Video: Emily Batty is Back with a New Team in Season 2 of 'Ambitions'
Words by Molly Hurford / Canyon MTB Racing Team
Photos by Adam Morka
It's a new season of Ambitions with Emily Batty and this second season introduces her new teammate on the Canyon MTB Racing Team, Laurie Arsenault. Heading into the unknowns of the 2021 season, the team recently navigated a training camp together in British Columbia and are now preparing to kick off racing in coming weeks.
"We're coming out in full force for the first two World Cups," Batty says—with those two races being Olympic qualifiers, the stakes have never been higher. Assembling a team with the best support, from the gear itself to the people involved, was critical. The new Canyon MTB Racing Team will be managed by Adam Morka, with Batty's brother Mark serving as the team's lead mechanic as they tackle a full World Cup circuit.
Arsenault, a former cross-country skier, fell in love with mountain biking when she was training in the offseason. I love mountain biking because it's it's so liberating for me," she says. "I was training with a lot of boys who are so much in shape and growing so fast. And I was always like crashing everywhere. And I remember crying after the trainings and I don't know I just like triggers something that I want more with that sport. And eventually it just clicked."
For Emily Batty, the new team is a big step in her career both as an athlete and as a woman in the cycling industry. "I get to be a voice at the table now," she says. "In a very male-dominated sport, that is really important for me. There are so many ideas and visions that I want to bring to the table. And I really want to make my mark in this industry. This program is allowing me to do that."
In this episode of Ambitions, the German-engineered Canyon Lux bikes are getting their first test rides in BC, complete with Shimano, Fox, Ergon, Schwalbe, and DT Swiss components. Fans of Ambitions will remember Emily and Adam from previous seasons, of course, but it's the first time fans are getting to know Arsenault and Mark Batty—and get up close and personal with the team bikes!
Check out MTBracing.com for more up-to-the-minute team news, best tips, and tons of content from Emily and the team!
Full Canyon MTB Racing sponsor list: Canyon, Bio Racer, Wahoo, Shimano, Abus, Fox, Schwalbe, DT Swiss, Lululemon, 100%, Vital Proteins, 4iiiis, Ergon, Hyperice, UniorTools, The Feed.com
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Agree with you the women's racing field is absolutely incredible. So many high level and closely matched athletes all on factory rides who are battling for wins/podiums every race.
Certainly made for great entertainment when Nino was just dominating the men's field year after year (as much of a beast he is, watching him, Lewis Hamilton or Michael Schumacher win is boring. Though at least with Nino it's not so equipment related).
We are at one week of the opening of the XCO season, will you update the rider list for the fantasy league?
Because the list is two years old and for exemple, Helen Grobert stop mtb after a scandal of dopage.
Laura Stigger or Loana Lecomte are not on the list too, quite a shame.
Love to play this sort of stuff for my 9 year old daughter so that she can be exposed to healthy & motivated female role models.