September 4/18 12:16 pm - Canada Names Team Relay Squad

Posted by Editoress on 09/4/18
 

The 2018 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships will open tomorrow in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, with the Team Relay.  It will begin at 5:30 pm local time (11:30 am Eastern/8:30 am Pacific).

Last year, the number of riders was increased to five from the previous four, with each rider doing one lap of the XC course.

Teams have been finalized, so we can now announce who will ride for Canada.  The order of riders will not be released until an hour before the race.

Peter Disera - Elite Men
Haley Smith - Elite Women
Sean Fincham - Under-23 Men
Laurie Arseneault - Under-23 Women
Carter Woods - Junior Men

Switzerland will be the favourite, as they try to open their home Worlds with a repeat victory.

Dan Proulx, National Mountain Bike Coach, said "It's a little bit wilder event than it used to be with five riders.  We planned to race a more traditional order then the last couple of years, and we will see how it goes.  I think the most important thing is that it is a dress rehearsal for the riders' individual events, so we are not putting much pressure on the riders.  We want them to do a race lap and hopefully it will prepare them better for their individual races later in the week."