Pendrel wins in Mont Sainte Anne

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Catharine Pendrel (Luna) gave Canada a win on Sunday at the Cross-country World Cup in Mont-Ste-Anne, Canada. Pendrel edged closer to World Cup leader Annika Langvad (Specialized) in the overall standings, after Langvad could only manage fourth. It was Pendrel's fourth win at Mont-Ste-Anne, breaking the previous record she shared with Marie-Helene Premont.

Mont-Ste-Anne is the oldest and one of the most storied venues on the World Cup circuit. It always offers a demanding circuit, with steep climbs and rooty, rocky descents. This year, MSA is the final major competition before the Olympic cross-country, and some Olympic-bound riders elected not to attend.

Pendrel went to the front on the first of six laps, opening up a 20 second lead on Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa (Multivan Merida) and Langvad, with Katerina Nash (Luna) following 10 seconds later and Batty just behind her. The gap hovered around the 30 second mark for much of the race, with Pendrel unable to extend it, but the chasers also unable to make up any time.

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By the halfway mark, Dahle Flesjaa had dropped Langvad, who looked uncharacteristically slow on the climbs, while Batty had moved up to join Nash. The front two held on for first and second, but Batty caught Langvad in the final lap to take third, much to the delight of the Canadian crowd.

"On this course it's just super important to get out in front," said Pendrel. "A lot of people make mistakes in front of you so at least if you make a mistake you're in control. It was awesome there are so many people out on course ... it was amazing out there, trying to keep focused and not get distracted by what was going on."

"Of course I'm a little disappointed after having so many great results this year," admitted Langvad. "Mont Ste-Anne was never my favourite course, maybe it's the jet lag or I don't know, but my legs just never feel comfortable here. To date though, this is my best result on this course so I'm satisfied with it."

"I had a really bad start, I got caught up in traffic at the start and once I could get going I could see that Catharine Pendrel was really far ahead and it was quite hard to catch up. For awhile I was with Gunn-Rita battling for second and third. When it started raining I think I overcooked it a little and went over my limit and had to unclip a lot, and almost had a crash on the Beatrice [rock descent]. From there I had to ride within my limit, and today my limit was not for the victory."

Langvad continues to lead the overall standings with 926 points and one race remaining, but her lead over Pendrel has shrunk to 56 points. Nash remains in third at 630 points, with Batty moving up to fourth from seventh, only five points further back.

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