September 06, 2017 (Cairns, AUS) – Canada finished 10th in the Team Relay with a strong showing and exciting start to the 2017 MTB Worlds as the 5-strong Canadian squad was leading until the final leg that saw Switzerland’s Nino Schurter power to victory.

“Proud of the way this crew road the team relay & pumped I got to hold the lead for Canada during my lap after Holden brought us to the front,” tweeted Catharine Pendrel post-race.

Early on Peter Disera (U23 Men) was sitting 10th on the first leg getting caught up in traffic as New Zealand took an early lead. Italy took over on the second leg as Raphael Gagne (Elite Men) moved up quickly to fifth for a stellar ride handing off to Holden Jones (Junior Men).

Jones delivered in spades at his debut Worlds taking the lead and tagging off to veteran Elite Women’s rider, Catharine Pendrel, of Olympic bronze medal and MTB Worlds gold medal fame. Pendrel extended Canada’s lead to 1 min and tagged off to Under-23 woman Anne-Julie Tremblay.

But most teams saved their big guns for the anchor leg and Tremblay did her best against a formidable chase group that included Schurter and a pack of Elite Men with Switzerland taking the win over Denmark with France third.

Tremblay crossed the line in 10th for a superb start for Canada at the 2017 MTB World Championships.

“There were definitely some good rides in our relay – particularly from Holden Jones and Anne-Julie Trembley. We fell short of our top-8 objective but it’s a new format (5 riders) and we weren’t certain how that would factor in. Overall, a great dress rehearsal for each of the rider’s individual races later in the week,” commented Dan Proulx, Mountain Bike Head Coach at Cycling Canada.

Thanks to Australian Mountain Bike Magazine for their photo contributions pls visit their website here.

Results

1. Switzerland 1:05:08
Filippo Colombo
Joel Roth
Sina Frei
Jolanda Neff
Nino Schurter

2. Denmark 0:24
Sebastian Fini Carstensen
Alexander Young Andersen
Annika Langvad
Malene Degn
Simon Andreassen

3. France
Jordan Sarrou
Mathis Azzaro
Pauline Ferrand Prevot
Lena Gerault
Neilo Perrin Ganier

4. Great Britain 0:30
Frazer Clacherty
Cameron Orr
Evie Richards
Annie Last
Grant Ferguson

5. United States 0:32
Christopher Blevins
Kate Courtney
Kevin Vermaerke
Lea Davison
Howard Grotts

6. Italy 0:34
Luca Braidot
Juri Zanotti
Eva Lechner
Martina Berta
Nadir Colledani

7. Germany 1:45
Maximilian Brandl
Tim Meier
Franziska Koch
Sabine Spitz
Manuel Fumic

8. New Zealand 2:23
Samuel Gaze
Eden Cruise
Jessica Manchester
Samara Sheppard
Anton Cooper

9. Hungary 2:48
Marton Dina
Erik Fetter
Barbara Benko
Virag Buzsaki
Attila Valter

10. Canada 2:50
Peter Disera
Raphael Gagne
Holden Jones
Catharine Pendrel
Anne-Julie Tremblay

11. Czech Republic 3:01
Matej Prudek
David Zadak
Karla Stepanova
Barbora Prudkova
Jaroslav Kulhavy

12. Austria 3:21
Gregor Raggl
Julian Pochacker
Anna Spielmann
Laura Stigger
Maximilian Foidl

13. Poland 4:14
Bartlomiej Wawak
Jakub Zamrozniak
Mateusz Nieboras
Patrycja Swierczynska
Katarzyna Solus-Miskowicz

14. Australia 4:40
Cameron Wright
Tasman Nankervis
Holly Harris
Rebecca Henderson
Daniel McConnell

15. Belgium 5:06
Jens Schuermans
Pierre De Froidmont
Emeline Detilleux
Githa Michiels
Timo Kielich

16. Japan 8:50
Ari Hirabayashi
Kohei Yamamoto
Riki Kitabayashi
Urara Kawaguchi
Yuki Yamada

17. Colombia 9:23
Tomas Yecith Martinez Gomez
Yosiana Fareidy Quintero Pineda
Santiago Mesa Pietralunga
Leidy Johana Mera Cadena
Jhonnatan Botero Villegas

DNF Spain
Carlos Coloma Nicolas
Josep Duran Reig
Magdalena Duran Garcia
David Domingo Campos Motos
Rocio Del Alba Garcia Martinez