Cycling Canada announces Pan American MTB Championship team
Six Canadians will take on dusty course in Aguascalientes, Mexico in search of Olympic qualifying points
Six Canadians are getting race ready in Aguascalientes, Mexico for this weekend’s Pan American mountain bike championships.
The event is a crucial step for athletes and Cycling Canada’s Olympic qualification process. As the UCI Contenental championships event, the high number of UCI points allotted to the event makes Pan Am’s a key event to securing enough points to qualify athletes for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Olympic qualification points race begins
At the 2020 Games, the first and second ranked countries will qualify for a third spot in the men’s and women’s mountain bike races, while the third through seventh ranked countries only receive two entries. With Canada consistently placing three women in the top-15, sometimes the top-10, at World Cups, Cycling Canada is aiming to secure a third women’s spot for Tokyo 2020. Switzerland currently leads, with Canada engaged in a tight points race with the United States, Denmark and the Netherlands for the all-important second place ranking.
Tokyo 2020 Olympics will be the first Games where the mountain bike event has an equal number of men’s and women’s competitors.
Six Canadians set to start UCI Pan American mountain bike championships in Mexico
Before Tokyo, the Canadians must race in Aguascalientes. Six of Canada’s best will be on the start line. Emily Batty, Catharine Pendrel and Sandra Walter will start the women’s race. 2016 Olympian’s Léandre Bouchard and Raphaël Gagné will be joined by Quinton Disera in the men’s race.
“The goal here is just to earn points,” said Dan Proulx, national mountain bike coach. “It’s still early season, and it is a bit of a tricky race; it is in a difficult location, with extensive travel time to get to and from, and it’s at altitude. There are a lot of points on the line, and the trick is to go down there and come back healthy enough to benefit.”
The Pan American XCO championship event takes place on Saturday, April 6, 2019.
Women
Emily Batty – Brooklin, ON (Elite)
Catharine Pendrel – Kamloops, BC (Elite)
Sandra Walter – Coquitlam, BC (Elite)
Men
Léandre Bouchard – Alma, QC (Elite)
Quinton Disera – Horseshoe Valley, ON (Under-23)
Raphaël Gagné – Quebec City, QC (Elite)
