FIVE PODIUMS FOR CANADIAN ATHLETES AT 2021 PAN AMERICAN CYCLOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Garland, Texas (December 6, 2021) – Over twenty Canadian cyclists competed at the 2021 Pan American Cyclocross Championships in Garland, Texas, over the weekend, with athletes bringing home five medals, including a Junior title for Orillia’s Ava Holmgren.
Ava shared the podium with her twin sister, Isabella, who took home the bronze in the same event. The pair have had a tremendous start to the season, both finishing on the podium across numerous races in mountain bike and cyclocross. On the Elite side, former U23 Pan American champion Ruby West was competing in the Elite field for the first time, where she finished second to clinch a silver medal.
“I had one of my best races ever in 7 years of racing cyclocross,” said Holmgren. “After the pre-ride, I wasn’t feeling very confident about the longer pedalling sections because I know how strong my other competitors are, but my legs were feeling great! All I needed was a good start and to follow through with my plan, which I did. The support from the amazing Team Canada crew, teammates, and my family made everything so much better. I am so happy about this accomplishment as a first-year Junior and I’m looking forward to competing at more international races.”
Two additional silver medals were claimed by Canadian men in the Junior and U23 races, with Tyler Clark sprinting to second place in the highly competitive men’s U23 field, while U17 Canadian XCO Mountain Bike U17 champion Ian Ackert also won silver in the Junior race.
“It felt great to be riding at the front of a big race like Pan Ams,” said Clark. “To be racing for the win with all the Canadians yelling from the side was amazing. I’m super happy to finally make it onto a Pan Am Championship podium and I’d like to give a big shout out to all the other Canadians who put down very good results!”
Other notable results include top-10 finishes by Owen Clark, Matthew Leliveld, Hugo Brisebois, Katelyn Walcroft, Christiane Bilodeau, Luke Valenti, Alex Woodford, Jenaya Francis and Kiara Lylyk. Full results from the weekend can be found here.
