Léandre Bouchard fifth at Internazionali d’Italia Series final
Emilly Johnston 12th in elite women's race in Italy
Léandre Bouchard finished fifth in a strong elite men’s field at the Internazionali d’Italia Series’ final round in La Thuile on Saturday. The Canadian Olympian rounded out a podium that included race winner Vlad Dascalu and Stephane Tempier of Trek Factory Racing and Russian Anton Sinstov. It’s a solid showing for the Pivot Cycles-OTE racer. Bouchard is one of the top prospects to fill Canada’s single spot for the men’s Olympic mountain bike race in Tokyo.
Cycling Canada is expected to announce the Olympic mountain bike team on July 6th.
Emilly Johnston vs. elites
Emilly Johnston, a first-year under-23 rider from Vancouver Island, had an incredible race as well. The Pendrel Racing rider is racing with the World Cycling Centre in Europe right now. Johnston finished 12th in the elite women’s race. That field included World Cup winners Haley Batten (Trinity Racing) and Evie Richards (Trek Factory Racing). The Comox, B.C. racer’s impressive showing in the Italian C1-ranked race follows one week after her first HC top-20 at the Swiss Bike Cup
Other Canadians at the race in La Thuile include, in the men’s race, Pivot Cycling-OTE’s Marc Andre Fortier (20th), Gunnar Holmgren (32nd) and Raphael Auclair (42nd). Marianne Théberge, returning from injury, started but did not finish Saturday’s women’s XCO.
