Huntsville cyclists Cole Punchard won the Canadian National Championship in Cross Country Olympic (XC0) Mountain Bike, Under 23 category in Kentville, Nova Scotia, on July 23, 2023.
Winning with an overall time of 1:18:41.1, the championship win moves Cole to a ranking of 87 in the UCI, (Union Cycliste Internationale) and one step closer to his goal of being an elite rider in the prestigious UCI Mountain Bike World Cup races.
“My dad and I drove out there a couple of days before the event so I could pre-ride the course and know what features were on the course. The day before the race there was a big storm, so it was pretty muddy for the race day,” Punchard told Huntsville Doppler.
“XCO, is a UCI off-road mountain bike race format held over undulating, mainly dirt-based circuits that riders must complete several times. Courses should be as natural as possible but can have man-made features in them, too. Riders start at the same time in a mass start, racing between an hour and 20 minutes and an hour and 40 minutes in the elite men’s and women’s categories. Under 23s and juniors will race for shorter time periods than the elites, due to their age,” according to the literature on the race.
Punchard lapped the 4 km track five times, leading the competition in time for each lap. The technical off-road course included several features, like rock gardens, drops and jumps,” explained Punchard.
The twenty-year-old has been racing competitively for the past four years. His Muskoka introduction was the Kids Triathlon organized by Jane Wolfe and Sharon Meadley.
“I started in the Junior Category when I was eighteen. That was my first time over to Europe. I qualified for a World Championship that year in Valasone, Italy. Last year was my first time in the U23 category, first time going to the World Cups in Europe and all over, and that was a good learning experience,” said Punchard.
“This year has been a good winter of training. I go to college in Brevard, North Carolina, it’s like a mountainous region, so it’s really good for training. I do my winters down there and usually my summers are in Europe.” Punchard will be in Scotland for World Championships this month.
Puchard’s goal is to generate enough wins in order to get on a World Cup team to support his activity in all the raises.
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