September 06, 2014 (Hafjell, Norway) – Canada’s Catharine Pendrel delivered a resounding victory claiming the Elite Women’s title for a second time while Julien Absalon (Fra) took charge in the men’s race capturing his 5th Elite Men’s title as a fitting climax to the cross-country races at the 2014 UCI MTB World Championships.

The weather continued to favour the Championships, with summer-like conditions bringing out thousands of fans. The local Norwegian spectators were hoping to see home favourite Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa win her fifth title, but the mountain biking legend could only manage ninth.

Pendrel, who won the title in 2011, dominated the six lap women’s race from the start, opening a 17-second gap on Irina Kalentieva (Russia) and Maja Wloszczowska (Poland) in the first lap. Wloszczowska gradually fell off the pace, with Kalentieva holding Pendrel to a 35-second lead over the next few laps. Behind, Lea Davison of the United States had steadily worked her way up to sit in third with two laps to go.

“I like to race from the front,” confirmed Pendrel, “and when there’s an opportunity to take the lead you should go for it. That’s always the kind of racer I have been. If you want to win the Worlds you have got to be willing to take some chances and go out strong. When I came through the finish line after the first lap and saw that I was 20 seconds faster than my Team Relay lap, I was pretty happy, and I felt that I could maintain it.”

Pendrel’s lead was up to 43 seconds on the final lap when she became the latest of many riders to suffer a flat on the sharp rocks scattered throughout the course. Luckily, she was close to a technical zone and had a quick wheel change, to maintain her lead and finish 21 seconds ahead of Kalentieva. Davison took third at 43 seconds back.

“I knew Irina was coming behind me, and I knew that she had won here the year before [at the World Cup], so I had to stay on the gas,” Pendrel continued. “Then, with half a lap to go, I got a front puncture and I was lucky to have amazing technical support, and the fastest wheel change ever, and get back on the bike to win the world championship.” – Pendrel interview here.

Pendrel’s teammate Emily Batty moved up steadily and passed several riders in the end with a strong 6th place finish putting two Canadians in the top 10. Only Slovenia could match this with Tanja Zakelj in 4th and Blaza Klemencic in 5th.

“I would have liked to be on podium, but I was late to jump in faster,” commented Batty. “My experience is paying off now with the mindset of competing for the top 5 spots in the world, and so my focus has changed. I want to thank all my supporters, team, and Canada for another great year.”

Reigning Canada MTB Cup series champ Sandra Walter ended up 34th after suffering a flat like many did today on the tough course. Fellow Canuck Mikaela Kofman finished in 45th.

“It has been quite a year, this was a very good test,” said Walter. “It was motivating and you never know what will happen on race day… and to have fun, that’s a good reminder why I race.”

Men’s Race

This year has been a season-long battle between the two top ranked male riders in the world – Absalon and defending champion Nino Schurter of Switzerland. Schurter had his usual fast start, and after the first lap in the seven lap race was nearly 30 seconds ahead of his French rival.

However, Absalon, who was using a full suspension bike in competition for the first time, steadily chased down Schurter and caught him in the fourth lap. One lap later, and Absalon was 17 seconds clear, proving to be much stronger on the climbs. He pulled away over the remaining two laps to win by nearly two minutes, completing a near perfect season that has seen him the French national title, the European title, the UCI World Cup title and now the rainbow jersey of UCI World Champion.

Schurter hung on for second, with Marco Fontana (Italy) overcoming a flat tire to beat Moritz Milatz (Germany) by five seconds for the bronze medal.

“I am very happy to win this rainbow jersey for the fifth time,” said Absalon. “It has been a long time since the last time, in 2007. Today it was almost perfect. I did a bad start and had a little crash in the wood section but I kept going and tried to go step by step to catch the leader. When I got on Nino’s wheel I was able to pass him on the climb.”

“I made a really good choice to use a full suspension bike because it is such a bumpy track, but it was a little risky because this was my first race with a full suspension bike. So it was a risk, but a good one,” Absalon explained.

Canada’s Derek Zandstra delivered a personal best with a strong ride from back in the pack to finish the day in 15th. He was only five seconds away from a top-10 result but suffered a flat on the penultimate lap losing some ground but recovered and clawed his way back to finish 15th for a good day at the office.

“It was a day of keeping the head calm with so much going on around me. This year has been exceptional for me in so many ways, and I came here hoping for a good result. This is my best performance at the Worlds so far, and it motivates me for 2015,” Zandstra told Pedal post-race.

His teammate Evan Guthrie placed 48th moving up around forty spots while Raphael Gagne ended up 64th with veteran Geoff Kabush 76th. “Wow! I was pretty happy with this season, even with it’s ups and downs,” Guthrie shared. “Being here and competing on this gnarly course was epic. It was a battle out there, lots of action, some mistakes, but very fun and unpredictable, and if you like pain – that’s mountain biking.”

With files from the UCI.

Elite Women’s results here.
Elite Men’s results here.