Interview: Seth Sherlock and Emmett Hancock lead Canadian podium sweep at EWS Crankworx
Top five spots in u21 men's race go to the home team
Sunday was a huge day for Canadians at the Enduro World Series. On top of Jesse Melamed and Remi Gauvin’s 1-3 finish in the pro men’s race, Seth Sherlock led a home-country sweep of the top five under-21 men’s spots.
After a few podiums in Europe, this is the first EWS win for Sherlock, who is mixing World Cup downhill racing and enduro this year. He was joined by Emmett Hancock and Lief Rodgers, who both land their career-first EWS podiums. Colby Pringle and Marcus Goguen extended the sweep, finishing fourth and fifth.
We caught up with Sherlock and Hancock in the Crankworx village to talk about their own races as well as Canada’s incredible weekend at international races across the country.
Seth Sherlock (Intense Factory Racing) – 1st under-21 men
CanadianMTB: You’re mixing World Cup downhill and enduro this year, and having quite a bit of success in EWS. How are you finding the addition of enduro?
Seth Sherlock: I quite like it, to be honest. I find it’s a bit more social, a little less stressful and the pace is a bit slower, generally. You don’t need to risk it all like you do in downhill. It suits my riding style because I’m quite consistent riding at 95 per cent.
How’s the transition from a three-minute run to a five- or six-hour day on the bike?
SS: At first, it’s really hard but the more you do it the easier it gets for sure. But yeah, in Petzen we had 15 minutes of non-stop rough descending and, coming from downhill, that’s just almost impossible. It’s so hard to hold on, you’re just death-gripping the entire time. So that’s a major challenge, but the more you do it the better you get.
How’s taking the first win here at home at Crankworx?
SS: This is crazy. Best place I could have got my first EWS win. It feels so good, I’m stoked to keep it going.
And it was a full-Canadian podium, too.
SS: It’s unbelievable. Full Canadian top five! And first and third in elite EWS, winner in elite downhill, winner and two thirds in junior downhill – it’s such a crazy weekend for Canadians in general. It’s next level.
How motivating was it to see Finn’s win at Mont-Sainte-Anne Saturday?
SS: Oh, I was screaming at my phone. I dropped on the Pro Stage, sprinted to the pits and was on my phone watching right away. I’m so stoked.
Emmett Hancock (We Are One) – 2nd under-21 men
CanadianMTB: This is your first EWS podium. How did your race play out today?
Emmett Hancock: It was a solid day. It started out really well, then I had a bit of trouble on Stage three and four. But really happy to finish it off strong in second place.
That was a big day in the heat. How did you manage the weather?
EM: I was big on the gatorade and the bottle at the feed station. Then kept the fluid going and ate some gummy bears.
What was your favourite stage today?
EM: I’m going to say Stage five because I felt the best on that stage. But the whole day was so fun. I’ve never actually raced EWS in Whistler before, it was a great experience to race on home soil.
