Team Canada finished eighth in the Team Relay on the opening day of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, with the favoured Swiss team taking the gold medal ahead of Germany and Denmark.
This is the second year since the Team Relay increased to five riders from four, with the addition of the Under-23 women’s category to the existing Elite women and men, Under-23 and Junior men. Each rider does a lap of the cross-country course, and countries can send the riders off in any order they wish, which can result in constant lead changes.
Photo Rob Jones/Canadian Cyclist (All Rights Reserved) – Sean Fincham
Team Canada started with under-23 national champion Sean Fincham (Squamish, BC), who was delayed slightly by a crash on the start loop. Fincham finished sixth and handed off to Junior national champion Carter Woods (Cumberland, BC), who jumped Canada up to fourth. Under-23 women’s national champion Laurie Arseneault had to ride against a number of men and dropped to 11th, with Elite woman Haley Smith moving Canada up to tenth before handing off to Elite men’s national champion Peter Disera for the final lap. Disera was able to move Canada back up to eighth by the finish, 58 seconds out of the top-5.
“I was a lot happier this year being the anchor,” said Disera, “instead of riding first like last year. Honestly, I believe with the team we had, that we could have gone top-5, but everybody rode great. I’m guessing Carter’s lap time was close to mine, because he was flying [25 seconds slower]. I tried to do what I could at the end, but the gaps were just a little too big. I reeled in a few riders, and it was good prep for the cross-country on Saturday.”
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.