Peter Disera

Biography

Peter Disera has been cycling since childhood, racing in several disciplines before settling on mountain biking. In 2013 he won the junior national titles in mountain bike cross-country, road time trial, and cyclocross. That year, he won silver in the junior cross-country race at the UCI World Championships and helped the elite team to a fourth-place finish in the relay. He also won gold at a junior World Cup event in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec and competed in the junior race at the UCI CycloCross World Championships.

Disera turned pro in 2014 and moved up to the U23 category. Though he missed part of the World Cup season with a dislocated shoulder, he was healthy enough to compete in her first U23 race at the world championships. In 2016, he won the U23 national titles in both mountain bike and cyclocross. 

In his last year as a U23 competitor in 2017, he finished in the top-15 at all five World Cup stops, including a bronze medal in Albstadt, Germany. At the national championships, he was given the opportunity to race in the elite category and defeated Olympian Raphael Gagné to win his first elite Canadian title at age 22.

Disera joined the elite World Cup circuit in 2018 and by his second season was a consistent top-20 threat. He achieved a career highlight in 2019 when he finished a career-best sixth at a World Cup in Les Gets, France. At the world championships in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Disera was encouraged by the home crowd chanting his name at a time when he was fading quickly in the race and he ended up with his career-best result at the worlds. That moment only made him more excited to compete for Team Canada. He finished 26th in his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.

A Little More About Peter

Getting into the Sport: Started mountain biking at age 12 when a classmate invited him to local Wednesday night series race… By the end of his first year he was competing at the provincial championships… Was also a competitive alpine skier and ski instructor until choosing to focus exclusively on cycling at age 17…  Outside Interests: Graduated from the University of Guelph in December 2018 with a degree in Water Resource Engineering… In-season hobbies include coffee (making lattés, cappuccinos and other specialties), baking (making his own ride food), and reading… Off-season hobbies include Nordic skiing, hiking, swimming, brewing kombucha, playing board games and cribbage… Odds and Ends: Catharine Pendrel is a major role model… Brother Quinton is also a competitive mountain biker… Inducted to the Barrie Sports Hall of Fame… Favourite motto: “If you have time, get lost” (stems from being a young rider with his friends and packing food to purposely get lost on local trails)…  Collects his race number plates from competitions…