After a series of unlucky results in recent medal events including two 4th places at the 2010 Worlds in Québec and at the 2008 Olympics at Beijing, Canada’s Catharine Prendel finally achieved her great golden dream to clinch a gold medal in a major event.
The 2010 World Cup champion beat by half a minute Poland’s defending World Champion Maja Wloszczowska while Italy’s Eva Lechner came in 3rd 1.36 minutes, half a second ahead of Russia’s Irina Kalentieva.
Last year’s winner Nathalie Schneitter was a superb 5th, her best result this season two minutes off the podium. She managed to come ahead of Norway’s veteran Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa, one of the deans on the XC circuit with her 38 years.
After winning three out of four last World Cup races and the pre-Olympic event nearby London, Prendel was definitely the rider to beat at Champéry since France’s Julie Bresset, the 22-year-old World Cup winner, was (only) competing in the U23 race this week in Switzerland.
The rider from the Vancouver area immediately faced a strong challenge from her two rivals from Poland and from Italy who both fought hard on the demanding ‘Grand Paradis’ course. Unfortunately for her, Maja’s front wheel tire flattened in one of the technical parts located over a kilometer from the feed zone where she could change it. The 28-year-old had to run for most part of the distance pushing her bike with one hand before reaching that feed zone to get a new wheel.
Yet the strong minded Wloszczowska didn’t let herself being too much affected by this incident and fought back with great energy despite her huge delay on the top leaders. One by one she caught the riders in front of her to pass them all - except Prendel who was lucky enough to start her last lap with an encouraging advance of half a minute on her.
“A few days ago one of my friends told me to ride the last lap as if it would be a time-trial in case I would be in the lead, just to give everything I had in me to be assured to remain out of reach of the rest of the field until the end,” Prendel explained afterwards at the Press Conference. “I remembered it well and took great risks in that final lap. Knowing Maja’s experience and determination, I knew she would also go for it very hard. So I rode my bike with huge willpower to clinch that title which had eluded me for so long.”
“I managed to remain very focused too so I didn’t make any major mistake in that final part. So many things went through my mind in that last round. I could not believe I was finally going for the gold today. I have had so many unfortunate moments in past medal events that I was not overconfident prior going through that finish line.”
“This title means so much to me and my group, but I can tell you that it has been quite a mission to get it. You can’t compare the way to prepare a normal World Cup race to the strategy displayed when you’re aiming for victory in a medal event.”
“I learned a lot from Maja who spent much time last year inspecting and checking the course at Mont Sainte Anne. I did the same with this season with race. I was twice here to test that demanding track with my husband and my staff in past months. This was absolutely crucial for my technical and mental preparation. Today I really felt ready to fight for gold – I had done all what was in my power to prepare as well as possible today’s season-highlight. This is definitely huge for me. It’s a major accomplishment not only for me but also for our sport in Canada.”
After her triumph in the 2010 World Cup standings and this UCI World Championships gold medal, Catharine will now be aiming for a fantastic hat-trick next year – capturing Olympic gold at London.
PkL |
Women Elite XC race. 
