{"id":925955,"date":"2026-10-09T01:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T01:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/925955\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T01:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T01:26:12","slug":"after-second-overall-lief-rodgers-and-priority-racing-are-committed-to-enduro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/925955\/","title":{"rendered":"After second overall, Lief Rodgers and Priority Racing are committed to enduro"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a team\u2019s first season<\/a>, and a bike\u2019s Enduro World Cup debut, 2026 was almost as good as it gets for Priority Racing Team\u2019s Canadian duo of Lief Rodgers and Evan Wall.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cRacing 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,\u201d Rodgers says. \u201cI would liked to\u2026 I mean, to win the overall would have been insane. But just to have the leader\u2019s jersey at any point in the season is amazing. I\u2019m pretty grateful I got to experience that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Feeling the heat in Morillon: A finals showdown<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was definitely a lot of pressure. Sometimes I wished, especially during the race weekend, that I was still the underdog. It definitely didn\u2019t feel like I was one anymore, so it made it a bit tougher, but it was still really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy process and mindset was working for me the whole season, so I didn\u2019t really want to change anything. I just treated that race as one single race and just tried to do my best on every stage,\u201d Rodgers says, adding, \u201cIt still does affect you mentally. I\u2019m 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A stunning debut for PRT<\/p>\n

Rodgers finished sixth in Morillon, with French rider Adrien Dailly taking the win, and the overall, on home turf. It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt went so much better than we could have thought. These guys crushed it,\u201d says Connor Swegle, co-founder of Priority Bicycles. \u201cIt\u2019s all these guys, 100 per cent. I feel like we\u2019re 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\u2019s going on, was super exciting. We\u2019re just really stoked for what these guys were able to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Priority, it was the fast lane onto an enduro World Cup podium. A year ago, Priority\u2019s only full suspension bike, the Vanth was just landing in the world. Now, it\u2019s second overall.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of those things where just months ago we were just firming everything up, thinking \u2018hey, these guys are awesome, let\u2019s see what happens.\u2019 We think the bike\u2019s great. The guy\u2019s performance, stage-to-stage, every weekend was something awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

From enduro newbies, Sweagle was just as drawn in by the discipline\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think seeing the personality of what\u2019s going on in enduro, the time and energy that these guys put in week over week, I thought was just really impressive,\u201d 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).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Wall finds speed on the Vanth<\/p>\n

While Rodgers\u2019 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 \u201cdefinitely my best season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like we asked Lief mid-season<\/a>, Wall said there was a bit of a \u201clearning curve\u201d riding the very distinctive, both in performance and looks, Vanth.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s 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,\u201d Wall says.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThe biggest thing I noted is how well the rear suspension works with the weight down low, having the gearbox weight right between my feet,\u201d Wall explained. \u201cThere 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\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On to world championships, and beyond<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s lots of cool opportunities popping up already,\u201d Rodgers hinted, citing Crankworx\u2019s plans as well as a yet-announced potential series. \u201cThe 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely think it could be a good opportunity. Like, Next year enduro will kind of struggle, but I think overall it\u2019s probably for the better. There\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sweagle is also sold on the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cDude, whatever happen\u2019s happens. Like I said early on<\/a>, people talking about whether or not enduro is popular or interesting or the state of the sport? That doesn\u2019t matter, these guys are busting their asses off to train and perform.,\u201d says the Priority co-founder. \u201cMy mentality is the same for next year. We have so much stuff planned. We\u2019re 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\u2019s figure out a way to rack up some successes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A more mountain-bike focused Priority?<\/p>\n

That makes it sound like Priority is, as a brand, committed to growing beyond its few mtb offerings.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, there\u2019s 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,\u201d Sweagle hints. \u201cWe\u2019re also continuing to look at the sportier side of endurance. We\u2019re seeing an uptick in stuff like Silk Road or even Tour Divide, which is a bit more core to Priority.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve spent some time on the brand\u2019s 600HXT, a more endurance focused hardtail (with some fun thrown in) and it\u2019s an interesting bike. It\u2019ll be interesting to see what Priority, and Priority Racing\u2019s Canadian duo get up to next.<\/p>\n

But first, world championships await.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For a team\u2019s first season, and a bike\u2019s Enduro World Cup debut, 2026 was almost as good as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":925956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,318240,149330,318241,80426,1700,265568,288765,271469,82],"class_list":["post-925955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-enduro-world-championships","tag-enduro-world-cup","tag-evan-wall","tag-lief-rodgers","tag-mtb-features","tag-priority-bicycles","tag-priority-racing","tag-priority-vanth","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=925955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/925956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=925955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=925955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=925955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}