July 17/25 7:07 am - MTB Nationals Return to the Island After 18 Years

Posted by Editoress on 07/17/25
 

For only the second time, the Canadian Mountain Bike Nationals will take place on Vancouver Island, starting Thursday with the XCCs, followed by XCO races on Friday (Masters) and Saturday (U17, U19, U23, Elite), and finishing on Sunday with the Team Relay. Racing will take place at the Jordie Lunn Park in Langford.

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The last time the Nationals were held on the Island was well back in 2007 at Mt Washington, and it was a cold and wet affair. That will not be the case this weekend. The XCC will see high-20s temperatures, while the rest of the weekend will offer more bearable temperatures in the low 20s. There is no rain forecast for the entire weekend.

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This has led to hard, loose and dusty conditions, and therefore we can expect fast racing, with the loose conditions meaning the potential for washouts and crashes. The XCC is a short loop of just over a kilometre, and riders face a short, sharp climb to the finish each lap.

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The XCO course takes the riders out on a half lap loop to start before they begin the full 4.2 kilometre circuit. There are no features or technical sections that will be race defining, but the riders do face a couple of climbs per lap and some flowy switchback descents. These races will be battles, with riders having to guard against pushing too hard in the loose sections.

The Elite women is dominated by defending champion Jenn Jackson (Orbea Fox), who has been regularly finishing in the top-10 this season on the World Cup circuit. Another podium favourite is Emilly Johnston (Scott SRAM). The U23 women's field will be a battle between current World Cup leader Ella MacPhee (Wilier-Vittoria) and Marin Lowe (Liv Factory). The Junior women's overwhelming favourite is Rafaelle Carrier (Pivot OTE).

Note: The Holmgren sisters are not on the start list.

On the men's side, looking for a fight between Cole Punchard (Cannondale Factory), the 2024 U23 champion, and Carter Woods (Giant), who is coming off a strong showing at last weekend's World Cup. Possible dark horses are Leandre Bouchard, the defending Elite Champion and Gunnar Holmgren. The U23 men should be between Owen Clark (Pivot - OTE), Ian Ackert (Trek Future) and Maxime St-Onge (Pivot - OTE).