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Cycling Canada announces powerhouse squad for the 2017 mountain bike world championships

Heading to Cairns, Australia, 28 riders will compete in cross-country divisions, with 18 competing in downhill competition.

Emily Batty
Emily Batty
Emily Batty (pictured) and Catharine Pendrel will lead the elite women’s cross country ranks. Photo: Matt Stetson

A Canadian squad of 46 riders will head to Cairns, Australia, representing their country at the mountain bike world championships from Sept. 5 to 10. A cross-section of Canada’s most powerful mountain bikers, the 2017 squad, Cycling Canada announced, includes an Olympic medallist, past and present world champions, and some of the country’s top up-and-coming talent.

In all, 28 riders will form Team Canada’s cross country ranks, in junior, under-23 and elite classifications, while the downhill squad includes 18 elite men and women and junior men.

On the cross country side, the women’s team will be led by Catharine Pendrel and Emily Batty, with the former boasting a bronze-medal finish at the Rio 2016 Olympics, while the latter took bronze at the world championships and claimed fourth in Rio. The men, meanwhile, are headed up by Léandre Bouchard and Raphaël Gagné, who also represented Canada at the Rio Olympics. Brothers Peter and Quinton Disera will represent the maple leaf in under-23 competition.

Defending DH world champion Finnley Iles—whose 2017 season has also netted him five out of six World Cup wins—will be Canada’s leader in the men’s junior downhill ranks. Elite downhill specialist Mark Wallace, with three top-10 finishes under his belt for 2017, will lead the men’s team in that classification, with Miranda Miller and Vaea Verbeeck—ranked ninth and 10th in the World Cup, respectively—riding gravity on the women’s side.

Dan Proulx, mountain bike head coach for Cycling Canada, noted what the 2017 roster of mountain bike talent means for Canada’s Tokyo 2020 hopes. “We’re really excited about this year’s worlds team,” Proulx said. “There are so many new faces and so much new energy. We have a lot of clubs, teams, provinces and coaches to thank. They’re building good programs and good athletes. We’re getting better riders at an earlier age and this holds great promise for the future.”

“We have a progression plan aimed at success at Tokyo 2020,” he added, looking ahead. “We’ll start the qualification process for those Games next year. It’s an exciting time for our program.”

Cross Country

Elite Women
Emily Batty – Brooklin, Ont.
Rebecca Beaumont – Alma, Que.
Catherine Fleury – Saint-Gedeon, Que.
Cindy Montambault – Val-David, Que.
Catharine Pendrel – Kamloops, B.C.
Haley Smith – Uxbridge, Ont.
Sandra Walter – Coquitlam, B.C.

Elite Men
Leandre Bouchard – Alma, Que.
Raphael Gagne – Quebec City, Que.
Andrew L’Esperance – Halifax, N.S.
Evan McNeely – Kingston, Ont.N
Derek Zandstra – Belleville, Ont.

U23 Women
Jenn Jackson – Oro-Medonte, Ont.
Soren Meeuwisse – Oro-Medonte, Ont.
Anne-Julie Tremblay – Chicoutimi, Que.

U23 Men
Raphael Auclair – Haute-Saint-Charles, Que.
Peter Disera – Horseshoe Valley, Ont.
Quinton Disera – Horseshoe Valley, Ont.
Marc-Andre Fortier – Victoriaville, Que.
Sean Fincham – Squamish, B.C.

Junior Women
Dana Gilligan – Oro-Medonte, Ont.
Leya Masson – St-Ferrol-les-Neiges, Que.
Sidney McGill – Edmonton
Roxanne Vermette – St-Ferrol-les-Neiges, Que.

Junior Men
Tyler Clark – King City, Ont.
Gunnar Holmgren – Orillia, Ont.
Holden Jones – Squamish, B.C.
Brody Sanderson – Oro-Medonte, Ont.

DOWNHILL

Elite Women
Georgia Astle – Whistler, B.C.
Laurie Citynski – Vancouver
Michelle Griffiths – Winlaw, B.C.
Miranda Miller – Garibaldi, B.C.
Vaea Verbeeck – West Vancouver

Elite Men
Lee Jackson – Squamish, B.C.
Magnus Manson – Sechelt, B.C.
Kirk McDowall – Anmore, B.C.
Samuel Thibault – Chambly, Que.
Mark Wallace – Duncan, B.C.

Junior Men
Finn Iles (automatic selection) – Whistler, B.C.
Blake Bunting – Vancouver
Joshua Fultz-Veinotte – Canmore, Alta.
Kendall McLean – Victoria
Cole Mooney – North Vancouver
Anthony Poulson – St-Constant, Que.
Jacob Stefiuk – North Vancouver
Ben Wallace – North Vancouver