Carter Woods (Norco Factory Racing) of Cumberland, BC, won the first round of the U23 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Albstadt, Germany on the weekend becoming the first Canadian male to win at an XCO World Cup since Norco Factory teammate and fellow Vancouver Islander, Peter Disera, won a junior race in 2013. Disera who also raced this past weekend had a top-10 finish in the Elite Men’s short-track race on Friday crossing the line in 7th place. Disera would finish in 42nd along with Sean Fincham (Norco Factory) from Garibaldi Highlands in 91st.
Woods came into the World Cup opening weekend with some confidence after testing his legs and riding to a 4th place finish at the Swiss Cup in Leukerbad just the weekend prior. Earlier this year, Woods was named the Junior Male Athlete of the Year at the SportBC Athlete of the Year Awards recognizing his achievements in the 2019 season, so he’s been riding with some positive momentum going into the World Cups.
Other BC riders included Comox, BC’s Emilly Johnston, riding for the UCI World Cycling Centre this season finished 18th in the U23 Women’s race. Other BC Women in the round 1 standings include Coquitlam’s Sandra Walter (Liv Racing) who finished 47th in the Elite Women’s race and Catharine Pendrel (Clif Pro Team) in 52nd. With a compressed training schedule, this was Pendrel’s first race back since giving birth to her daughter, Dara, on January 26th.
Round 2 of the World Cup will take place in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic on May 14-16, 2021.
For full results, go here: https://www.uci.org/mountain-bike/results