Cycling Canada – Vallnord, Andorra – Canadian women continued to ride strongly at Round 5 of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Vallnord, Andorra, with three athletes making it in the top-20 in the Elite race for the second weekend in a row. Emily Batty (Trek Factory) took her second podium in as many weeks, finishing third, while Haley Smith (Norco Factory) was a career-best 13^th and Sandra Walter (Canadian National) 17^th.

Batty was with the race leaders until a mechanical problem with her chain forced her to stop on the second lap, dropping her to sixth, 22 seconds back. The Canadian champion rode her way back to a chase group behind the two leaders, before attacking on the penultimate lap to solo in for third behind Norway’s Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa and Switzerland’s Jolanda Neff. In other Canadian results, Cindy Montambault (Canadian National) was 34^th, Elyse Nieuwold (Pendrel Racing) 39^th, Catherine Fleury 43^rd and Rebecca Beaumont 44^th.

“I had a great first lap and felt really strong,” said Batty. “I made a mistake [shifting] into one of the corners going from a downhill into an uphill, so I lost time there. I had a strong race and felt good despite the altitude; I did some training at altitude in Livigno [Italy]. I was well prepared and going for it, but that one mistake cost me a lot of time. The rest of the race was a matter of trying to make up that time, so third is pretty good for today.”

In the Elite men’s race, Leandre Bouchard (KMC-Ekoi-SR Suntour) was 34^th, matching his best result of the season. Also finishing in the top-50 was Canadian champion Peter Disera (Norco Factory) in 43^rd place. Raphael Gagne (Silverback OMX) finished in 61^st, Andrew L’Esperance (Canadian National) 69^th, and Alexandre Vialle 90^th.

Canada also had top-20 results in the Under-23 category, with Team Canada riders Mackenzie Myatt and Sean Fincham both finishing 19^th in the women’s and men’s races respectively.

Dan Proulx, National Mountain Bike Coach at Cycling Canada, called the weekend a success. “We’re really pleased with how Vallnord turned out. It’s a tough race and it’s at altitude. Sean and Mackenzie lead the way for the Under-23’s, both finishing 19^th. Our Elite women were exceptional, with Emily riding strong to get third, Haley with a best-ever World Cup result and Sandra with a second best-ever finish. We’re pleased and will plan to do even more preparation for this event in the future.”

About Cycling Canada
Cycling Canada is the governing body for competitive cycling in Canada. Founded in 1882, Cycling Canada aims to create and sustain an effective system that develops talented Canadian cyclists to achieve Olympic, Paralympic, and World Championship medal performances. With the vision of being a leading competitive cycling nation by 2020 celebrating enhanced international success, increased national participation and world class event hosting, Cycling Canada manages the High Performance team, hosts national and international events and administers programs to promote and grow cycling across the country. Cycling Canada programs are made possible through the support of its valued corporate partners – Global Relay, Lexus Canada, Mattamy Homes, Louis Garneau, lululemon, 4iiii, Argon18 and Bear Mountain Resort – along with the Government of Canada, Own The Podium, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee.

-30-

Source: Cycling Canada
Information:
Karine Bedard l Cycling Canada l 438-884-8771 l karine.bedard@cyclingcanada.ca