Catharine Pendrel returns to the top of the world
Catharine Pendrel is on top of the world again.
The Olympic mountain biker won gold in the elite women’s field at the 2014 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships on Saturday in Hafjell, Norway.
With her triumph in 2011, it’s the second time that Pendrel can claim to be world champion. The 33-year old 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist biked the course in 1:31:30 and won by 21 seconds over Russia’s Irina Kalentieva despite suffering a flat tire on the final lap. The bronze medal went to Lea Davidson of the United States.
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It has been a great year for Pendrel, who also finished second in the overall World Cup standings between Jolanda Neff of Switzerland and Slovenian Tanja Zakelj.
In a release on the event website Pendrel said “I tried to ride as I normally do, and said to myself that this was not an ordinary World Championship run. It felt fantastic to win and I feel so good.”
“I want to thank for all the support here, it gave me so much energy.”
Pendrel’s support was global, with Canadian Olympic legend Clara Hughes congratulating her compatriot via Twitter.
Another Canadian Olympic mountain biker, Emily Batty, was sixth in the race. Batty finished fourth in the World Cup standings and won silver at the Commonwealth Games this year.
Canadian elite team women’s team of Pendrel, Batty, Sandra Walter and Mikaela Kofman were ranked first at the World Championships.
