Canada Cup heads to Horseshoe for series halfway mark
World Cup racers return home as Canada Cup cross country heads to Ontario for fourth round
Canada Cup cross country racing moves from Quebec to Ontario this weekend, with many of Canada’s national team and pro mountain bikers returning to the series for the classic Horseshoe Valley venue. The fourth round of racing also marks the halfway mark of the seven stop 2018 Canada Cup series.
Before racing starts at Horseshoe Resort this weekend, here’s where the series is at and who to watch when the start gun fires on Sunday.
Canada Cup Elite Women
The Horseshoe Resort is considered home turf by many of Canada’s elite cross country racers, many of whom grew up near by and have returned to the race year after year. Canadian national champion Emily Batty (Trek Factory Racing) is fresh of a big fourth place finish at the Nové Mesto World Cup, and has numerous Ontario Canada Cup victories to her name. Haley Smith (Norco Factory Racing) is also back in her home province after landing her best ever World Cup placing in the Czech Republic, where she finished 14th in the XCO after finishing 13th in the short track XCC event. Current Canada Cup series leader Jenn Jackson (AWI racing) has been consistent all year and, after placing second at both Quebec rounds, will be looking to defend her overall lead when the race arrives in her team’s back yard.
Catharine Pendrel (Clif Pro Team) will miss this round, having broken her left arm while training at home in Kamloops, B.C. The two time world champion and winner of Round One in Victoria, B.C. will focus on returning to full health as soon as possible for the remaining World Cup rounds.
Canada Cup Elite Men
In the elite Men’s race, Forward Racing’s Andrew L’Esperance, who won the Bear Mountain Canada Cup round, returns from a successful European campaign to rejoin the Canada Cup series at Horseshoe Valley. Norco Factory Racing’s Peter Disersa, reigning national cross country champion, and his younger brother Quinton Disera are also hot off a World Cup campaign, and will have the home province advantage going into Sunday’s races.
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The current series lead is Rocky Mountain’s U23 rider, Félix Burke, who took back-to-back wins when the series was in his back yard, topping the field in Baie-Saint-Paul and Mont-Tremblant. Another U23 rider to watch will be L’Esperance’s Forward Racing teammate Sean Fincham, who was fourth at the opening round in Victoria. Since then, Fincham has scored 17th and 21st place finishes at the Nové Mesto and Albstadt World Cup rounds. First year U23 racer Gunnar Holmgren (Homestead Racing) also made a strong impression overseas at the last two World Cup rounds, climbing all the way up to 55th at Nové Mesto in the crowded U23 field, and will be at home racing in his home province.
Canada Cup Junior Racing
In the hotly contested junior categories, Holden Jones (Pendrel Racing) holds the junior Men’s series lead by a narrow margin, after having out sprinted Carter Woods (Dodge City Cycles/Rocky Mountain/Cycling BC) at Mont-Tremblant. Jones won the opening round in Victoria ahead of Woods, while Woods came out on top at Baie-Saint-Paul. Ontario’s Tyler Clark (Team Ontario/Homestead Racing) currently sits third in the series, and will likely be looking to interrupt the duo’s points battle with racing landing on his home turf this weekend.
Marianne Theberge (Equipé du Quebec/Mathieu Performance) leads the junior Women’s racing, with wins in the first two rounds in Victoria and Baie-Saint-Paul, while Mireille Larose-Gingras (Equipé du Quebec/Sigma) sits not far behind in second with several podium placings of her own.
Before racing gets under way this weekend, take a look back at past Horseshoe Canada Cup events:
