August 29/19 8:56 am - Canada Opens Worlds with Fifth in Team Relay
Posted by Editoress on 08/29/19
Canada had one of its best Team Relays at the Mountain Bike World Championships in recent years on Wednesday, at Mont-Ste-Anne, Quebec, finishing fifth. Switzerland won their third consecutive title, ahead of the USA and France. The Swiss have now won six Team Relay titles, surpassing the previous record of five held by France.
Start
Carter Woods took Canada to 2nd place at the end of the 2nd lap
The Dutch start the last lap in 1st
Neff and Schurter
Pendrel hands off to Disera
Nino Schurter takes the win for the Swiss
Peter Disera brings Canada home in 5th
Team Canada
Watch our interviews with all members of Team Canada Here
Canada sent riders off in an order similar to most of the top teams, starting with Under-23 rider Raphael Auclair. Auclair slipped at the start, falling to near the back of the 20-rider group, but made his way back to finish seventh, 26 seconds behind leader Denmark - Switzerland finished the lap in eighth. Canada's second rider, Junior man Carter Woods, had an exceptional lap - the fastest Junior lap of the day at 12:03 - which moved Canada into second, 13 seconds behind Denmark, who continued to lead, with Switzerland creeping up to fifth.
For the third lap, Canada went with Under-23 woman Laurie Arseneault, who was up against a number of Elite women and finished the lap in ninth, while the Netherlands had jumped into first and Switzerland remained fifth. Canada's Elite woman, Catharine Pendrel was the fourth rider off, managing to move up one spot to eighth for her handoff to the final rider, Elite man Peter Disera. The Netherlands were still leading, but Jolanda Neff had moved Switzerland up to third.
In the final lap, the result was a foregone conclusion, with Nino Schurter riding for the Swiss, and catching both the Dutch Junior woman and Keegan Swenson of the U.S., who had taken the lead early in the lap. France moved up to third from fifth to get the final podium spot. Disera caught three riders on his lap, completing it only seven seconds slower than Schurter.
"I'm pretty proud of my ride, because I haven't been riding too good since [earlier World Cups], but today I came out very focussed. On a whole, it's been really impressive to watch the growth in Team Canada."
Watch our interviews with all members of Team Canada Here
Silver Medal for Canada at First e-MTB World Championship
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