April 15/25 17:43 pm - Jenn Jackson Starts the Season Strong

Posted by Editoress on 04/15/25
 

Jenn Jackson (Orbea Fox Factory), the Canadian national champion in Elite women's XCO, has had a strong start to the 2025 World Cup season, sitting in fifth place overall after the first two rounds of the XCO in Brazil. Jackson was sixth and fifth in the first two rounds of the XCC, to sit sixth overall, and was sixth and fourth in the two rounds of the XCO, to sit fifth overall.

Jenn Jackson spoke to us from Brazil after the second round.

"I'm ecstatic about how the start of the season has gone; from the US Cups to here at the two World Cups. I knew the track here would be good for me, being high speed. So I put some emphasis on being ready for this with my coach. We did some heat prep to make sure that environmental factors wouldn't be a negative impact. Otherwise, the training has just been building on what we started last year. I'm still with my coach Jared, so we have been able to find a better balance after two seasons working together. I honestly didn't do anything different from last year, but our approach to training is different than a lot of others; some of the details of how we apply the intervals and the sessions in between.

"I think it's really cool that it's paying off, but I think there is a bigger difference in how I view myself as a bike racer coming into these races. I think, for the first time, I really thought that I would be able to ride in the lead group - I didn't have the expectation or the pressure to, but it was the only thing that I could picture in my mind as being correct. It's nice when how you view yourself and want to be align, and it felt really good to be able to be in every race. Sixth-fifth first weekend and fifth-fourth this weekend. Other than being a little out of position in the short track, there were no times when I wasn't in contention for the podium in these races.

"The bike, the Orbea, is a great fit for me and seems to work really well. The team environment and my mental health is a lot better this year and in this space. So, I'm a lot less stressed and feel very accepted and supported, which is something I struggled with at times last year. I'm a happier healthier person, and surrounded by people who want to enjoy this with me, and feel really lucky. I'm hoping to carry forward some of this momentum - when you have highs like this, you have to be a bit cautious with what you do next, so we're taking a bit of a break to just decompress and still try to race well at Continental Championships with Team Canada in a couple of weeks.

"So I'm focussing on rebuilding so I can hopefully race at a similar level in Europe on those tracks. It's a long season and there are lots of opportunities, but I know being fifth in the overall, you get a proverbial head start at the beginning of the season. I'm really excited about that and being able to continue to improve on that standing. It's a crazy position to be, something that you dream about. Until you start to see it as a reality, it feels like something that other people do and it wasn't ever meant for me. But you just chip away at it and do the right things and have the right people in your life, then a lot can be possible.”