July 28, 2012 (Val d’Isère, France) – The final round of the 2012 UCI XCO Mountain Bike World Cup was held today on a slick track due to overnight rain in Val d’Isère, France. With back-to-back World Cup wins in June, Canada’s Catharine Pendrel (Luna Pro Team) had already locked up the World Cup points series so today’s race proved to be a good test of form leading up to the biggest race of the year – the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Right from the start it was Gunn Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Mulitvan Merida Biking Team) powering up the opening climb with Luna Pro Team riders Georgia Gould (USA) and Katerina Nash (Cze) in tow along with Great Britain’s Annie Last (Milka Brentjens MTB Race Team) and Julie Bresset (Fra) BH-SR Suntour-Vallandry Peisey following close behind. Emily Batty (Subaru Trek) was in the top ten followed by Marie Helene Premont (Rocky Mountain) and then Pendrel around 15th.

On the 2nd of 5 laps, Dahle Flesjaa continued he strong pace at the front while Gould sat in 2nd with Nash in 3rd. Batty was the best positioned Canuck at the start and was able to move up to 6th position while Pendrel who had a tough start also made up ground moving into 11th.

At the midway point of the race, Dahle Flesjaa was clearly on a mission, given her recent win in La Bresse, France, as she opened a significant gap on the field.  France’s Bresset took over 2nd followed by Gould in 3rd.  Batty was 51 seconds back in 6th with Pendrel continued to advance into 9th place.

But the Luna Pro Team women, who dominated at the two previous WCup stops, had a rough day out on course, as both Gould (wheel) and Nash (flat) needed to make a pit stop in the tech zone to take care of mechanicals, costing them valuable time on course. This allowed Batty, who was riding smooth, take over 4th place along the way.

On the 4th lap Dahle Flesjaa was off the bike on a slippery downhill section but it did not slow her down. Despite her minor falter Dahle Flesjaa started the last lap with a 33-second gap on Bresset up from 24-sec on the previous lap.  Britain’s Last, who was having her best WCup performance ever as a lead up to the Games, remained in 3rd position while Batty and Gould were 4th and 5th respectively. As the race came to an end the heaven’s opened up and it poured rain for the finish.

At the finish, Dahle Flesjaa claimed a sweet victory, matching Julie Furtado’s record of 28 World Cup wins. Her very first WCup victory came at home in Norway way back in 1996.  Second place went to Bresset, 46 seconds back with Last in third.  Batty confirmed she’s a medal threat in London with her 4th place result and Gould held on for the final podium spot in 5th. World Champion Catharine Pendrel had little to prove today settled for 9th place while Premont finished in 14th.

With the conclusion of the 2012 World Cup overall, Pendrel claimed a convincing victory in the standings with 1,290 points, as Dahle Flesjaa finished 2nd overall with 1,048 and Nash took 3rd with 954 points.  Batty ended up in 6th position overall, improving two positions from her 8th place overall last year. Premont also made the top ten finishing 8th in the overall rankings.

With the 2012 World Cup series completed, riders now turn their focus to London and the Olympic Games, as the women will line up at Hadleigh Farm on August 11th.

Full results HERE.