Oro-Medonte, ON (July 21, 2019) – Over 700 athletes came out to the Canadian XCO Championships on Saturday at Hardwood Ski & Bike, 75 minutes north of Toronto. Two familiar faces stood on top of the podium in the Elite races, with Emily Batty (Trek Factory) winning her fourth consecutive women’s title, and Peter Disera (Norco Factory) winning his third consecutive Elite men’s title. In the Under-23 races, Laurie Arsenault (ACQ) and Quinton Disera (Norco Factory) won their first titles in the category.

Both riders won in similar fashion: riding with their top rivals for the first few laps before pulling away in the second half of the race, despite heat and humidity that pushed temperatures to the mid-30s.

“I think it just came down to turning on for an event that I wanted to do well in,” said Batty, who has struggled in the first half of the World Cup season. “I definitely had a slow start to the season and have been overcoming a bunch of obstacles, but I think it is starting to come around.”

“The hat trick is cool, and I’m super excited to race here at home,” said Disera, whose family lives within 15 minutes of the race site. “This is week five [in a row] of racing for me, so I’m pretty tired. All the media attention is cool and I’m happy to talk, but it kept the high a little too high and stacked on pressure for this weekend, so I was a little bit excited and a little bit nervous going into this race.”

Results
U17 Women: 1- Nicole Bradbury 2- Marin Lowe 3- Ella Myers
U17 Men: 1- Owen Clark 2- Hugo Brisebois 3- Médéric Carrier
Junior Women: 1- Emilly Johnston 2- Magdeleine Vallières-Mill 3- Samuelle Baillargeon
Junior Men: 1- Carter Woods 2- Vincent Thiboutot 3- Hamish Graham
U23 Women: 1- Laurie Arsenault 2- Mackenzie Myatt 3- Marianne Théberge
U23 Men: 1- Quinton Disera 2- Raphael Auclair 3- Tyler Orschel
Elite Women: 1- Emily Batty 2- Catharine Pendrel 3- Sandra Walter
Elite Men: 1- Peter Disera 2- Léandre Bouchard 3- Marc-André Fortier

For full results, please visit: http://racetiming.ca/neweventpage.php?EventId=1924.

Les Gets (July 15, 2019) – Canadian riders had a strong weekend in Les Gets, France, at Round 4 of the Mountain Bike World Cup. Sean Fincham (Norco Factory) had his first World Cup podium, finishing third in Under-23 men, moving him to fourth in the overall standings. Haley Smith (Norco Factory) was sixth in Elite women, as was Peter Disera in Elite men, and they are now both tenth in the overall standings. In the Junior men’s Downhill competition, Canadians Patrick Laffey and Seth Sherlock, both riding in Team Canada colours finished second and third respectively, while Lucas Cruz (SRAM TLD Racing) was fifth.

“All in all, I cannot complain,” said Disera. “I had the ride of my life and my legs were great.  My head was quiet and focused – completely autonomous execution. The podium would be cool but I’m 24 and we are only halfway through the World Cups!”

For complete results, visit https://www.uci.org/mountain-bike/results.

Albstadt, Germany (May 20, 2019) – Canadian mountain bikers Haley Smith (Norco Factory) and Peter Disera (Norco Factory) each had career best performances on Sunday at the opening round of the World Cup in Albstadt, Germany. Smith cracked the top ten, finishing ninth in a world-class field of women, while Disera took nineteenth in the elite men’s competition.

“I have so many demons at Albstadt,” said Smith. “I’ve DNF’d before, and I was 50th last year. My goal today was to just beat the course and ride for myself, and I’m really proud that I did that. I knew I just had to be patient and ride to my own pace, because Albstadt is a race of attrition. I stayed calm and just picked people off the whole race.”

“After the short track on Friday I landed myself a second row start, so before I knew it, I was top-10. It wasn’t a great physical performance, and I had to fight hard mentally to stay in it.  It was a tough day all around, and when the skies opened up it got real wild out there,” said Disera.

Ottawa, ON (May 14, 2019) – Eight Elite and U23 athletes will be competing at the opening rounds of the UCI Mountain Bike XCO World Cup in Team Canada colours. Leading the squad are two time world champion Catharine Pendrel of Kamloops, BC, and reigning Pan American champion Raphael Gagne of Quebec City. The team will compete in Albstadt, Germany, on May 17-19 and Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, on May 24-26.

“This is a good chance to test our fitness and equipment in World Cup competition,” said Dan Proulx, Mountain Bike Head Coach at Cycling Canada. “There isn’t too much pressure as it’s early season and our bigger goals are later in the season. We’re bringing a good team of experienced riders along with some newer athletes hoping to gain experience.”

Team Canada
Laurie Arsenault – Terrebonne, QC [Under-23 Women]
Raphael Gagne – Quebec City, QC [Elite Men]
Gunnar Holmgren – Orillia, ON [Under-23 Men]
Cindy Montambault – Val-David, QC [Elite Women]
Mackenzie Myatt – Musquodoboit Harbour, NS [Under-23 Women]
Catharine Pendrel – Kamloops, BC [Elite Women]
Marianne Theberge – Levis, QC [Under-23 Women]
Sandra Walter – Coquitlam, BC [Elite Women]

Aguascalientes, Mexico (April 7, 2019) – Canada’s Raphael Gagne won the Elite men’s title at the Continental Mountain Bike Championships on Saturday, in Aguascalientes, Mexico, after previously winning the silver medal in 2013 and bronze medal in 2014. Catharine Pendrel was the top Canadian in the Elite women’s race, finishing fourth.

Held at 2000 metres altitude, the Pan American championships offered important UCI ranking points towards Olympic qualifications, and all six Canadians competing finished in the top-10 in their respective races.

“Definitely over the moon with this win,” said Gagne. “I came second, nine seconds from winning, in 2013 and one minute from winning in 2014 with bronze. Today I finally got it. I’d like to thank the Canadian national team for supporting me here and at some of the key races this season when I need it the most. It’s a tough situation now with no team, and the Québec team is there to help me at some races too.  I am really happy I could make it happen for myself, but I am more thankful to those that are helping me right now.”

Leandre Bouchard finished seventh in Elite men, while Quinton Disera was sixth in the Under-23 men’s race.

The Elite women’s race was led from start to finish by world champion Kate Courtney (USA). Pendrel, the Olympic bronze medalist in 2016, was part of the four rider group that dropped the rest of the field and challenged for third in the final laps. Canadian champion Emily Batty finished sixth and Sandra Walter was ninth.

Jeff Ain, Canadian Team Manager, said, “The course is a tough one with the desert heat and altitude, but we came in with a well-laid out plan and everyone executed really well. Raph showed some exceptional tactical skills to pull off the win in the elite men, and Catharine was in a tight last lap battle for bronze.  Everyone was in the top-10 with some very deep fields.”