Geza Rodgers leads Canadian juniors at downhill worlds

It was a big day for the downhill racers at 2024 world championships with juniors racing finals and elites putting in qualifying runs in Andorra. Geza Rodgers, newly minted junior women’s champion, led the Canadian junior women with Jack Macleod leding the junior men.

In the elite races, Gracey Hemstreet was the top Canadian qualifier in the women’s race while Finn Iles was the top Canuck in the men’s. Both ranked inside the top 10, setting them up for a solid showing on Saturday in finals.

Junior men’s and women’s downhill finals

In the junior men’s race, several of Canada’s pre-race favourites were taken out by injury before finals. This included both Pivot Factory Racing juniors, Dane Jewett and Ryan Griffith. That opened the door for Jack Macleod to step up, taking a 13th place in Andorra. New national champion Jon Mozell followed in 20th, Griffin Tulk in 35th, Dylan Marino in 38th, and Michael Delasalle in 49th.

There was no stopping U.S. junior phenom Asa Vermette, though. The Frameworks racer stormed to his first world championship title in his first year of junior racing. He was joined on the podium by another U.S. junior, Bode Burke, with France’s Max Alran splitting the American’s in second place.

On the junior women’s side, Erice van Leuven stormed to a commanding win, defending her title from 2023. The New Zealand racer won by a solid 6.357-second margin. Ella Svegby of Sweden takes second, breaking up the New Zealand racers on the podium as Sacha Earnest takes third.

Geza Rodgers finishes as the top Canadian junior. The new junior women’s national champion finished 12th. The result is quite impressive considering worlds is only Rodgers’ second downhill race and first on an actual downhill bike after winning nationals on a Specialized Stumpjumper EVO. Rebecca Beaton, the only other Canadian in the junior women’s final, improved on her qualifying time to finish 16th.

Elite men’s and women’s downhill qualifying

In the elite qualifying, Finn Iles and Gracey Hemstreet posted the fastest Canadian times of the day. They’ll be joined by a large crowd of Canucks in finals, though a few notable names will be missing due to injury or just missing out on the qualifying cut-off.

Hemstreet is the top Canadian woman in qualifying, setting the sixth fastest time behind top qualifyer Myriam Nicole. It’s a solid start to the Sunshine Coast racer’s worlds, which is just her second race back after a wrist injury earlier…