Carter Woods scores silver in Swiss World Cup
Cole Punchard and Emilly Johnston add strong Canadian finishes in Sunday's XCO
Photo by:
Dan Hearn
Canada’s Carter Woods wrapped up a sensational World Cup weekend in Switzerland with a second-place finish in the under-23 men’s XCO on Sunday. The silver is Wood’s second medal in Lenzerheide. It adds to his bronze in the XCC World Cup earlier in the week.
Emilly Johnston led the Canadian effort in the u23 women’s XCO, crossing the line 15th overall.
Carter Woods scores second podium in Lenzerheide
In an intense battle with Switzerland’s Dario Lillo (Scott Davos), Carter Woods (Giant Factory Off-Road Team) scored his second podium at the Lenzerheide World Cup. While the Canadian wasn’t able to unseat the Swiss rider in front of a home crowd in Lenzerheide, he did push Lillo to the line. Woods finished just two seconds off of the win. The silver adds to the Giant racer’s bronze medal earlier in the week in the short track cross country event. Adrien Boichis (Trinity Racing) rounded out the podium in third.
Cole Punchard (Hockley Valley Armada) added to his own strong finish in the XCC with 16th place in Sunday’s u23 men’s XCO. Owen Clark was the next across the line in 30th, Zorak Paille (Pittstop Racing) 66th, Zachary Brunelle 110th and Jack Ciotlos 115th. Noah Ramsay was forced out of the race on the penultimate lap.
Johnston leads Canadians in u23 women’s XCO
Vancouver Island’s Emilly Johnston led the Canadian results in the under-23 women’s XCO on Sunday. The Trek Future Racing athlete finished 15th.
Jocelyn Stel was the next Canuck across the line, earning 27th. Ella MacPhee was close behind in 32nd. Ophelie Grandmont, Marie Fay St. Onge and Juliette Larose Gingras placed 52nd, 53rd and 54th. Nicole Bradbury, recent Canada Cup winner in Hardwood last weekend, finished on the lead lap in 60th.
The race was won by Danish sensation Sofie Pedersen (Willier Pirelli Factory Team). Ronja Blochlinger (Liv Factory Racing) followed in second. Sara Cortinovis (Santa Cruz RockShox) rounded out the podium in third.
World Cup cross country continues next week in Leogang, Austria. It will be the first World Cup race to bring Enduro World Cup (EDR), XCC/XCO and Downhill together in one massive weekend of racing.
Full replays of both under-23 XCO events are below. With Warner Bro’s Discovery taking over broadcasting of the World Cup series, the under-23 events are being shown live (and on-demand) for the first time this season. Check out our guide to how to watch the Leogang race weekend from here in Canada.
