August 4, 2008 (Bromont, Que.) – Mud defined yesterday’s World Cup XC races in Bromont, Que. That simple three letter word brought some of the world’s top riders crashing to the ground and caused top-of-the-line bike parts to grind to a halt. After weeks of rain, organizers were forced to make major course changes to the 4.6km track, which was originally over 5km and included much more singletrack.

The resulting mud made for low average speeds and only a 4-lap women’s race, which was won by Catharine Pendrel (Can) Luna Women’s MTB Team, her first-ever World Cup victory. Marie-Hélène Prémont (Can) Rocky Mountain placed second, making it a reverse of the previous World Cup weekend in Mont Ste-Anne, Que. Prémont continues to hold the World Cup leader’s jersey, with Pendrel now in second.

In the 6-lap men’s race, the sloppy conditions took their toll on many a bike and rider, making racers virtually unrecognizable as they slogged by. After all was said and done, it was Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea who took another World Cup victory and solidified his World Cup lead. Top Canadian rider was Geoff Kabush (Can) Maxxis with another top performance claiming fourth.

Women’s XC
The women woke up to rain on the morning of their race, but temperatures remained warm, making warm-up soggy, but bearable. Georgia Gould (USA) Luna Women’s MTB Team took the hole shot at the start, and by the top of the first climb, she was together with Mary McConneloug (USA) Kenda-Seven and Pendrel. By the end of the descent on the ski hill, it was just Prémont and Pendrel.

“The way Marie [Prémont] was riding, I knew I had to get around her,” said Pendrel. By the end of the first lap, Pendrel had done just that, and was leading the race. She continued to charge as hard as the slick conditions would allow, and she was looking visibly more comfortable than Prémont on both the climbs and the descents.

By the start of the third lap, Pendrel had stretched her lead to nearly two minutes, but Prémont was having shifting problems and had to stop in the tech zone to get it sorted out. After 1:37:48, a muddy-faced Pendrel could finally breathe a sigh of relief as she cruised across the line to celebrate her – and her team’s – first World Cup win. Prémont rolled in at 1:53, Katerina Nash (Cze) Luna Women’s MTB Team pulled in third, followed by Lene Byberg (Nor) Specialized fourth, and Gould fifth. Amanda Sin (ON) Scott-3 Rox was Canada’s third rider, finishing 15th, with Jean Ann McKirdy (BC) Rocky Mountain 17th, and Wendy Simms (BC) Kona 20th.

Men’s XC
The rain stopped for the men’s race, but that was bad news for the racers. The precipitation had kept the mud relatively thin for the women, but once it stopped, the slime thickened to a peanut butter texture, making the already abused course much slower and more difficult. Switzerland’s Lukas Flückiger (Sui) Athleticum rode a strong race, taking the lead on the first lap, only to give it up again on the second. The young Swiss rider would hold steady to defend his silver medal to the end, finishing 2:14 down on Absalon and 3.5 minutes ahead of third place, Adam Craig (USA) Giant, who, anticipating the mayhem, ran a single chainring with a chain guide on the front to avoid chain suck. Canada’s Kabush worked his way up to finish fourth, passing fifth place, Jose Antonio Hermida (Esp) Multivan-Merida on the final lap. Derek Zandstra (ON) Scott-3 Rox Racing rode well, finishing as the second top Canuck and 14th overall, while Seamus McGrath (BC) Fuji fell back from as high as sixth place to finish 15th. Mathieu Toulouse (QC) Maxxis placed 20th, and Matt Hadley (NB) Xprezo had a great ride, taking 22nd position.

This was the final World Cup stop before the Beijing Olympic MTB XC races, which take place on August 22 (women) and 23 (men). Although Pendrel admits her win gave her a bit of a confidence boost leading up to the Games, she also noted that “Beijing and Bromont could not be more different.”

The course in Beijing is expected to be dry and hard-packed, and it does not have any extended climbs, while Bromont was quite the climber’s course and anything but dry and fast!

The next Nissan UCI MTB XC World Cup takes place on August 31 in Canberra, Australia, venue for the 2009 World MTB Championships. Due to the immense distance, many Europeans and North Americans are expected to leave out stop #8 of the series. However, the final event (#9) takes place in Schladming, Austria on September 14.