Rider's Perspective: World Championships

It always seems crazy how September rolls around and the competitive mountain bike season is ending for most. Although it does mark the biggest one-day race of the season: the World Championships – where the winner flys rainbow stripes the following season, to signify they’re the reigning World Champ. By this time the World Cup series has usually been won and showed who was the most consistent rider all season. This might actually be harder to win than Worlds because there are six or seven races to perform at, not just one. Putting together a good ride for the biggest race of the season is sometimes a lottery and the payoff is always worth it.

Representing Canada while wearing the maple leaf gives us a sense of pride, together as a team. The best riders from junior to elite that represent different trade teams and clubs, as well as the best mechanics, coaches, physio and staff come together as Team Canada. There were National Team riders who have attended 19 different worlds and some riders at their first. Myself, this was World Champs number 6. Having done two as a junior, three as an espoir and now my first as an elite.


In the past I would come to Worlds with it being the end all, be all of the season; that special breakout race you dream about. I’ve come to realize, in my old age as an elite rider now, that it’s just another bike race. I’ve been more relaxed and confident in my preparations this year, which is bringing in consistent results and improvement.

After receiving a late invite and having just completed my 6-day Whistler omnium: xc race, marathon nationals, bike park day, hiking day and two days of riding trails bikes, I was exhausted, but, of course, excited. It left a small amount of time to rest, train and prepare for the trip. I managed to get it all done and felt confident with what I had done in the small window of opportunity. Unfortunately I had to cancel a trip to Bhutan for the Tour of the Dragon. Which is one of the world's toughest, one-day mountain bikes races at 260km in the Himalayan mountains. That will have to wait for another year.


Arriving exactly one week before was going to hopefully give us enough time to rid the jet lag and get used to the course. Coming into the race I assumed, based on video, the course wasn’t going to be technical and it required good climbing legs. After arriving and pre-riding I was surprised to find it was actually the one course all season that required the most time to check out lines.


The course was very unique with mostly natural trails and littered with steep climbs. The technical sections weren’t like other courses that have a major feature. It’s more subtle lines through sharp rocks and root sections that chewed tires apart and caused some crashes to even the top riders. Some of the sections were wide-open and had many lines, so riders needed to figure out what works for them. Which just means that hitting your lines in the first few laps is very hard to do.



Canada had some amazing performances by many riders and Catharine Pendrel's win in the elite women put lots of icing on the cake. It was the best way to head out and start warming up for mine, which was actually my first elite men’s race in Europe.

Sitting 83rd on the start-line meant a lot of passing was on schedule. Starting 84th in St Anne and finishing 36th gave me the confidence I was capable of moving forward. This start was chaos and it’s even hard to think of how to explain it. Crashes, stopping, waiting, running, riding, more waiting and running was my first lap. Keeping your bike safe is key in those situations and more importantly your headspace. I rolled through in 80th, not anything what I hoped for after lap one.

My motivation and drive took a dip and my legs followed, of course. Another lap of floundering had me thinking about the weird things that float around in your head while racing. I wanted this race to go well, but I didn’t need it to. Having all my Canadian teammates cheering on course turned the page for me. The excitement after the descents and jump sections began and it allowed me to make passes and get cheered along the way.

That was it, the switch was flicked and I felt good, motivated and excited. I was now passing riders all over and feeling the support my teammates were giving me. This continued for the following 4 laps, where I made almost 40 passes in that time and was into the top-50. I don’t know where those legs and that mindset ventured off to in the first two laps.

While I was finishing the penultimate lap and making ground, I was pulled. The short laps and furious pace Julien Absalon set had only 43 riders finish on the lead lap. Oh so close and left me frustrated, because I was capable of a lot more than 48th and riding, at the time, a much faster pace than 48th. My first two laps had me too far back though.


I learned a lot from this trip and am happy with how I turned things around from a very negative first couple laps. Something in past years that has haunted me. The famous after party had a special event taking place this year. Maghalie Rochette of Luna challenged Lea Davison of Specialized to a rap battle. Both put forth a great effort and of course I side with our Canadian girl!


Here is my post-race interview.

Massive thank you to everyone who helped make this year possible. I'm overwhelmed by the amount of people who always want to help and allow me to pursue bike racing. This cross-country season is done, but there are plenty of events coming up this next month. Stay tuned for more!

-Evan Guthrie
www.evanguthrie.com
www.twitter.com/evanwguthrie

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