Canada opens 2022 MTB worlds with seventh at XC Relay

Canada opened its world championships racing with a top-10 finish in Wednesday’s cross country team relay.

Team work makes the dream work! ?

?? finishes 7th at the Team Relay of the UCI MTB ? Championships, with a team comprised of Laurie Arseneault, Isabella Holmgren, Ian Ackert, Peter Disera, Emilly Johnston & Carter Woods!?

? Andy Vathis pic.twitter.com/467PmFZmP1

— Cycling Canada (@CyclingCanada) August 24, 2022

Switzerland showed they can win even without most of the country’s top names. Anina Hutter already had the Swiss team in first position when reigning XCO world champion Nino Schurter headed out on course. Schurter held off Italy’s u23 Simone Avondetto to give the Swiss team its first world championship title of 2022 worlds.

Italy follows in second, staying within six seconds of the Swiss. The United States finished another eight seconds back in third.

Canada followed in seventh, over two minutes back. It’s an improvement of three spots over the team’s placing in Val di Sole, Italy in 2021. The Canadian squad included, in the order that they raced, Ian Ackert (jr. men), Peter Disera (elite men), Laurie Arseneault (elite women), Emilly Johnston (u23 women), Isabella Holmgren (jr. women) and Carter Woods (u23 men).

Traditionally the first event of mountain bike world champs, the team competition pits six riders from each nation against each other with each completing one lap of the XCO course. Each team must have three women and three men and two riders from each of the junior, under-23 and elite categories.