March 17th, 2012 (Pietermaritzburg, RSA) – The road to London 2012 kicked off today in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa with the first round of the 2012 Mountain Bike World Cup.  The Canadian team had an outstanding performance on the physically and mentally demanding track that featured several difficult technical sections that required 100% concentration and confidence.

The Canadian Women lead the charge with an enormous performance by Olympic hopefuls Emily Batty (Subaru-Trek) and Catharine Pendrel (Luna Pro), who finished 2nd and 3rd in Saturday’s XCO race.  Undoubtedly Batty is happy with her first World Cup results of 2012 with a career-best finish and her first WCup podium.

“Well that was a great start to the season. Thank you everyone for such inspiring messages,” tweeted Batty. Pendrel echo’s Batty’s sentiment telling Pedal, “Today was great. Canada proved we are strong and ready for 2012. I’m happy with my form for March and confident for the rest of the season.”

Amanda Sin (SCOTT-3Rox), who finished 46th on the day thought the new course was great and her new bike was the perfect weapon of choice for the venue.  “The venue here is great. There were a lot of changes made to the course from the previous year that made it faster and exciting for spectators,” said Sin. “I rode my new Scott Scale 29’er and it was great over the rocks and technical sections.”

“Today’s race was very competitive. It was a battle to the end. It definitely showed that we are on the right track. Both Emily and Catharine work well together, in training and in racing. Emily was impressive. She showed a lot of determination today. Catharine’s ride was solid and a good early-season performance. We expect to see the form improve a lot as we enter the next World Cup in Houffalize,” said National Team Head Coach Dan Proulx in a team release.

In the men’s race, SCOTT-3Rox’s Derek Zandstra was Canada’s top finisher in 29th place. The Ontario rider describes the challenges of World Cup racing and how important the start position is.

“The Pietermaritzburg World Cup start was crazy as usual with an exciting atmosphere.  If your not in the first two rows you always need a bit of lady luck to keep you out of trouble,” said Zanstra. “The first World Cup is always a big one. Being an Olympic year a lot of people are super fit early. Lots of new stuff and secret products are being tested as well.”

Two-time Olympian and World Cup veteran Geoff Kabush had a less than ideal day at the races.  “The start of the race wasn’t the smoothest for me today and I was a little frustrated with the feeling I had in my legs once things settled down,” Kabush told Pedal.  “But it’s important to keep some perspective as it is a long season ahead.

“After an excellent winter of training I have high expectations this season but I’ve been trying not to invest too much in the first result here,” said Kabush.  “World Cups are always challenging but even more so when they are on the opposite side of the World in March.”

Both Zanstra and Kabush have solid support behind them in their quest to the London Olympic Games. According to Kabush, “The new program and support with SCOTT-3Rox has been fantastic and I am really comfortable on my new SCOTT Scale 29er as well as all the familiar equipment from sponsors Shimano, Maxxis, FOX, and Syncros.”

Another Olympic hopeful on the men’s side, Max Plaxton (Canadian National Team), did not have the race he was looking for as he tweeted, “It was a tough day out [there] in Africa. Good start but not the best legs but no excuses.”  Plaxton finished in 43rd place.

Other Canadian results included Marie Helene Premont (Rocky Mountain) finishing in 21st in the women’s race with Cameron Jette (Scott-3ROX) and Adam Morka (Trek Canada) in 92nd and 105th respectively.

Women’s results + final Rock Garden sequence HERE.
Men’s results HERE.