07.31.10 - Pendrel wins silver medal, takes back overall world cup lead

Pendral, Prémont crack Top 10 in Women’s elite; Emily Batty consistent on the U23 podium

July 31, 2010 - Canadian Mountain biker Catharine Pendrel (Kamloops, BC/ Team Luna) bounced back from a disappointing World Cup race last weekend to win the silver medal at the 2010 UCI World Cup event in Val Di Sol, Italie today. In doing so, Pendrel is taking back her lead position in the World Cup standings.

Pendrel fought a hard race all the way to the end, crossing the finish line of the very tight and exciting finish by a mere 5 seconds behind Maja Wloszczowska of Poland, who won gold with a time of 1h23m00. Pendrel had some really good climbs and had to be caught up on the flats. Pendrel’s start was one of the best in her career.

Canadian rider Marie-Hélène Prémont (Château Richer, QC/Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) took the eight spot, also improving on her result from last week.

“Catharine’s podium shows how competitive World Cup racing is. If you’re off the slightest, you’re off the podium,” conceded Dan Proulx, Head Coach of the Canadian Mountain Bike program. “ Today Catharine showed tremendous skills, fitness and confidence. This performance shows she’s on track for the World Championships.”

“These results were a dramatic improvement over last weekend's World Cup in Champéry. We are only in the second year of our Junior development program and we're already seeing the benefits gained from being here and believing we can be the best, added Proulx. “We did so much better than last year. We showed that our team is on the performance curve with the rest of the World.”

The men’s race was a different story for Canadians mountain bikers. No Canadian riders were able to crack the Top 50 as Derek Zandstra (Trenton, ON) posted the best Canadian result with a 52nd place.

“We need to learn how to race here. The depth of field is so much greater. With 211 riders at the start, the start position and pure luck are key. In the first hundreds of feet of the race, I lost 30 spots as someone went down right in front of me,” said Zandstra after the race.

Nino Schurter of Switzerland took the gold medal with a time of 1h44m09s with the victory, Schurter takes over the overall World Cup lead. French rider Julien Absalon won the silver medal while Florian Voguel of Switzerland came third.

In the U23 category, Emily Batty (Brooklin, ON/Trek World Racing) took the silver medal, completing the course in 1h28m53s, 3 minutes and 12 seconds behind the U23 winner Tanja Zakelj of Slovenja. Batty, a multiple Canadian Champion, was third last week at the World Cup event in Champéry, SUI.

In the junior races, Laura Bietola (Greenwood, BC) was the lone Canadian in the women’s race, and finished in 9th place in the race won by Switzerland’s Jolanda Neff. Lauren Rosser (Squamish, BC) did not start the 16.5-kilometre race.

Five Canadian riders took part in the men’s junior race spanning over 21.6 kilometres, with Antoine Caron (Stoneham, QC) showing signs he can contend for a medal at the upcoming World Championships by posting the Top Canadian result. Caron crossed the finish line in fourth spot, just under two minutes behind the gold medallist, Jens Schuermans of Belgium.

“It was a really hard race and I’m really happy with my performance. I had a great start and moved up well in the second lap. It was awesome to see us four guys in the Top 15, especially when there is such a great field,” said Caron from Italy.

Léandre Bouchard (Alma, QC) and Evan McNeely (Kingston, ON) finished 9th and 10th respectively, while Mitch Bailey (Barrie, ON) came in 15th and Jeremy Martin (Boischatel, QC) took the 26th spot.

Val di Sole (Valley of the Sun) was the location of the 2008 UCI MTB World Championships, and is a fitting resort for the first triple event of the season, where all three disciplines - Cross-country, 4-Cross and Downhill – are disputed.

The next stop on the UCI World Cup tour for the Mountain bikers will be in North America, as Wyndham, NY will host the last World Cup event on the UCI calendar for this summer on August 26-29, 2010, and the last event prior to the 2010 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships held the following week at Mont-Sainte-Anne, QC.