With the 2011 cycling season approaching with each passing day, hopefully Lauren Rosser has made some room in her trophy case.
The Squamish cyclist captured enough trophies to fill a small study in 2010 and she hopes to continue her ascent into the ranks of cycling’s elite in 2011.
Rosser recently won two Reader’s Choice Awards from The Chief, as local readers voted her best female athlete and best female youth athlete. The two additional awards are just an example of the accolades that Rosser acquired in 2010.
“I think my season went really good,” she said. “Probably the highlight for me was winning gold in the downhill at the worlds.”
On Sept. 5, Rosser became the first Canadian woman since 1990 to win the junior women’s downhill competition. She dominated the competition at the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) World Championships, beating the next-closest time by almost 14 seconds.
But it wasn’t just the UCI where Rosser excelled. She also won the second annual Red Bull 5000 Down in Whistler on Sept. 12 and competed at a World Cup event in Europe in July. In March, she won the Rock Star invitational downhill race and she also had strong showings in the B.C. Cup races.
Rosser hopes to step up her game up in 2011 and said she has been training hard during the off season.
“The training has been going good and I’m in the gym a lot,” she said, noting that she’s working her way through a few nagging injuries. Every Thursday, she trains along with the rest of Team Squamish at Republic Bicycles and Rosser said she’s excited to see how the team does in 2011.
“The team looks really good,” she said. “There’s quite a few riders who are getting high in their racing levels. It’s a really great community team and it’s good for the younger riders who get to learn and train from the older riders.”
She also pointed out a young rider on Team Squamish who has impressed her with his promising ability.
“I’ve been riding with Rhys Verner,” she said. “And it was easy going at first but he keeps getting better. He’s one young team member who I think has a lot of potential.”
Winning the two awards from The Chief have capped a strong season for Rosser.
“It felt really good to be recognized,” she said of the two awards. “I didn’t really know I had won those awards but I’ve got the plaques now.”
After an exceptional 2010 season, Rosser said that she wants to continue getting better and post even more impressive results in 2011.
“My goals are to keep my title as junior downhill champion and hopefully win the cross country division as well.”
She also wanted to thank Tantalus Bike Shop and Ellis Moving who have supported and sponsored her throughout 2010 and plan to continue to do so in 2011.
