The Principality of Andorra is a small country, over 1000 years old, that sits in the Pyrenees mountain range on the border between Spain and France.
Treeless mountains greet its visitors like prehistoric citizens. The buildings almost feel like strangers among the vast natural landscape.
Descending into the valley, grand stone buildings, apartments, and modern shopping centres populate the valley floor. More than 90% of the country is mountainous, which creates a unique juxtaposition between human innovation and nature.
Andorra is also the home of the ever successful Commencal bike/ski brand. The company has built a very large warehouse at the base of what used to be the old DH track, which is the reason (so we’ve been informed) the track moved kilometres up the mountain. The company’s presence is, needless to say impressive, and we’ve got a lot of respect for Max Commencal, as he truly is passionate about his company, team and his athletes.
As a team, we have been preparing and pre-planning for the logistical nightmare that is this venue, since we learned in July that all DH pits would be literally miles away from the actual race track - 12.9km to be nearly exact. Far from a walk in the park.
As a small team we have the ability to adapt quickly and to make choices to prioritize Mark and Jon’s performance and overall well being. We chose to sacrifice the comfort of our pits to be closer to the bottom of the track. We ended up pitting out of our van throughout the weekend, which was still a km up from the finish line, but we had some pretty stellar swivel seats in the van which really increased our roadside cred.
It is disheartening that at a World Championship event, National teams do not receive priority pits, as all athletes are racing for their country rather than their team at World Champs. Imagine a World’s race where athletes from their respected nation pitted together out of their National Federation tent. Wishful thinking, but it would be a cool event. Maybe one day.
Andorra has hosted 6 World Cup DH races and 4 DH World Championships. This is the 3rd year of racing on this particular track, and the first World Champs to be raced on the new track. It was dry, loose and very very fast; except when Zeus showed up for an hour to soak the track, pelt hail, and keep it interesting for Elite men’s first practice.
The rain didn’t change the track much, but the moisture sat comfortably on the dirt that took shelter under the trees until the end of Jon’s practice the following day. By his race run that afternoon, Jon was back riding the Andorran cocoa powder.
The track continued to dry out for the Elite Finals on Saturday. Lines that presented themselves on Thursday’s practice either dissolved into a dusty oblivion or eroded inches further into the ground. A fast course like this one made for extremely close race times and nail-biting-spectating. Who the heck would be able to go fast and hold on!
As a team, we race to achieve results; yet, often those results go beyond winning times and finishing positions. Both Mark and Jon went into the weekend looking for both, and although neither achieved a podium result, they both put it all on the line to represent Canada on the World stage.
Jon finished 20th overall out of 58 qualified Junior men and 67 registered Junior men.
Mark finished 54th overall out of 80 qualified Elite men, and 97 registered Elite men.
We’re stoked to see so many Canadians out on course all weekend, in all categories, and beyond stoked to see Finn Isles on the podium!
It is a privilege to represent Canada at this level, and to be among the best in the world at this particular event.
Passion . Integrity . Determination . Respect . Discipline . Focus . Speed . Resilience . Grit . Trust
This is what it takes.
Thank you again to our family, friends, sponsors and to Cycling Canada for all your support to help the Team participate at the 2024 World Championships.