August 28, 2010 (Windham, NY) – The sixth and final round of the Elite Women’s XC UCI MTB World Cup is now underway with Canada’s Catharine Pendrel (Luna Pro) leading the series with 794 points followed by Eva Lechner (Ita) Colnago with 740 points and the USA’s Willow Koerber (Subaru/Gary Fisher) in third with 735 – only 60 points separate them. It’s a beautiful sunny day in Windham with 67 starters. The women will complete 5 laps for a total of 27.3km. Canada’s Emily Batty (Trek World Racing) did not start electing to prepare for the MTB Worlds.

Lap 1
Canada’s Marie-Helene Premont (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) is off the front leading… she’s got a 20s gap on the field.

Pendrel has caught Premont and is now powering away on her own – she’s got a 10-15s lead on Premont with Georgia Gould (USA) in third about 5s back and Koerber is in 4th.

Lap 2
Pendrel comes through to start lap 2 looking strong with Premont at 12s with Gould about 10s behind her in third followed by Koerber in fourth at about 30s.

Lap 3
Pendrel has eased off the throttle a bit coming through in 39:33 with a slower lap likely knowing she not being challenged for the overall. Premont is holding on to 2nd at 22s followed by Gould at 31s with Koerber in 4th at 58s and Mary McConneloug (USA) is in 5th at 1:26 coming thru together with Blaza Klemencic (Slo) Felt Oetztal X-Bionic Team followed by Cecile Ravenel (Fra) Lapierre in 7th.

Klemencic has surged and taken over fourth and McConneloug is also challenging Koerber.

Lap 4
Pendrel comes thru in 59.27 and has gained some time on Premont in second at 29s followed by Gould at 54s as Koerber has regained 4th coming thru at 1:43 – Klemencic is in 5th at 1:53. Canada’s Amanda Sin (3 Rox Racing) is in 22nd.

Lap 5 Final
Pendrel is now on her final lap to claim the overall WCup title coming thru in 1:19:35 followed by fellow Canuck Premont in second at 24s with Gould further back now at 1:26. Klemencic is in 4th and Koerber is in 5th.

Premont has now joined Pendrel at the front and passed her but Pendrel has regained the lead. Klemencic in 4th is gaining on Gould in 3rd. U23 WCup leader Tanja Zakelj (Slo) is in 12th.

Pendrel continues to lead Premont as they head to the finish.

Pendrel wins and takes the WCup Series overall with 1,044 pts. over Koerber in second with 865 and Lechner in 3rd with 810 points.

Results

Women
1. Catharine Pendrel (Can) Luna Pro Team 1:39:48
2. Marie-Helene Premont (Can) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain 0:04
3. Georgia Gould (USA) Luna Pro Team 2:07
4. Blaza Klemencic (Slo) Felt Oetztal X-Bionic Team 3:17
5. Elisabeth Osl (Aut) Central Pro Team 3:41
6. Willow Koerber (USA) Subaru-Trek 4:21
7. Esther Süss (Sui) Swiss National Team 4:26
8. Katrin Leumann (Sui) goldwurst-power.ch 4:26
9. Mary McConneloug (USA) Kenda/Seven/NoTubes 5:09
10. Tanja Zakelj* (Slo) MBK Orbea 5:23
11. Heather Irmiger (USA) Subaru-Trek 5:27
12. Nathalie Schneitter (Sui) Colnago Arreghini Sudtirol 6:14
13. Cécile Ravanel (Fra) Lapierre International 6:29
14. Katherine Compton (USA) PlanetBike 6:41
15. Marielle Saner-Guinchard (Sui) Bikepark.Ch Scott 6:57
16. Amanda Sin (Can) 3Rox Racing 7:46
17. Janka Stevkova (Svk) 8:08
18. Eva Lechner (Ita) Colnago Arreghini Sudtirol 8:08
19. Sabrina Enaux (Fra) Felt Oetztal X-Bionic Team 8:30
20. Annie Last* (Gbr) British National Team 8:34
21. Anja Gradl (Ger) Central Pro Team 8:35
22. Alexandra Engen* (Swe) 9:03
23. Rie Katayama (Jpn) 9:21
24. Sarah Koba (Sui) Giant Swiss Team 9:41
25. Hanna Klein (Ger) Rothaus-CUBE MTB Team 9:49
26. Katerina Nash (Cze) Luna Pro Team 10:01
27. Annika Langvad (Den) 10:11
28. Rosara Joseph (Nzl) 10:14
29. Chengyuan Ren (Chn) 11:09
30. Anna Villar Argente (Esp) 11:17
31. Qinglan Shi (Chn) 11:44
32. Barbara Benko* (Hun) 12:32
33. Nina Homovec (Slo) Mbk Orbea 13:00
34. Daniela Veronesi (Smr) 13:52
35. Yolande Speedy (RSA) 14:15
36. Zhuanzhuan Ye* (Chn) 14:53
37. Heather Logie (Aus) 14:56
38. Tereza Hurikova (Cze) Trek-Lorca Taller Del Tiempo 15:16
39. Jennifer Smith (Nzl) 15:21
40. Judy Freeman (USA) 15:41
41. Aleksandra Mooradian (Pol) 15:47
42. Catherine Vipond (Can) Norco Factory Team 16:15
43. Fiona Macdermid (Nzl) 16:39
44. Kate Potter (Aus) 17:07
45. Mical Dyck (Can) Trek Canada 18:59
46. Kelli Emmett (USA) Giant Factory Team 19:07
47. Teal Stetson-Lee (USA) 19:08
48. Krista Park (USA) -1 lap
49. Erin Huck (USA) -1 lap
50. Ying Liu (Chn) -1 lap
51. Katherine O’Shea (Aus) Torq Performance Nutrition -1 lap
52. Cindy Montambault (Can) -1 lap
53. Nicola Leary (Nzl) -2 laps
54. Katherine O’Neill* (Nzl) -2 laps
55. Mariske Strauss* (RSA) -2 laps
56. Anina Aaron (USA) -2 laps
57. Kimberly Flynn (USA) -2 laps
58. Bryna Nestor (USA) -2 laps
59. Roberta Kelly Stopa (Bra) -2 laps
60. Lydia Tanner* (USA) -2 laps
61. Anna Oberparleiter* (Ita) Hard Rock Frw A.S.D. -2 laps
62. Daniela Rojas* (Chi) -2 laps
63. Michelle Bellamy (Nzl) -3 laps
64. Rowena Fry (Aus) -3 laps
DNF Lily Matthews* (Gbr)
DNF Rocio Gamonal Ferrera (Esp)
DNS Emily Batty* (Can) Trek World Racing

Final Standings (brief)

1. Catharine Pendrel (Can) Luna Pro 1,044
2. Willow Koerber (USA) Subaru/Gary Fisher 865
3. Eva Lechner (Ita) Colnago 810