Rafaelle Carrier is only in her first year of racing the under-23 category but, at 2026 Canadian XC nationals, the Quebec racer walked away with two wins.

First, in the Short Track (XCC) event, Carrier emerged from a combined elite/U23 field to take the U23 title and second overall. Then, in the Olympic cross country (XCO), the Trinity Racing rider locked into a race-long battle with Liv Factory Racing’s Marin Lowe. The two were inseparable on course, with the race coming down to a thrilling sprint finish after over 90 min of racing. Despite heated racing, both riders were all smiles in the finishing straight.

“That was so much fun, such a great battle with Marin. We’re the exact same speed on the climb and the downhill,” Carrier beamed after the race “We were going super hard the whole race and couldn’t drop each other. Marin tried on the traverse climb and couldn’t get away, so it went to the sprint.”

 

Despite ending her race second, Lowe was just as enthused on the exciting race.

“We were just going all out the whole time, it was so much fun. It just felt like we were flying through the woods,” Lowe added. “She’s a buddy of mine, so it was pretty cool. I lost in the sprint, but I’m still so stoked.”

Carrier had just enough to out-kick Lowe on the final straight away after a long under-23 women’s XCO.

The double win in Langford adds to an incredibly successful debut under-23 World Cup season for Carrier. Six races in, the Quebec rider has added XCC podiums and XCO top-10 finishes to her already-extensive pal mares.

“This year I’m a bit faster in XCC which is surprising, I’ve always been better in XCO,” Carrier said of her strong start to the season. It’s also her first year with the consistently-fast Trinity Racing team. “The team is super fun. It allows me to do all the World Cups, so that’s helpful and super nice.”

After Canadian championships, Carrier gets a break before international racing resumes at the end of August with world championships then the next World Cups. After a busy start to the year, spanning South Korea to Europe, the Canadian is looking forward to the break.

“I’m going to go back home. I’m excited for that, because I haven’t been home for a super long time. So I’ll spend a lot of time with my family and train there for worlds,” Carrier says, adding, “I’ll try have a good last two or three World Cups, but world championships is actually the main goal for this year.”

Carrier leads Lowe down Berm Reynolds on the 2026 XCO nationals course.

Carrier isn’t just fast on a mountain bike. In fact, her first podium after joining Trinity actually came at the Gullegem Superprestige cyclocross just three days into 2026. While the Quebec racer isn’t saying that’s completely in the past, a mountain bike World Cup season that started in the first week of May and doesn’t end until mid-October might leave a bit less room for drop bars in 2026.

“For sure mountain biking is the focus. But I’ll try to fit a bit of cyclocross in the schedule, depending. The mountain bike season is quite long this year with all the World Cups, so we’ll see how I feel.

For now, Carrier is happy with the opportunity to wear the maple leaf as part of a very strong group of Canadian under-23 women currently taking on the under-23 category.

“The Canadians are so strong, it’s super motivating. And now, getting to wear this national champs jersey in that category this year, I can’t believe it.”