TOP 25 FOR RUBY WEST & MAGHALIE ROCHETTE AT CYCLO-CROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Bogense, Denmark (February 4, 2019) – Five titles were awarded during the weekend at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Bogense, Denmark. Canadian champion Ruby West was the top Canadian rider of the weekend, finishing 20th in the Under-23 women’s competition.
Rochette, who was racing Saturday, admitted before the race that she had been struggling of late, with illness restricting her training in the two weeks leading up to the Championships. The Pan American and Canadian champion had a strong start, but faded to the mid-20s by the end of the first lap, and would remain in that position for the rest of the race.
“I’ve been sick for the last two weeks, and my training plan was to just try and recover,” said Rochette. “I’m happy about my ride; I couldn’t do any better. It was a real power course and the other girls were super strong. It’s just a reminder that if you want to be competitive you have to bring your ‘A’ game. I didn’t have that today, but I did the best I could with what I had.”
After damp and misty conditions on Saturday, Sunday offered sunshine and clear skies for much of the day, although a stiff breeze was blowing off the ocean.
West had a front row start in the U23 race, but was swamped in the very fast first lap, dropping to 19th. She rode as high as 18th in the first half of the race, before dropping a couple of spots in the second half.
“There was more traction today, so it was a blazing fast race from start to finish,” said West. “The start is tough because it is such a long pavement section. I missed my pedal a little bit and a split second is all it takes for everyone to swarm you. I tried my best to keep moving up, but everyone is at their max. Starting on the front row, I was thinking that a top-10 was pretty plausible, so I’m a little disappointed with the placing. I’m happy with the effort, but maybe not the result I was looking for.”
Scott Kelly, team manager for the Canadian squad, said “Overall, I’m really happy with how this project went. We had the World Cup final and Worlds as part of the project, and I’m really happy with the learning and development that went on. Our young cohort of riders is getting better every year and I’m looking forward to the progress we are going to see in the future.”
