The long season of Canada’s top rider at CX worlds
“The last time up stairs, I didn’t think my legs would keep me up, like I might collapse at the top. It was brutal,” said Tyler Clark. The rider from King City, Ont., was speaking about the cyclocross world championships course in Valkenburg, the Netherlands. It was roughly a week after worlds. Clark was back in Canada after almost a month and a half in Europe, his first time racing on that continent. The mud of the Netherlands and Belgium, he said, was nothing like anything he’d seen in North America. A soggy Jingle Cross two years ago was close, but not the same.
Clark was 19th in the junior men’s race. The result made him the top-performing Canadian of the squad that included elites such as Maghalie Rochette, Christel Ferrier-bruneau, Mical Dyck and Michael van den Ham. Despite all the tough mud and requisite running on the Valkenburg course, Clark enjoyed the experience. “It was so much fun racing with people lining the fences. It’s very motivating when you are dying on the course,” Clark said.
He had had a long season. In the summer, he competed in most Canada Cup events, finishing fourth in the series. He was also fourth at XC nationals in Canmore, Alta., and 27th at XC worlds in Cairns, Australia. In October, he won the national cyclocross title in Sherbrooke, Que. When pressed to pick his preferred discipline, he didn’t hesitate. “I like the technical aspects of mountain biking better,” he said. Early in the year, he was already looking to Canada Cup races, including Mont-tremblant, one of his favourites. He wanted to get to XC worlds in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. There might be more CX, too, but there was time to decide. It’s a long season.— CCM