For a team’s first season, and a bike’s Enduro World Cup debut, 2026 was almost as good as it gets for Priority Racing Team’s Canadian duo of Lief Rodgers and Evan Wall.

Almost as good as it gets because going into the last race, it looked like it might be one better. Rodgers held the overall lead, and number 1 plate, after taking it at the prior round. Racing with that 1 plate is something few riders ever get to do in their career, and, despite dropping to second behind Adrien Dailly at the final round, Rodgers knows its a rare and hard-earned moment.

“Racing with the number one plate, it felt like everyone at the race was rooting for me, which was really cool. I kind of felt like I was the cuter of attention of all the media and so many fans for that last round, which was a cool experience,” Rodgers says. “I would liked to… I mean, to win the overall would have been insane. But just to have the leader’s jersey at any point in the season is amazing. I’m pretty grateful I got to experience that.”

Feeling the heat in Morillon: A finals showdown

With the attention comes changed expectations. The Canadian had just one round, the final race in Morillon, to adapt to his new position in the limelight.

“It was definitely a lot of pressure. Sometimes I wished, especially during the race weekend, that I was still the underdog. It definitely didn’t feel like I was one anymore, so it made it a bit tougher, but it was still really cool.”

As someone used to racing with a bit more anonymity, not on one of the bigger factory teams and not from Europe, Rodgers said he tried to stick as close to his routine as possible for that final race in France.

“My process and mindset was working for me the whole season, so I didn’t really want to change anything. I just treated that race as one single race and just tried to do my best on every stage,” Rodgers says, adding, “It still does affect you mentally. I’m happy with how I raced, but [the overall] was in the back of my mind the whole time. Having the media interviewing me at the top and bottom of almost every stage during the race, and only asking me about the overall the whole race day, was definitely adding to the stress.”

A stunning debut for PRT

Rodgers finished sixth in Morillon, with French rider Adrien Dailly taking the win, and the overall, on home turf. It’s still a huge result for the Canadian rider. And solidly ahead of expectations for the season for Rodgers and the team at Priority supporting the two Canadians.

“It went so much better than we could have thought. These guys crushed it,” says Connor Swegle, co-founder of Priority Bicycles. “It’s all these guys, 100 per cent. I feel like we’re just trying to add some scaffolding as best we can to support these guys. Trying to track their performance every week from six or seven hours behind, trying to cobble together what’s going on, was super exciting. We’re just really stoked for what these guys were able to do.”

For Priority, it was the fast lane onto an enduro World Cup podium. A year ago, Priority’s only full suspension bike, the Vanth was just landing in the world. Now, it’s second overall.

“It’s one of those things where just months ago we were just firming everything up, thinking ‘hey, these guys are awesome, let’s see what happens.’ We think the bike’s great. The guy’s performance, stage-to-stage, every weekend was something awesome.”

From enduro newbies, Sweagle was just as drawn in by the discipline’s culture.

“I think seeing the personality of what’s going on in enduro, the time and energy that these guys put in week over week, I thought was just really impressive,” Sweagle says, adding, from a business perspective, that translated into real engagement. A strong note of support for a discipline that has, at the highest levels, struggled under the direction of WBD/UCI (who would later cancel the 2027 season).

Wall finds speed on the Vanth

While Rodgers’ performance stole headlines, Evan Wall also finished 14th overall. A few spots shy of his career high season ranking, but with standout top-1o finishes and stage results that make 2026 one he describes as “definitely my best season.”

Like we asked Lief mid-season, Wall said there was a bit of a “learning curve” riding the very distinctive, both in performance and looks, Vanth.

“It’s such a different bike than what Lief and I were on last year but, as we got more time on it, it felt great. Once we got to Europe, on those weird and really rough, noodley European tracks, it really came to life in my opinion,” Wall says.

With a gearbox-driven high-pivot design and arching elevated chain stays, the Vanth definitely stands out, even in the World Cup pits.

“The biggest thing I noted is how well the rear suspension works with the weight down low, having the gearbox weight right between my feet,” Wall explained. “There were times when I hit rocks or a big root section where the bike just sticks to the ground compared to a bike where all the weight’s on the rear axle. Just having that confidence and being able to come through a section where a lot of people were puzzling, or talking about how rough it is, and just trust that the bike would stay on the ground is a pretty crazy feeling.”

On to world championships, and beyond

The two Canadians will have one more chance to race the Vanth overseas this season. After a second at Canadian nationals and again at TransBC enduro for Lief, both will be hunting for podiums in Finale Ligure this weekend.

After that, a lot is up in the air with enduro. Race organisers made a surprise announcement that the 2027 World Cup season would not happen, and only world championships would be organised by the UCI.

“There’s lots of cool opportunities popping up already,” Rodgers hinted, citing Crankworx’s plans as well as a yet-announced potential series. “The news was kind of a bummer, for sure. Even us racers had no idea about it. We were all getting ready for the last World Cup with no idea. Then, two days after, we all found out just through Pinkbike.” 

“I definitely think it could be a good opportunity. Like, Next year enduro will kind of struggle, but I think overall it’s probably for the better. There’s a lot of opportunity for the sport to grow and get better now. It was kind of struggling through the UCI these last few years.”

Sweagle is also sold on the sport.

“Dude, whatever happen’s happens. Like I said early on, people talking about whether or not enduro is popular or interesting or the state of the sport? That doesn’t matter, these guys are busting their asses off to train and perform.,” says the Priority co-founder. “My mentality is the same for next year. We have so much stuff planned. We’re already working with these guys on what will be helpful for them going into next year. If they want to race, and put their time and energy into, let’s figure out a way to rack up some successes.”

A more mountain-bike focused Priority?

That makes it sound like Priority is, as a brand, committed to growing beyond its few mtb offerings.

“Yeah, there’s been a DH bike in the works. Am I supposed to talk about it? No idea, but who cares. Obviously the Pinion and suspension system leads well into that platform, And the Vanth makes a very easy transition into the e-world for sure,” Sweagle hints. “We’re also continuing to look at the sportier side of endurance. We’re seeing an uptick in stuff like Silk Road or even Tour Divide, which is a bit more core to Priority.”

We’ve spent some time on the brand’s 600HXT, a more endurance focused hardtail (with some fun thrown in) and it’s an interesting bike. It’ll be interesting to see what Priority, and Priority Racing’s Canadian duo get up to next.

But first, world championships await.