Cycling Canada has announced the team of 44 riders who will represent Canada at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in the XCO (cross-country) and Downhill events. The Championships will be held in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, on September 5-9. This is the first world championships within the qualifying period for the 2020 Olympics, so the stakes go beyond racing for the medals, as nations begin to collect valuable ranking points for athlete quotas.
“We’re really excited about this year’s team,” said Dan Proulx, Mountain Bike Head Coach at Cycling Canada. “It’s a nice mix of rookies and experienced riders. We have a good team dynamic in this group already, which will certainly help us create an environment that is conducive to personal best performances. We hope to build off the momentum we had at last year’s World Championships in Australia.”
The team includes the reigning national champions for every category. In the Elite women, two-time world champion and Olympic bronze medalist Catharine Pendrel will be coming back from an early season injury, while national champion Emily Batty is having one of the best seasons of her career, with three podium results so far in the World Cup. Other top-20 World Cup riders are Haley Smith and Sandra Walter.
The Elite men’s squad is led by World Cup riders Leandre Bouchard and national champion Peter Disera, a former world championship silver medalist as a Junior rider.
Junior Women – XCO
Mireille Larose-Gingras – Lac Beauport, QC
Eva Poidevin – Canmore, AB
Marianne Théberge – Levis, QC
Roxane Vermette – St-Ferrol-les-Neiges, QC
Junior Men – XCO
Tyler Clark – King City, ON
Holden Jones – Squamish, BC
Charles-Antoine St-Onge – Saint-Denis-de-Brompton, QC
Carter Woods – Cumberland, BC
Colton Woods – Barrie, ON
Under-23 Women – XCO
Laurie Arseneault – Terrebonne, QC
Mackenzie Myatt – Musquodoboit Harbour, NS
Juliette Tétreault – Val-des-Monts, QC
Emily Unterberger – Revelstoke, BC
Under-23 Men – XCO
Raphaël Auclair – Haut-Saint-Charles, QC
Quinton Disera – Horseshoe Valley, ON
Sean Fincham – Squamish, BC
Marc-André Fortier – Victoriaville, QC
Gunnar Holmgren – Orillia, ON
Elite Women – XCO
Emily Batty – Brooklin, ON
Catherine Fleury – Saint-Gedeon, QC
Cindy Montambault – Val-David, QC
Elyse Nieuwold – Newmarket, ON
Catharine Pendrel – Kamloops, BC
Haley Smith – Uxbridge, ON
Sandra Walter – Coquitlam, BC
Elite Men – XCO
Léandre Bouchard – Alma, QC
Peter Disera – Horseshoe Valley, ON
Raphaël Gagné – Quebec City, QC
Andrew L’Esperance – Halifax, NS
In the Downhill category, Team Canada includes the current Elite women’s Downhill world champion, Miranda Miller, and former Junior men’s world cup champion Finn Iles. Miller just finished 14th overall in the season-long World Cup, while Mark Wallace was 14th in Elite men and Iles was 15th. In the Junior men’s category, Lucas Cruz was seventh overall, including three top-10 performances.
Junior Men – DH
Justin Clements – Calgary, AB
Lucas Cruz – Pemberton, BC
Keegan Fry – Rossland, BC
Elliot Jamieson – White Rock, BC
Kendall McLean – Victoria, BC
Ian Milley – Squamish, BC
Ben Wallace – North Vancouver, BC
Elite Men – DH
Henry Fitzgerald – Vancouver, BC
Finn Iles – Whistler, BC
Magnus Manson – Sechelt, BC
Forrest Riesco – Sunshine Coast, BC
Luke Stevens – Revelstoke, BC
Mark Wallace – Duncan, BC
Elite Women – DH
Miranda Miller – Garibaldi, BC
Rachel Pageau – Chicoutimi, QC
Source: Cycling Canada
About Cycling Canada
Cycling Canada is the governing body for competitive cycling in Canada. With the vision of becoming a leading competitive cycling nation, Cycling Canada manages the High Performance team, hosts national and international events and administers programs to promote and grow cycling across the country. Cycling Canada programs are made possible through the support of its valued corporate partners – Global Relay, Lexus Canada, Mattamy Homes, Louis Garneau, lululemon, 4iiii, Argon18 and Bear Mountain Resort – along with the Government of Canada, Own The Podium, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee.