March 16/22 11:50 am - Maghalie Rochette Makes a Strong Return to Mountain Biking

Posted by Editoress on 03/16/22
 

Maghalie Rochette has been Canada's top-ranked female cyclo-cross rider for five years, since finishing fifth at the world championships in Luxembourg. Shortly after that, she made the transition from pro mountain biker (with Clif Pro) to cyclo-crosser.

While she has had the occasional foray into mountain biking - including the silver medal in the inaugural eMTB world championships - and on the road - second at the Road Nationals last year - until the end of the 2021-22 cyclo-cross season, Rochette has focussed primarily on 'Cross.

However, she announced towards the end of this past cyclo-cross season that she would be making a partial return to mountain biking, and made a strong statement with her performance at the Cactus Cup stage race last weekend in Arizona, winning the opening time trial and closing Enduro stages, and finishing second in the XC in a sprint. She took the overall title in one of the oldest season-openers in the sport. While the Cactus Cup is no longer THE season-opener for the sport, there were still many top riders there, and Rochette's performance served notice that she is serious about her return to mountain biking.

2021 Sherbrooke Canada Cup


2021 Road Nationals, 2nd Place RR


2022 Cross Worlds

We spoke with Maghalie about her return and her performance:

"I decided to get back into mountain biking after a few years of just focussing on 'Cross. It's something I've been thinking about for a few years, but after watching the Olympics this summer, that was the one thing that made me decide it wasn't just just a thought, but that it was something I wanted to pursue.

"It's not as if I hadn't touched a mountain bike in years - even last summer I saw you at some of the UCI Canada Cups [she won Sherbrooke]. But I was just doing the races that were close to home. I was enjoying it and excited to get back into it. But it doesn't mean I won't do 'Cross anymore! I'll keep doing as much 'Cross but try to schedule the season differently.

"This year, after 'Cross Worlds [where she finished eighth], I took a little break of maybe two weeks and then I got back to training. I'll do the first part of the mountain bike season - the Brazil World Cup and then the Fayetteville races, and then I'll do Albstadt and Nove Mesto [the first European World Cup rounds]. Probably the first two Canada Cup rounds in May that are in Quebec, and then take a little break. So I won't race for the mid-part of the season, but I'll come back in August for Mont-Ste-Anne, Snowshoe, hopefully Worlds, and by that point get back into cyclo-cross. So I'm just scheduling things a little bit differently.

"It was super fun to go to the Cactus Cup and it was cool to see the people I used to race with; people I haven't really seen in years. It was fun to see those people and get back into the racing. I knew I was feeling good training, but you never know how that is going to compare against everyone else. I was happy with how I raced, with how I felt, and super happy to take the win. I am aware, though, that the Cactus Cup is very different ... a different format than a World Cup. The XC was super long, and mostly flat and fast, whereas the World Cups are going to be more hilly and probably more intense. They are different styles, so it's cool to see that I did well but, at the same time, I need to keep working hard. Hopefully I can bring good fitness and have good performances in Brazil."