Squamish's Lauren Rosser continued her strong summer on the weekend, winning the Junior Women's Cross Country World Cup race at Mont Ste-Anne, Que.
Rosser blazed through the course on Sunday (July 3) in one hour, six minutes, 15 seconds, comfortably beating the second-place competitor by almost three minutes. She said she had a simple strategy for the race.
"I just wanted to go as hard as I could for as long as I could," she told Canadian Cyclist. "It turned out that I was in the lead and I just kept my pace and held them off."
Despite the strong showing and a number of solid weeks on the tour, Rosser said she still has things to work on.
"I feel I could be a bit fitter but that comes with time," she said. "I have a lot more time before worlds, so I plan to be at my top physical condition by then."
Local rider Miranda Miller also competed at Mont Ste-Anne, battling it out in the Elite Women's division downhill event. Miller finished 12th in qualifying and wound up placing 15th. She told The Chief that several riders struggled with the complexity of the course but she was pleased she managed to stay on her bike, after a couple of bad crashes earlier this season.
"I stayed on - I guess that was a step up from the tumble cycle I've been on," she said. "But I missed a couple of lines and need to work more to stretch my shoulders and arms out as I still seem to be losing control of my hands. I know I can do better than this - I've done it before - so I'm looking forward to riding Windham for the first time next week."
Also competing at Mont Ste-Anne was Brackendale's Brandi Heisterman, who finished 38th in the Elite Women's cross-country race.
For more information and full results from the event, visit www.canadiancyclist.com.
