08.31.11 - CANADIAN RELAY TEAM FINISHES SEVENTH, TRUDEL TAKES 12TH POSITION IN WOMEN’S JUNIOR RACE

Trudel continues to impress and improve as a first year junior

(Champéry, SUI – August 31, 2011) The 2011 UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships kicked off in Champéry, Switzerland, today with the presentation of the cross-country race for the junior women, as well as with the Team relay. Canada started these championships on a good note, with a seventh place in the team relay and a 12th place by Frédérique Trudel in the women’s junior race.

The Canadian relay team was comprised of Catharine Pendrel of Kamloops, BC, Max Plaxton of Victoria, BC, Evan McNeely of Kingston, ON and Alexandre Vialle of Prévost, QC. Both Pendrel and Plaxton are the defending Canadian champions in the discipline.

2011 Pro XCT champion Max Plaxton started the race, posting the fifth fastest time of the initial lap. Evan McNeely took over for the second lap, and was able to bring Canada to the second place before handing the relay to #1 ranked rider on the Women’s UCI standings, Catharine Pendrel.

The Canadian woman maintained the second place for Canada as she relayed to junior rider Alexandre Vialle. Racing against many Elite riders, including former World Champions, Vialle game everything he had but slipped to the seventh rank.

Team France won the relay, thanks to Maxime Marotte who brought back the team from the third to first in the last lap. Switzerland took the second place and silver medal, followed by Italy in third.

Canada has always fielded a good team into the relay event, winning the World titles in 2001, 2002 and 2004, as well as one silver medal in 2009 and bronze medals in 1999 and 2003.

In the team relay, each team must register four riders, including a minimum of one woman, in the Junior, U23 and Elite categories. Every rider completes one lap of the course.

WOMEN JUNIOR

In the Women’s Junior race, held earlier this afternoon, Canadian junior champion Frédérique Trudel of Breakeyville, QC, placed a respectable 12th position in her first UCI Mountain Bike World Championships with a time of 1:05.33.

Trudel was thrilled with this performance. “It went really well. I had the best start of my life, which is really surprising for me as my starts aren’t my strongest area. I tried a new technique today, and it turned out quite nice with a 12th position. Typically, I usually start slower and catch up people, but here at Worlds and close to the Top 10, I am really happy.”

“I am really happy with the season. I am happy of all my races. It couldn’t have dreamed of a better season in my first year as a junior. I wasn’t expecting anything. It was a real surprise to have all those results.”

Trudel took part in this race despite suffering from a right knee injury that occurred while crashing during a training session on Monday. The Canada Cup and Canadian Champion in the junior, racing as a first-year junior, was still excited about this performance. “I was bit nervous and as a result, I today choose not to do the descent where I crashed and took the other line. I didn’t let that incident demoralize me, and just kept going harder. The climb was quite difficult, I must admit.”

Three other Canadians were in the race. Andréanne Lanthier-Nadeau of Québec, QC finished 16th. Hayley Smith of Uxbridge, ON in 22nd and Lauren Rosser of Squamish, BC in 27th.

Switzerland had a great start on home soil, as Linda Indergand took the victory and the World title with a time of 57:30. Germany’s Lena Putz won silver after a thrilling comeback in the last lap, where she caught up and passed Jolanda Neff off Switzerland, while Julia Innerhofer of Italy took the bronze medal, also passing Neff in the last lap.

The 2011 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships continues tomorrow with the presentation of the men’s junior race followed by the U23 women’s race.