Batty fifth in under-23 XC world championships

Canadian favourite gains positions on final lap; Mikaela Kofman 14th

Canadian Cycling Magazine September 2, 2010

With thousands of fans cheering her on, Brooklin, Ont.’s Emily Batty finished fifth in the under-23 women’s UCI world championships Thursday. The result was the culmination of a season’s worth of preparation including three weeks training of summer training on the Mont-Sainte-Anne course she raced on.

Batty was one of five Canadians in the field of 36 women. Also in the race were Rebecca Beaumont (Alma, QC), Mikaela Kofman (Toronto), Ashley Barson (Bolton), Cassandre Olivier-Lapierre (Lac Beauport, QC), Andreanne Pichette (Quebec City) and Marie-Claude Surprenant (Sherbrooke.)

Emily Batty racing in the Under-23 World Championships

The temperature, which affected many of the junior women in Wednesday’s race, wasn’t as bad Thursday thanks to some cloud cover over the Mont-Saint Anne venue, but the air was still thick.

Off the gun, Batty couldn’t clip into her pedals and fell well back at the start to 19th place. But by the end of the start loop, Batty had moved into eighth place with Kofman 17th and Pichette 24th.

By the third lap, Batty had moved up into sixth place and then, on the final loop of the course, she passed one more rider to finish fifth. Kofman finished 14^th, Pichette was 26^th, Beaumont was 30^th, Olivier-Lapierre was 33^rd and Ashley Barson didn’t finish.

Winning the race was Sweden’s Alexandra Engen, who passed Great Britain’s Annie Last on the final lap after overcoming a big lead Last had built up. Last finished second Poland’s Paula Gorycka was third.

After the race, Batty said a virus she’s been fighting off the past couple of weeks affected her performance, but she was happy with the result.

“I was sick, but it’s no excuse. I’m happy with how it went. I left everything out there,” she said. “It wasn’t quite what I was hoping for today, but I’m okay with it.”

Batty was surrounded by supporters after crossing the finish line, all of whom were wearing Go-Emily-Go shirts with the Canadian flag on them.

“It was absolutely insane. Every time I went up the climb I was getting goosebumps from having my family and friends and sponsors just screaming my name. It was so inspiring. Those are the people that helped me get here and it’s a big army,” she said.

Handing out those T-shirts was Cindy Batty, Emily’s mother, who might have been as nervous her daughter before the race started.

“I’m proud of her. With her (being sick), Rick and I thought she was dying. So to have her come here and finish the way she did, we’re proud of her,” she said.

Also having a good ride Thursday was Kofman, who was as far back as 18^th, but finished solidly in 14^th.

“You always want to finish further ahead, but overall I’m pleased. It was a hard day on the bike,” she said. “I didn’t really know what to expect. I’ve never raced at Mont-Sainte Anne when it was dry, so it was really quite odd because I expected it to pour rain. The course wasn’t that technical, but because it was so dry, you were just holding on for dear life at some points.”

The schedule continues here with qualifying for the 4-cross finals tonight at 6 p.m. Friday is a busy day at the venue with the junior men’s cross country championship at 11 a.m. followed by the men’s under-23 finals at 2 p.m. The men’s and women’s 4-cross finals will be held under the lights starting at 9 p.m.