Canadians dominate Day 1 of US Cup Fayetteville
Photo by:
US Cup / Instagram
Canadians are off to a fast start as the second “weekend” of US Cup cross country racing gets underway early in Arkansas, starting with Wednesday’s C1 XCO event. Jenn Jackson, Marin Lowe and Rafaelle Carrier all won their respective women’s races (Elite, U23 and Jr.). On the men’s side Zorak Paillé and  Noah Ramsay went 1-2 in the U23 men’s XCO while the elites nabbed podium positions in Fayetteville.
Elites: Jackson rules while Woods podiums
In the elite women’s racing, Canadian national champion Jenn Jackson put the maple leaves on the top podium step. The Liv Factory Racing rider took the win in the C1 XCO on Wednesday ahead of fellow Canadian, Ella McPhee (Pivot Cycles-OTE). Bear National Team duo Makena Kellerman and Bailey Cioppa followed with Maria Flores Garcia (Specialized Mexico) rounding out the wide-angle podium.
In the elite men’s race, World Cup winner and reigning U.S. national champion Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) could not be stopped from taking another US Cup win. Riley Amos (Trek Factory Racing) came closest to unseating Blevins, but came up short by three seconds after 1:27 of racing. Canadian elite national champ Carter Woods finished third, just ahead of Giant Factory Off-Road teammate Dario Lillo. Cole Punchard (Pivot Cycles-OTE) added a little more maple flavour to the extended podium, finishing fifth ahead of fellow Canucks Logan Sadesky (Broad Street Offroad) and Leandré Bouchard (Forresco Holdings ProCo RL Pro Team).
Under-23: Lowe tops podiums
Marin Lowe (Pittstop Racing Team) earned a win on Wednesday in Fayetteville. Lowe was joined on the podium by Project Dialed-In’s Jocelyn Stel, with Bear National’s Kellie Harrington squeezing between the Canadians to take silver. Natasha Visnack (Dirt Camp Racing) and Calgary’s Ella Myers (The Bike Shop) round out the extended podium.
On the men’s side, it was a showdown between two Canadians for the win. Zorak Paillé (Pivot Cycles-OTE) and Bateman’s Noah Ramsay went 1-2, just ahead of the U.S.A.’s Jack Spranger. Alexandre Woodford (Ride With Rendall) joined the podium in fourth ahead of Specialzied Mexico’s Ivan Aguilar Villegas.
Juniors: Carrier cruises to a win
Rafaelle Carrier started Pivot Cycles-OTE’s string of podiums on Wednesday, winning the junior women’s race by 46 seconds. Bear National Team took second and third with Vida Lopez de San Roman and Ingrid Mcelroy.
On the men’s side, Nicholas Konecny (Bear National) earned the XCO win ahead of Competitive Edge’s Henry Coote while Luke Mosteller (Bear National) finished third. Felix Antoine Leclair was the top Canadian for Siboire QuiRoule.
