men’s winner in 23:11.0, followed by Samuel Frechette (24:20.2) and Eric White (25:40.0). Gatineau’s Lisa Caissie won the women’s event in 29:27.5, followed by Meanne Larochelle (33:40.4) and Brianna Hebert (35:48.9).