Isabella Holmgren leads XCO by a minute, then goes OTB

U23 XCO Mont Sainte Anne

When crowd favourite and world champion Isabella Holmgren attacked on the second lap of the Mont Sainte Anne U23 XCO race, she increased her lead by almost a minute in a single lap. But one lap later, she went over the bars, hitting the ground hard. She got back on the bike, but she lost more than four minutes and was forced to pull out of the race. Böhm seized the lead after Holmgren’s crash, and along with her XCC win, took her second win of the weekend.
Other Canadian standout performances included Ella McPhee in fifth place and Emily Johnston in eighth.

Overall this gave Emilly Johnston an impressive fourth place title, Isabella was fifth and Ella McPhee in eighth for 2024.

In the men’s U23 XCO category, it was Dario Lillo, Luca Martin and Yannis Musy that set the pace, breaking away from the pack on the first lap. Working together their gap increased and secured them the top three spots. When Lillo attacked at the start of the last lap, Martin and Musy simply couldn’t keep pace. Lillo went on to win (he won XCC on Thursday) with Martin taking second and Musy third. After last weekend’s win, Cole Punchard was a crowd favourite but couldn’t match his Lake Placid performance and took eleventh place. No-hander master Ian Ackert took 20th.
For the overall 2024 standings Cole Punchard ended up seventh and Owen Clark came in 22nd.

Elite XCO Mont Sainte Anne

The women’s elite class saw the riders tackling the damp, cold conditions with Loana Lecomte building an eight second lead after the first lap. Laura Stigger followed her and, along with Friday’s XCC winner, Sina Frei, they caught up to Lecomte by the end of lap two. But Frei faded in lap three, and Stigger and Lecomte traded places in the front of the race. On the last lap, Lecomte pulled away on a climb and managed to cross the finish line first. Stigger took second and Frei third. Canadian champion Jenn Jackson took 23rd.

This gave Jackson a 17th place overall for the 2024 XCO season.

In the men’s race, Alan Hatherly was untouchable from the start. Building a commanding lead early on, he finished the season by not only winning the race but also securing the UCI XCO overall series title. The South African rider, who had already claimed the 2024 UCI XCO world championship, demonstrated his consistent dominance throughout the season.
Canada’s Leandre Bouchard took the 21st spot.

For the overall 2024 standings, Canadians Gunnar Holmgren took 36th, Carter…