Prémont and Kabush garner more titles

Marie-Hélène Prémont and Geoff Kabush overcame poor weather conditions to successfully defend their elite cross country titles on Saturday at the Canadian Mountain Bike Nationals at Mt. Washington, British Columbia.

"It was a difficult race with the mud, wind, rain and the fact it was only five degrees," said Prémont (Rocky Mountain / Haywood), who earned her fifth straight national title. "There was a lot of running on the course, still I'm pleased with my race. I didn't have any mechanical problems and it went well for me on the difficult parts of the course. I managed my race well and I felt in control."

Last week's Pan American Games champion Catharine Pendrel (Norco Factory Team) of Kamloops finished second 4'45" behind Prémont. Kiara Bisaro (Opus), also from British Columbia, was third.

In the men's race, Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) finished ahead of Max Plaxton (Rocky Mountain / Haywood) by just under 30 seconds. Kabush logged his third national title. Derek Zandstra (Rox Racing/Scott) won bronze.

"The weather caused a lot of trouble because it rained here all week," said Kabush. "It's hard on the body and the bike. It was an exciting race and I focused on staying in control. "This is my hometown and I adored racing here. It was really important for me."

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