Batty and Bouchard win first Canada Cup of 2022

Canada Cup racing is back for another year, with Emily Batty and Léandre Bouchard walking away from the opening weekend with the elite XCO wins. Before the Sunday’s XCO, Carter Woods and Laurie Arseneault opened this year’s racing with short track wins in Baie-St.-Paul, Que.

XCC Canada Cup #1 – Woods and Arseneault take opening wins

Laurie Arseneault (Canyon MTB) wins the first women’s Canada Cup event of 2022, sprinting against Jocelyn Stel (Canyon Devo) and teammate Emily Batty (Canyon MTB). Ontario’s Dana Gilligan kept the pressure on five seconds back.

Carter Woods (Norco Factory Team) takes the first men’s Canada Cup win of 2022 in a thrilling group sprint. Short track national champ Quinton Disera (Canyon Devo) takes second followed by  Gunnar Holmgren (Pivot Cycles-OTE). Cole Punchard (CHC Armada) and Raph Auclair (Pivot Cycles-OTE) rounding out the group of five. The short-format race made for an exciting finish, with the top 14 riders finishing within 11 seconds of the win.

Batty and Bouchard take elite XCO wins

Emily Batty moved up to the podium’s top step in Sunday’s Canada Cup XCO, taking the win ahead of Canyon MTB teammate Laurie Arseneault. Roxane Vermette (Stimulus Orbea) followed in third.

National champion Léandre Bouchard (Forresco Holdings ProCo RL) takes his first Canada Cup win of 2022 at the same venue where he won his 2021 elite men’s title. The Alma, Que.-based racer had to work for it, though. Carter Woods (Norco Factory Team) finished just 0.19 seconds back. Quinton Disera (Canyon Devo) added another podium to his weekend, finishing third.

Stimulus-Orbea take junior wins

In the junior XCO, it was all about Stimulus-Orbea. The new team landed wins in the junior men’s and women’s race, including a sweep on the women’s side.

Merin Lowe of Squamish, B.C. took the junior women’s win, with teammates Ava and Isabella Holmgren finishing second and third, respectively.

Ian Ackert put Stimulus-Orbea on top in the junior men’s race. The Severn, Ont. rider beat Maxime St.-Onge (Siboire) and Alexander Woodford (Ride with Rendall) in Sunday’s XCO.

U17 races

In the under-17 Canada Cup XCO, Rafaelle Carrier (CVM Sigma Assurance) landed a solid win over teammate Lily Rose Marois. Ayana Gagne (Siboire) finished close behind in third.

Jacob Roy (PONSSE) narrowly edged out Felix Antoine Leclair (Siboire) to take the U17 Canada Cup XCO win. Julien Desjardins (Ride with Rendall) followed 39 seconds later to claim the final podium position.