Quebec owns Iceman Cometh

The Bell’s Iceman Cometh Challenge professional championships will be returning to Canada, as thousands of riders braved the fierce 30-mile mountain Bike race Saturday at Timber Ridge Resort.  
Both professional men's and women's Iceman race champions hail from Quebec, Canada.
In the men’s race, Zorak Paille won with a time of 1:39:35, with an average pace of 18.6 mph.
“This is my third time racing here. Last year, I wasn't here. 
And this year, I came into this week uncertain because I had hurt my knee, so I wasn't sure I would be coming anymore. And then my friends convinced me,” Paille said. “I had my teammate in the race, Owen Clark, and we knew that we got to do something good today … With all the fans, I just knew I had to go all in. We made a move halfway through, and we stuck to the plan. Got it done.”
Paille said the race was very tactical to start, which is unique to the Iceman challenge, compared to other mountain bike races.
“If you can't make it to the front, you'll kind of get stuck behind. You've got to stay up front, and then at the halfway point, I knew everyone would start giving it their all,” Paille said.  “I know all these (Canadians) and I have raced with them since I was young, and we have a good crew.”
Top-10: 2. Alexander Woodford (Ottawa); Mika Comaniuk (Quebec); Owen Clark (Ontario); Alexey Vermeulen (Boulder, CO); Brian Matter (Prescott, AZ); Noah Ramsay (Toronto); Leandre Bouchard (Quebec); Daxton Mock (Lake Mills, WI); Jordan Wakeley (Grayling).
The Iceman Challenge is a 30-mile point-to-point mountain bike race that starts in Kalkaska and finishes in Traverse City. The race traverses through two-tracks and single-track trails, attracting thousands of riders of all skill levels. There were over 5,000 riders at this year's event.
The total purse for this year's event was $72,000, with top riders earning up to $6,000, depending on their division and placement.
In the girls race, Quebec’s Laurie Arseneault narrowly defeated Emma Schwab of Williamsburg by a second to secure her first championship on the Iceman track with a time of 1:59:07.74 with an average speed of 15.6 mph.
“(The Iceman Cometh) has become one of my big goals for the year,” Arseneault said. “I needed to save some energy for the end because I knew I didn't know what was going to play out at the end with the big climb … The last eight miles were pretty hilly.”
TOP-10: 3. Deanna Mayles (Colorado Springs); Erin Osborne (Prescott, AZ); Marjorie Bemis (Indianapolis); Jenna Rinehart (Mankato, MN); Katja Opfer (Kalamazoo); Ruby Ryan (Durango, CO); Crystal Anthony (Bentonville, AR); Michaela Thompson (Durango, CO).
Camille Coffin of Traverse City dominated the Iceman junior girls race with a time of 2:35:00, beating the nearest competitor by nearly 42 minutes.
Rylan Zacharek of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, won the Iceman boys junior race with a time of 1:58:00
In the Bell's Iceman Cometh Challenge (amateur), Christopher Destochers of Ortonville won with a time of 1:54:51.82, while Sarah Uh of Rochester took home first with a time of 2:20 minutes.
Erik Dondzila and Phil Schiller of Canton won the Tandem Iceman Cometh for the men (2:12:25.80), while Paul Leonard of Sterling Heights won the slush cup with a time of 37:55. Sydney Doose won the women's slush cup with a time of 51:19.