2025 was a sensational year for Jenn Jackson, another break-out year in what feels like a series of break-out years for the Canadian as she continues her steady march towards the top of cross country racing. The season culminated with a world championship podium in Switzerland in the short track race.
After a season spent at the front, Jackson’s heading into 2026 looking to build on that momentum. While getting to the the front of a World Cup was hard, learning to live there also had its own challenges. We talked to Jackson about how that changed her preparation for 2026, the group of under-23 Canadians thriving internationally, two of whom were chasing her in Langford, and her off-season spent on Orbea’s big bike.
Jenn Jackson drops in at Jordie Lunn Bike Park
Canada Cup previews potential Canadian nationals course changes – and rivals
We caught up with Jackson after she doubled up with two wins at the Langford Bike Fest / Canada Cup season opener over the weekend. The Orbea Factory Team rider said she liked the course changes, saying adding an extra descent made racing more dynamic, “even though that climb up was mega hard, it was worth it.” That is likely a preview of what the nationals course will look like when championship racing returns to Langford this summer, with Jackson looking well positioned to repeat her XCC/XCO sweep from 2025.
Two of the riders that will be looking to challenge Jackson were also in Langford over the weekend. Marin Lowe and Ella Macphee are part of a growing group of Canadian women that are making waves internationally with World Cup wins and world championships titles. Lowe, Macphee, Nicole Bradbury and Isabella and Ava Holmgren are all under-23. Jackson says she’s more focused on her own way forward than worrying when they might try take her crown.
“I think everyone’s chasing each other. I really only got towards the front last year, so it’s still really new for me and I have a lot of improvements I’m excited to keep working on,” Jackson says. “It’s exciting seeing them mature and progress as well. I think we’re all on our own journey, but hopefully converging closer to the top.”
Early start in Spain to set the stage for 2026 season
The Canada Cup opener delivered her first wins of the season, but not her first races. The double-national champion already has a few starts at the early season Spanish races where she was right back up at the front of the field. She says that, after 2025, part of the reason for starting her season in overseas was to re-acclimatize to the pace, and mindset, of racing at the front of an international field.
“Part of the reason I wanted to do those preseason races in Spain was to race against other podium-level racers. Just to check that last year wasn’t a fluke. To make sure that, Okay, I’m still at this level,” Jackson explains, adding “But also to normalize competing with them. So that when I show up in Korea it isn’t the first time I’ve seen these people.”
While the combination of top Canadian U23’s and the U.S.A.’s growing roster of top elite riders is a challenge, Jackson says its still a different feeling racing against the variety of athletes in Europe. Getting used to being up front in a race is part of the plan to take the next step up on the podium.
“Feeling more comfortable doesn’t make it any easier,” Jackson adds. “Even if you are psychologically more comfortable in that position, it’s still extremely hard racing and being able to make the effort and the decisions you need to strategically.”
Making it to the front versus dealing with the strategy
One of the changes the Orbea riders found last season was the switch not just in speed, but in strategy at the front of a World Cup field.
“I think when you’re racing close to the front and there’s more interaction, rider to rider. You are racing against each other and testing each other a bit more, whereas when you’re mid pack, it’s way more fluid, with people moving forward dropping back,” Jackson explains. “It ends up being more of a time trial effort, whereas closer to the front, I think there’s more shifts in pace.”
As somone whose never seen the front of a World Cup race, I admit to her than I would have though the opposite. That the lack of traffic would have allowed a steadier pace than when you’re working through a crowd in the mid-20s.
“When you’re at the front, it can be more cagey. Once you’re in a podium position you want to win, but you also don’t want to lose. You have to be a bit more strategic. Whereas if you’re in 20th, everyone feels like they have a lot to gain if you chase forward.”
“Overall, the pace at the front is still super high, higher than in 20th, but there are extra surges and efforts that you have to deal with.”
Comparing her effort Saturday, where she won posting lap times that we’re consistently within eight seconds, Jackson says an international win would require a different effort. “Being able to have those consistent times is great but I know that at a World Cup I would have to knock off another 20 seconds a lap in the last two laps.”
Off-season on the Rallon: “I didn’t touch my cross country bike at all”
While some cross country racer spend the off-season on a road bike, and you might think those kind of grueling winter-miles would be the focus after such a big year at the races, Jackson went as far in the other direction as she could. After Mont-Sainte-Anne, she skipped over Orbea’s trail bike and spent the rest of the fall riding the 180-mm-travel Rallon on the trails of her now-home on Vancouver Island.
“I rode it from the end of the season until December. I didn’t touch my cross country bike at all,” Jackson says. “It was such a big difference from the cross country bike.”
While Jackson says she “learned a lot” while riding the Rallon, the reason she asked her sponsor for one was a little simpler.
“It was new, and it was super-sick,” Jackson says with a laugh. “I reached out to see if it was possible, I said I swear I’m going to use it a ton. And they were really excited that I was interested. Its also just really cool to know how capable a bike it is, and, like, I have infinite space to grow on that, because that’s not my skillset, but it’s so much fun.”