Canada fielding top teams when EWS Trophy of Nations returns
Look for Canucks to challenge for podiums - and wins - when racing returns to Finale Ligure in October
Photo by:
Peter Kraiker
The Enduro World Series is getting ready to host the first proper Trophy of Nations since 2019 and Canada is in an excellent position to send top teams in each category. The special EWS round, which puts riders on three-rider national teams instead of competing individually for trade teams, is set to return to Finale Ligure, Italy on Oct. 2, 2022.
Trophy of Nations will again serve as the final round of racing for the 2022 season. Trophys will be awarded in four categories: elite men, elite women, under-21 men and under-21 women. Times from all riders are added together to deterimine the winning nation in each category.
Canada is poised to field potentially winning teams in each of those categories except elite women, based on the preliminary team rosters.
In the elite men, current EWS series leader Jesse Melamed will be joined by Rocky Mountain Race Face teammate Remi Gauvin and Forbidden Synthesis racer Rhys Verner. Along with Melamed’s wins this year, including at home in Whistler, Gauvin and Verner are consistently posting top 10 finishes. McKay Vezina is the elite men’s alternate rider.
In the under-21 women’s team, Emmy Lan (Norco Factory Team) will be joined by Lily Boucher and Elly Hoskin. Until Lan was injured just before the Whistler race, also taking her out for Burke and Sugarloaf EWS rounds, the Vancouver Island rider was dominating the 2022 under-21 women’s series. Boucher and Hoskin have also been edging closer and closer to podium finsihes, making the Canuck squad a solid threat to podium, or win, in Italy.
The under-21 mean’s team is also a potential powerhouse. Seth Sherlcok (Intense Factory Racing), who has already landed several wins and podiums between World Cup downhill races, leads the squad. He’s joined by Emmett Hancock andJohnathan Helly of the We Are One team, both of whom have hit, or finished near, podiums this year. All three were part of Canada’s sweep of the top five spots at EWS whistler earlier this season. Lief Rodgers is currently the alternate, with his third place finish at the Whistler EWS.
The Canadians won’t be unconstested, of course. The French, U.S.A., Italians and British teams all have potential winning teams in certain categories.
While Canada has very fast elite women, there are not currently enough of them that will be in Italy to field a full team.
