Canada’s best in Ontario for Trek Store Canada Cup XCO
Back-to-back Canada Cup rounds in Ontario as XCO series starts second half of the season
It’s the second weekend of back-to-back Canada Cup cross country races in Ontario, with Trek Store Canada Cup landing in Oro Station this Sunday. This will be the fifth round of Canada Cup racing, with just two races left to earn series points once racers cross the finish line on Sunday.
Last weekend saw a tight battle between Andrew L’Esperance (Forward Racing) and Rio 2016 Olympian Raphaël Gagné (Silverback-OMX Pro Team), with Gagné gaining a gap on the final lap to take his first Canada Cup win of 2018. Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Haley Smith (Norco Factory Racing) made the most of her opportunity to race at home in the middle of a busy World Cup season by winning the Women’s elite race ahead of series leader Jenn Jackson (AWI Racing) and Equipé du Quebec/Trek’s Cindy Montambault.
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Like Smith, Jackson is racing close to home again this weekend, and will be counting on the home soil advantage to extend her lead in the Canada Cup series overall. Jackson extended her lead in the points race over Clif Pro Team’s Maghalie Rochette and Pendrel Racing’s Emily Unterberger last weekend, and will be hoping to do the same at the Trek Store round before the series heads off to the coasts for the final two rounds.
While Gagné and L’Esperance fought for the win at the front of the race, Canadian national cross country champion Peter Disera (Norco Factory Racing) was working his way back through the field to an impressive fifth place finish after breaking his chain on the start line. Disera has been putting down solid World Cup results all season, and will be looking to show that form in his last home-province Canada Cup of the season.
Sean Fincham (Forward Racing) and Quinton Disera (Norco Factory Racing), both under-23 athletes, showed they’re willing to take the race to the elite field (U23’s and elite race together at Canada Cup’s) finishing third and fourth at Horseshoe, and can be counted on to appear at the front of the race again this weekend. Also racing as a U23 athlete is series leader Félix Burke (Rocky Mountain Bikes), who was seventh last weekend. After two Canada Cup win’s in Quebec, Burke will be balancing the effort to break back into a podium position with his interests in padding his sizeable lead in the series standings.
