Albstadt, Germany, May 22, 2018 – Canadian riders had some strong results at the second round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Albstadt, Germany, on May 19-20. In Elite women, Emily Batty (Trek Factory) finished 13th and Sandra Walter (Canadian National Team) 15th – her best-ever European World Cup result. In the Elite men’s race, national champion Peter Disera (Norco Factory) cracked the top-30, finishing 28th, while Canadian Under-23 champion Sean Fincham was 21st in the Under-23 men’s race.

Rain through the week made the circuit muddy and slick, with almost every rider in the Under-23 and Elite women’s races crashing at least once on the steep and technical descents. By the time the Elite men rode on Sunday afternoon, the track was starting to dry up a bit and they did not face the same conditions.

World champion Jolanda Neff of Switzerland dominated the Elite women’s race, leading from start to finish. Canada’s Catharine Pendrel (Clif Pro Team) had a strong start, and was in seventh place after the start loop, but went down hard on one of the drop offs, falling to the mid-teens before finishing 19th. Batty rode a consistent race in the low-teens, with one crash of her own, while Walter moved up from 46th on the start grid to the top-25 in the start loop. A strong second lap put her into 15th, and she maintained her standing for the remainder of the race.

“That was the definition of thick, heavy mud,” said Batty. “I think my bike is weighing at least 29-30 pounds right now.  It was a solid race; I was in the top spots but I was riding pretty clean with only one mistake. Through the race the mud got more dry and tacky, so the wheels were so heavy and you had to muscle the bike around. All in all, I thought it was a pretty decent race.”

“I ride in the mud all winter,” said Walter, “so when it starts getting crazy I know these are my conditions. I had a lot of fun out there. I definitely didn’t race a super clean race, but I felt confident and didn’t make too many mistakes. I’m really excited [with 15th] and thankful to the Canadian team and the staff for making it such a great project.”

In other Canadian results, Cindy Montambault was 42nd, Haley Smith (Norco Factory), who crashed hard on one of the drops, was 50th, and Catherine Fleury (Canadian National) was 64th.

Batty moves up one spot to 13^th in the World Cup standings, while Pendrel drops from seventh to 14th. Smith drops from 23rd to 34th, Walter debuts at 37th and Montambault is 39th.

In the Under-23 women, world champion Sina Frei of Switzerland took the lead from the start and never looked back, setting the fastest lap times on all but one lap. Laurie Arseneault was the top Canadian in 27th, followed by Juliette Tetreault in 32nd, Mackenzie Myatt (Canadian National Team) 40th and Anne Julie Tremblay (Canadian National Team) 48th.

The Elite men’s race saw world champion and defending World Cup champion Nino Schurter of Switzerland win his first World Cup of the year. Disera moved up steadily through the entire race, from 46th after the start loop, to 40th after Lap 1, then 34th, 30th and into 28th with two laps to go. Leandre Bouchard (KMC-Ekoi-SR Suntour) lost places on the start loop, but began to pull back spots in the second half of the race, to finish 34th. Raphael Gagne (Silverback OMX) was 57th and Andrew L’Esperance (Canadian National Team) 66th.

“It was pretty wild,” said Disera, “Haley [Smith] told the traction was pretty good, which made me happy, because here with the steep track, if it gets slippery it can be quite tricky. I rode well, except for an encounter with a tree, which caused me to lose six spots. I just continually fought and moved through groups. I’m happy with today, for sure.”

Schurter leads the standings with 450 points.  Disera moves up from 45th to 38th and Bouchard drops from 36th to 39th. L’Esperance is 75th and Gagne 76th.

In the Under-23 men’s race, Fincham, riding for the national team, rode up through the field to finish 21st after starting on the fifth row of the starting grid. He had two very strong laps to move into the top-20 and continued to advance over the next two laps, moving as high as 16th, before fading slightly in the last lap. Marc Andre Fortier (Pivot-OTE) also had a strong race, finishing 24th, followed by his team mate Raphael Auclair in 30th and Quinton Disera (Norco Factory) in 31st.

In other Canadian results, Gunnar Holmgren (Canadian National) rode up through the field from 120th on the start line to finish 63rd, with Felix Belhumeur (Pivot-OTE) 76th and Brody Sanderson 114th.

