October 15, 2006 (Camboriu, Brazil) - Max Plaxton (BC) captured the U23 Pan Am Champion title, while Québec’s Mathieu Toulouse took the silver medal in the elite men, as did Catherine Pendrel (BC) in the elite women’s 2006 Mountain Bike cross-country Pan American Championships competition in Camboriu, Brazil, on Sunday.

"I wanted to win this race so bad, as I took the silver as a junior in 2002 and the bronze in 2005," said 21 years old Max Plaxton (Victoria, BC), who finished first in the men’s U23 competition. "It was pretty hard for me in the first couple of laps, but after a while I succeeded in catching the leaders and I passed them. I soon got a lap ahead and I was feeling better at every lap," added Plaxton who said he did not suffer that much of the oppressive heat thanks to drinking a lot of water. Following a very successful cycling season (2006 U23 National Championships silver medalist and Worlds bronze medalist), he will now focus on "not biking at all" and getting some rest.

Argentina’s Alejandro Dario Gasco completed the podium in second, followed by Sam Schultz from the USA in third.

Mathieu Toulouse (Montreal, QC) completed a "perfect event for Team Canada", as Canadian National Team mountain bike coach Michel Leblanc commented, finishing second in the elite men: "I was in the back at the start, mostly because of my poor ranking after a bad season, and I remained conservative for a while. The race course was very difficult and it was very hot, but my strategy was to pass the riders one after another. Between the third and fifth laps (of six in total), I stayed with the top 3 to 6. It was just at one lap to go that I decided to attack and give it all: I took the lead except that the leader, Colombia’s Hector Leonardo Paez Leon, was already in a breakaway and I did not succeed in passing him, even if I had lots of energy in the last lap and finished at 1km from him."

It was already a very good start for Canada, with a silver medal in the elite women’s Sunday morning, earned by the Penticton (BC) rider Catherine Pendrel, 26 years old.

Pendrel aimed at a top-five finish (which she had captured in the 2005 Pan Am Championships in Mexico), and she was full of joy just after her race: "I worked my way out and in the second lap already found myself in third position. I rode consistently and was feeling really good. Conditions were way better than the training conditions over the past days, with lots of sunshine and the course much more dryer. Before the race, I said to Michel (Leblanc, CCA mountain bike coach): I’m going to medal today!"

US Mary McConnelough took the first position and Argentina’s Jimena Florit arrived in third.

"It’s so exciting, when you imagine that Catherine just learned one week prior to the event that she was selected to replace Alison Sydor (who, for logistic reasons, could not make it at the Roc d’Azur in France – which she won - and the Pan Am Championships in Brazil in such a short period of time)," added Michel Leblanc, Canadian National Team mountain bike coach.

Source :

Florence Bourg
Communications Manager - Directrice des communications
Canadian Cycling Association - Association cycliste canadienne
2197 Riverside Drive, suite/bureau 203
Ottawa, ON, K1H 7X3
Tel: +1-418-824-9207
Cell: +1-418-558-4559
florence.bourg@canadian-cycling.com