Two women mountain bikers from Squamish recently competed in the Enduro World Series competition titled the Trophy of Nations.
In September, two bikers, Elly Hoskin, 17, and Lily Boucher, 18, flew to Finale Ligure, Italy where they competed among the world’s best in the U21 women’s category with their third teammate, Emmy Lan.
Unfortunately, the team did not finish.
The team had been leading the group after the first two stages.
Hoskin, who is currently studying for her bachelor of exercise science at UBC's Okanagan campus, said the race was a good measure of where she and her teammates stand among other competitors.
“It’s good just to see that and see what we could have done,” she said.
This particular race marked the end of the season for both Boucher and Hoskin — their first full season in the enduro discipline.
“This season was pretty pivotal for me,” Hoskin said. “I’m really happy with the season … I’m happy with my results.”
“I'm stoked on my season,” said Boucher, who is deferring school to focus on mountain biking. “It was a massive learning curve.”
Canada boasted many riders in the competition, including pro men Jesse Melamed, Remi Gauvin and Rhys Verner as well as the U21 men Johnathan Helly, Emmett Hancock and Seth Sherlock, who finished sixth overall.
Boucher said pro women’s mountain biker, Andréane Lantheir Nadeau, supported the team along the way.
The women's season will pick back up in March.
Hoskin said she’s looking forward to racing in the world category in Whistler in the upcoming season, as she competed in the entry category in 2022.
“That was a particularly challenging race for me. So, I think I can do it better,” she said. “I’d like to do it again and race with the big girls.”
Boucher said she’s hoping to hit the first races in Australia.
“If I can make it over there, I think it’d be so cool to do some racing in Australia,” she said.
For more information on the Enduro World Series races, please visit the website EnduroWorldSeries.com.
**This story was updated after it was first published. We also corrected the stages to three out of four, not five.
