January 28/25 11:00 am - Cycling Canada Finalizes 'Cross Worlds Team

Posted by Editoress on 01/28/25
 

The Canadian squad for the 2025 Cyclo-cross World Championships, which will be held in Liévin, France, this coming weekend, has been finalized, with 23 athletes accepting spots - a further six declined their spots. Canada will have three Elite women, two Elite men, five Under-23 women, three Under-23 men, five Junior women and five Junior men.

Isabella Holmgren is a very strong podium contender for the Under-23 women's category; she is a former Junior world champion in cyclo-cross, and the current Under-23 XCO mountain bike world champion, as well as the current Elite national champion. She finished tenth among the Elite women in the final round of the World Cup on Sunday but, more significantly, was the second Under-23 rider, behind defending champion Zoe Backstedt (Great Britain). Holmgren finished fifth overall in the World Cup rankings, despite having raced only four rounds. Holmgren was fourth last year at the Worlds, in her first year as an under-23 rider. Isabella will be joined by her sister Ava in the Under-23 race; Ava won a silver medal at the Worlds as a Junior rider.

Isabella Holmgren

 Rafaelle Carrier

Another strong medal potential is from Rafaelle Carrier in the Junior women. Carrier won multiple World Cups this past season, and is the overall World Cup champion for Junior women. This is carrier's second year as a Junior, after finishing 16th last year. Another medal contender in Junior women is Nico Knoll, who finished second to Carrier at the national championships and top-3 in a Belgian Superprestige race earlier this year.

Ian Ackert

Ian Ackert, the Canadian Elite and Continental Under-23 men's cyclo-cross champion is a former Junior XCO world championship silver medallist. He has been struggling with some illness through the Christmas 'Cross season (a number of Canadians were hit), but finished in the top-5 at a World Cup just before the start of the new year. He was sixth last year at the world championships.

Sidney McGill

Sidney McGill, leads the Elite women; she was third at the national championships and is the Continental champion. She has two top-25 results in the World Cup and is 19th in UCI world rankings. Sadly, Maghalie Rochette will not attend; Rochette has struggled with injuries and decided to cut her season short. She had a promising start to the season with a 15th place in the opening round of the World Cup.

Tyler Clark

Emilien Belzile

Team Canada Selection

Elite Women
Sidney McGill
Katelyn Walcroft
Christiane Bilodeau
Maghalie Rochette - Declined

Elite Men
Tyler Clark
Cody Scott

Under-23 Women
Isabella Holmgren
Ava Holmgren
Mia De Martin
Dorothee Perron
Marie-Fay St-Onge
Marin Lowe - Declined
Katja Verkerk - Declined

Under-23 Men
Ian Ackert
Alexander Woodford
Maxime St-Onge

Junior Women
Rafaelle Carrier
Nico Knoll
Aislin Hallahan
Lily-Rose Marois
Maya Tasse
Elly Moore - Declined

Junior Men
Emilian Belzile
Tristan Taillefer
Sagan Goertz
Monty Rigby
Farland Lamont
Evan Moore - Declined
Nicolas Gauthier - Declined