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Maghalie Rochette on a hectic week and World Cup podium

The National champ is thinking ahead to later in the season

November 30, 2021
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Maghalie Rochette had her first podium at a European UCI World Cup on Sunday, after a fantastic ride in France. The current National champion, who was supposed to be defending her cyclocross title on Vancouver Island, instead had her best-ever euro result at a World Cup, coming second to series leader Lucinda Brand in muddy Besançon, France, the midway point of the 2021-2022 series. It was her best World Cup result since winning Jingle Cross in September of 2019.

Changing plans on the fly

Rochette had a busy week, rushing to get back to Europe following the news that the Canadian champs would be postponed to January. Canada’s top female ‘crosser Maghalie Rochette almost immediately boarded a plane back to Europe. She had come back following the cyclocross World Cup in Tabor just to attend nationals. “When I heard it was cancelled, we changed all our flights that day, made all our arrangements,” she said. “We have been here one week now, so three days before the first race in Kortrijk.”

Training adjustments

Rochette is on top form, and most likely would have had a great race at the ‘cross nats, but she hadn’t been preparing specifically for them, instead thinking of the bigger picture. “I did not prepare for Nationals. I was preparing for my European trip that was supposed to be later in December,” she said. “I was planning on flying into Vancouver the day before Nationals and race in the middle of a training block. Instead, we cut the training block a bit short to come to Europe, and now I can train here.”

Although she had a great ride on Sunday, it was hardly stress-free. “To be honest it was not an easy feat to change our plans at such a last minute. It cost us a lot of money, and it involved a lot of logistics and organization from my husband David and me,” Rochette explained. “The day it got cancelled, David and I packed our truck and trailer (with all the things we will need to train and race worlds in January) and David drove 30 hours down to bring the trailer to Fayetteville, Ark.”

Nationals still a possibility

Meanwhile, they changed all their flights, housing and car rental reservations in Europe. Once David arrived in Fayetteville, he flew back home on Sunday, and on Monday, they flew to Europe. “We are a team of two, so it was a lot to manage, but I’m glad we made this decision to come here. So yes, it was wild, but it wasn’t easy.”
Rochette is currently planning to stay until January 6th. “If the nationals happen, I will look to change my flights (again) to potentially participate,” she said.

Her ride on Sunday has her feeling confident about the 2022 world champs, “I’m very excited for Arkansas and this performance is motivating me to work even better.” her result in France came on a very muddy course, which is one of her favourites. “I love all kind of races, but the slippery kind of mud is very fun!”