September 13/20 17:08 pm - Rund um den Roadlberg XCO Report & Results

Posted by Editoress on 09/13/20
 

Results from Rund um den Roadlberg, MTB XCO in Austria.

With the first UCI World Cup of the seasom scheduled for the last week of September, riders are eager to get some race time in to test their form.

Canadian World Cup team Norco Factory Team XC headed back to Europe last week to prepare for the short season that will begin at the end of the month, with seven team members getting their first race of the season in on Sunday, at the C2 level Rund um den Roadberg XCO in Austria.

Given the lack of racing miles in their legs, the Canadians did well, with Jenn Jackson finishing fourth in Elite women and Haley Smith 11th.

Jackson spoke to us about her race:

I'm still unpacking the race, it's been a while!

It's been all positive vibes with the team back together this week. I feel extremely fortunate to be able to travel and race right now. It's rare to get second chances in sport, so to get this 2020 redemption season is unreal.

It was a 3.5 hour drive to the course from where our team is living, so we weren't able to pre-ride, but the course was all manageable and very fun to race! It took a couple laps to figure out my lines and the traction, but I think it helped me keep a more conservative effort for the earlier part of the race, which in turn set me up for a strong, steady ride.

The leaders were off from the start, but I sat tight in the chase group until it dwindled down to just myself and one other rider. She was pretty intent to sit and drive the pace, so I just sat on and then jumped on the last climb. I might've been able to get away earlier, but didn't think catching the riders up front was realistic, and the effort would've been massive - with the risk of losing more positions if I ended up going the other way. I think I rode my best race, and was very engaged and aware of how I was riding.

I had a great summer in Kamloops, and I'm really happy to be able to translate some of the deliberate practice I've put in this summer to racing on this first try. For a C2, this was a pretty well attended race, but the World Cup is different... I'm just relieved to now know I'm in the ballpark of my best rides last year and then excited, a little anxious to see if I can do anything else.

In the men's race, new Under-23 rider Carter Wood was the top Canadian, in seventh place, with Canadian champion Peter Disera finishing tenth. Peter also spoke with us:

Challenging race today. But all in all great day. Happy to get back between the tape.

Good field at the front, some heavy horsepower, had a medium start but messed up into the first single track. Really began to rally midway through the race and got inside the top 10. We were stretching to sixth place at one point when charging forward.

on my way to the front I was able to tow around teammates Quinton [Disera] and Sean [Fincham] for a bit before dropping them and settling in with Carter in our small group with Keegan Swenson. There were some tactics involved due to a long flat drag. In the end, I put my nose in the wind and crumbled on the last lap but allowed Carter the chance to attack Keegan for seventh. I finished tenth.