Cycling a family affair for Olympic mountain bikers Isabella and Gunnar Holmgren

As she waved goodbye to 25-year-old Gunnar and 19-year-old Isabella outside their apartment in Girona, Spain on Tuesday, their mother, Lisa Holmgren, felt pride swell in her chest.

The siblings, from Orillia, Ont., hopped in a taxi and jetted off to the Olympics in Paris to compete in mountain biking, an experience like no other that they'll share together.

"We're just so happy that they get to do this and they get to represent Canada, and show everyone just how much they love this sport and each other," Lisa Holmgren told CBC Sports. The Holmgrens are one of five sets of siblings who will compete on Team Canada at the Games.

Isabella will compete in women's cross country on Sunday, and Gunnar will compete a day later in men's cross country. They'll race on Elancourt Hill, the highest point in the Paris region. Both races begin at 8 a.m. ET and will be streamed on CBC Gem, the CBC Olympics app and CBC Olympics website.

The entire Holmgren family will be together in Paris to watch them compete. With the five Holmgren siblings scattered around the world — Isabella's twin sister, Ava, is also a competitive racer — it's been close to a decade since everyone has been together for a Christmas. 

This get-together will be extra special. They'll celebrate Gunnar and Isabella achieving their Olympic dream, but also their other son, Max, who's training to be a police officer and is about to have a birthday to remember.

"The thing that everyone's looking forward to, I think I can speak for the family, is to be together," Lisa Holmgren said. 

From a young age, the five Holmgren children were always on bikes.

When they moved to Oro-Medonte, Ont., the family lived on the property of Hardwood Ski and Bike, giving their children