October 15, 2006 (Camboriu, Brazil) – Catherine Pendrel (BC) won the silver medal in the elite women’s 2006 Pan American MTB cross-country Championships competition in Camboriu, Brazil, today.

The Penticton, B.C. rider, who aimed at a top-five finish (which she had captured in the 2005 Pan Am MTB Championships in Mexico), 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!”

U.S.A.’s Mary McConnelough took first place with Argentina’s Jimena Florit taking 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 logistical reasons, could not make it from Roc d’Azur in France – which she won – to the Pan Am MTB Championships in Brazil in such a short period of time),” added Michel Leblanc, Canadian National Team mountain bike coach.

It was a good start for Canada, and the men’s U23 and elite races will follow later today, featuring Max Plaxton (Victoria, BC) in the U23 competition and Mathieu Toulouse (Montreal, QC) in the elite men.