Gold Coast, Australia, April 12, 2018 – Canadian cyclists took their third medal of the Commonwealth Games on Thursday, with Haley Smith winning the bronze medal in the women’s Mountain Bike competition at Nerang Mountain Bike Trails, just west of Gold Coast. Emily Batty was fourth and Leandre Bouchard sixth in the men’s race.

The 4.6 kilometre course took riders on two long loops out and back from the start-finish at an outdoor velodrome. Not as technical as World Cup circuits, the course was fast and flowy.

The women’s race saw Smith challenge at the front in the first half lap, with English riders Annie Last and Evie Richards, followed closely by Canada’s Emily Batty. However, Smith made a mistake on one the steep climbs, losing multiple spots, and had to work her way back from seventh.

Batty was sitting in third by Lap 2, 45 seconds behind the two English riders. Smith steadily moved up to join Batty by Lap 4 and dropped her team mate on the next lap, but the two front spots were out of reach. Annie Last took the gold medal ahead of Richards.

“I didn’t have a lot of expectations for a specific performance when I came here,” said Smith. “I struggled this week with believing that I deserved to be here, so my Games experience was about feeling the atmosphere and being confident in myself and my preparation. When I got to the start line, all I wanted to do was race and it worked out. The first climb has three technical up sections and I think everybody had problems at least once during the race, but unfortunately mine was on the first lap. Annie and Evie got a gap there and I fell back to about seventh. From that point on, I was just chasing. I kept my head down and kept at it, and it played out.”

“This is a very different event [from world championships]; this is a major Games, but it is a smaller field. There are some top international performers here, and I didn’t really know what to expect of myself, and I don’t know I can compare it to a world championships. But I’m really happy, and this is something I will have for the rest of my life. I feel very proud and humbled, and fulfilled.”

Dan Proulx, National Mountain Bike Coach, said “It was a strong race for our women; the start was pretty challenging with lots of traffic and a tight climb. If you missed it, it was a game changer. I’m proud of the girls for fighting back and they rode the last quarter of the race strongly. It is early, early season for us, and we have a lot of work to do as the World Cups start.”

In the men’s race, the New Zealand duo of Anton Cooper and Sam Gaze quickly opened a gap on the field with Alan Hatherly of South Africa joining them. Bouchard got caught up in traffic, missing the front group but managing to bridge up to the chasers. He tried to attack a few times but could not open a gap on English rider Frazer Clacherty, finishing sixth in a sprint just behind Clacherty.

“My start was so-so,” said Bouchard, “I was stuck behind some other riders on the first climb, so I lost contact with the front group. I kept charging and was able to make contact with the chase group. I tried to attack on the third lap, but there wasn’t enough space to pass and I crashed. I kept pushing to try and get in medal contention, but the gap was too big. I attacked on the last lap, but it wasn’t enough to get rid of the English guy and he won the sprint for fifth. It was a great experience to be here with the national team and represent Canada.”

Victoria, BC, March 31^st, 2018 – The 28th season of the Mountain Bike Canada Cup cross-country series opens on March 31st at Bear Mountain Resort, just outside Victoria, BC. The Canada Cup has been the career starting point for many of Canada’s top professional and Olympic riders.

Situated in the foothills of Mount Finlayson with breathtaking views of Victoria’s seaside harbour, Bear Mountain Resort is the national training centre for Canada’s mountain bike squad, and offers vistas of the Olympic Mountain Range, the Strait of Georgia and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

In addition to the UCI sanctioned competitions for Elite and Junior men and women, the Bear Mountain Canada Cup will offer racing for age categories from kids to Masters. The 5.97 kilometre circuit opens with a sustained climb on pavement and singletrack before a long rough and rooty descent.

All three of Canada’s Commonwealth Games athletes will race at Bear Mountain – national women’s champion Emily Batty (Trek Factory), Haley Smith (Norco Factory) and Leandre Bouchard (KMC-Ekoi-SR Suntour). They will be joined by Olympic bronze medalist and defending champion Catharine Pendrel (Clif Pro) and national men’s champion Peter Disera (Norco Factory).

Mathieu Boucher, Director of Performance Development at Cycling Canada, said, “We are thrilled to open the Canada Cup series for the third year in a row at Bear Mountain Resort, the Training Center for our national Mountain Bike Program. Riders will be treated to an amazing and challenging course with all the hospitality that Bear Mountain Resort has to offer. The event will showcase Canada’s top riders as well as top international pros who will begin their season with the opening round of the Canada Cup; it will be a week-end packed with action and fun for all the Mountain Bike Community!”