September 1, 2010 (Mont-Sainte-Anne, QC) – The reigning women’s Junior XCO World Champion, Pauline Prevot Ferrand (France), put in a strong performance to defend her title, adding to her 2010 Junior World Road title that she won in Italy in August.

The junior women’s race was full of true grit that saw early race leader, Jolanda Neff from Switzerland, crash out, and the field blown apart by the hot, technical and challenging Mont Ste-Anne course in extreme heat in very dry and dusty conditions.

Neff, ranked 2nd in the UCI standings, set a hot pace during the first two laps, building up a lead of more than 30 seconds on Ferrand Prevot. However, on her third lap, Neff crashed, leaving her French rival to continue grinding away at the front of the race. Ferrand Prevot looked fresh every lap, encouraged by the large contingent of French fans cheering her on, and ultimately built up a 45-second lead to take the win over Yana Belomoyna of Ukraine with Helen Grobert from Germany claiming third.

Yue Bai of China saved her fastest lap for last and was seriously threatening Grobert for third place on the last climb up La Marmotte, but Grobert was able to hold her off and maintain her podium spot by a comfortable margin, with Bai settling for fourth ahead of Elise Marchal of Belgium in 5th. Grobert was happy with her podium spot as she had fought her way back from a bad crash during her first lap that left her in 10th position.

Five Canadians finished the race with Andreane Lanthier-Nadeau leading the charge claiming 10th followed by BC’s Lauren Rosser in 11th. The Canadian were in a tight duel with France’s Cecile Delaire and Germany’s Johanna Techt – the four of them finished within 15 seconds after a solid hour and a half of racing. Lanthier-Nadeau just nosed out Rosser for 10th place in a hard-fought sprint to the line. Rosser will be back for more as she is also scheduled to start the junior women’s downhill on Thursday.

“It’s simply magical! I had no hopes or objectives in terms of results. I’m really happy and I think this happiness will last for a long time. I did not have many objectives, I just wanted to start, keep up with the pace and listen to my coaches. The coaches have done a tremendous job to motivate us,” said Lanthier-Nadeau, a first year Junior.

“It’s been two weeks since I have been training here, so I knew the course very well. I didn’t even need to think about the choice of lines. I really did a lot of mental preparations and course visualisations. I believe it really helped my race, and I made my way by pushing hard at each climb. I gained advantage everywhere I could gather and increase speeds,” she added.

CCA Interview – Lauren Rosser – 2010 MTB World Championships


It was a tough race of attrition and many racers showed some signs of a crash at some point, and in the dusty and dry conditions everyone was covered in dust at the end. The final La Marmotte climb consists of a long climb in rocky grass that then tips up into six switchback turns. Even some spectators were having a tough time walking up it to get to prime viewing positions.

The junior women put on a show of skill and determination as they ground their way through this section, which was punishing. Many racers had to get off and do the section on foot – those who persevered showed their skills by keeping the wheels rolling, no matter how close they came to riding off the edge of the course or how much the rocks fought back against the bikes. At the top of La Marmotte, all were rewarded with cheers in every language from all of the fans on the climb, regardless of the nationality of the racer.

Kristina Laforge, Canadian junior XC champion, was the next Canadian in 16th place, followed by Valerie Meunier in 18th and Cayley Brooks in 20th. Brooks finished the race covered in dirt but managed a smile at the top of La Marmotte as local fans at the top of the climb yelled her up the hill, telling her that she was “made of hi-ron”.

Full results and more photos here.