Maghalie Rochette looks to Canadian cyclocross nationals

Canadian cyclocross rider Maghalie Rochette captured attention across the American racing scene with a third place finish at Rapha Super Cross Gloucester and second at Rochester’s Ellison Park Full Moon Vista race. This weekend, she heads to Winnipeg to vie for a maple leaf jersey in Canadian cyclocross nationals.

Now in her third and most consistently successful year of UCI ‘cross competition, the 21-year-old Luna Pro Team rider also won The Night Weasels Cometh, a big non-UCI event in New England.

After completing her second elite mountain bike season in September and feeling more content with the experience than her overall results, Rochette opted for a relaxed approach to the 2014 cyclocross season.

“I just wanted to have some fun, to go all-out in ‘cross races and try to have some good results,” she said. “But I didn’t really have results in mind. I was just going out there to have a blast … but

Now she hopes that her relaxed success will carry over the border to Canada this coming weekend when she tackles the Canadian cyclocross championships in Winnipeg and looks for a better outcome in her third run at the elite women’s contest.

In 2012 she finished 13th. Last year, she came into the race two weeks after a bad crash and placed ninth. Her goal for Winnipeg is to pass the finish line happy with her performance.

“I’m not thinking about a position so much because it’s hard to decide if a race is good based only on that — you can’t control what the other racers are doing,” Rochette said. “So even if I have the best day of my life, and six other girls also have the best day of their lives and they beat me, I can’t be disappointed with that.”

Canadian cyclocross nationals will be held in downtown Winnipeg on Saturday, October 25. Check back on VeloNews for event coverage.