Canada’s young cross-country riders put together several strong performances at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Val di Sole, highlighted by Rafaëlle Carrier riding into the top five in the under-23 women’s XCO race.

Carrier finished fifth, the best result among Canada’s U23 and junior XCO riders and another big international result for the young Canadian. Especially after her results in the XCC earlier in the weekend.

Behind her, Canada showed plenty of depth in the under-23 women’s field with six riders finishing inside the top 40.

Carrier leads Canadian women

Carrier’s fifth-place finish led a Canadian contingent in the U23 women’s race. Ava Holmgren was the next Canadian across the line in 12th, narrowly missing another top-10 result at the world championships.

Ella MacPhee finished 19th to give Canada three riders inside the top 20. Marin Lowe was 29th, Nico Knoll finished 32nd and Alexia Harel rounded out the Canadian results in 39th.

It was a strong Canadian showing, with Carrier’s fifth place putting her within sight of the world championship podium.

Comaniuk takes 14th

Mika Comaniuk led the Canadian U23 men with a 14th-place finish. Comaniuk’s result gave Canada another top-15 at the world championships and was the best Canadian performance in the U23 men’s race.

Maxime St-Onge finished 37th, while Ian Ackert (who had incredible results in the XCO) did not finish.

The junior men also produced a pair of strong Canadian results. Emilien Belzile led the way in 11th, just one position outside the top 10. Ethan Wood followed in 16th.

Evan Moore finished 22nd, while William McFarlane did not finish.

Haviland leads junior women

Alexa Haviland was Canada’s top finisher in the junior women’s XCO race, crossing the line in 23rd.

Eliane Blais finished 35th, Alexane Arpin was 45th and Lacey Dennis finished 52nd.

While Canada didn’t come away with a medal in the U23 or junior XCO categories, there were plenty of promising results across the age groups.

Combined with Cole Punchard’s bronze medal in the elite men’s XCO race, Canada’s performances in Val di Sole offered plenty to be excited about; both right now and for what comes next.