Junior national champion Rafaelle Carrier’s ‘cross season has already been impressive racing with women her age–but now she’s mixing it up with the elites.
She’s had a stellar December 2024 at the UCI Cyclocross Junior World Cups, winning at both Zonhoven and Hulst. She also secured a podium with third place in Dublin and finished sixth in Besançon, even though she was recovering from illness. At the UCI World Cup Namur, racing with elites she finished 19th–a stellar result given that she is only 17.
Mixing it up with the pros
On Jan. 1, she had another big result–finishing 7th at the 20 Trofee Baal – GP Sven Nys 2025 – Women Elite (C1). At one point she was in sixth before dropping in the final laps. Many of the big names were there as well. The GP Sven Nys, named after the former pro, was won by Fem van Empel of Visma – Lease a Bike, finishing in 46:51. She was followed by Lucinda Brand of Baloise Trek Lions in second, and Puck Pieterse rounding out the podium in third.
Due to some previous illness, it was a last-minute decision to be there.
“I’ve been sick all week so I wasn’t sure at all about racing yesterday. I told myself that I would give it a try and stop in the worst case scenario, but it went pretty well in the end. I didn’t have the best feeling, but I still managed to have a good race and fight for positions. I was really surprised to be on the first line and a little intimidated. I’m satisfied with my race overall,” she said.
Living in Belgium
Carrier is using Belgium as her home base for most of the season. Earlier she got some road miles in Calp, Spain, with the WorldTour Team Arkea-B&B Hotels for a training camp. The Canadian is being supported by the squad. This includes logistical and material backing for her UCI CX World Cup races in Europe. She will also ride as a stagiaire for the French squad in August 2025.
“I love the Bianchis, they’re super light and super smooth,” she said about her new rides. “I just got my road bike, which is really great too.”
Lots of racing left in lead-up to the worlds
She still has plenty of races left–and some more miles in the sun with her lead-up to the world championships in Liévin, France. The worlds are her big goal – and she’s no stranger to doing well at the biggest race of the year. The Lac-Beauport, Que rider placed second at the 2024 XCO mtb world championships in Andorra. She finished just 36 seconds behind the race winner, Viktoria…
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