Pendrel wins in Czech Republic

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Catharine Pendrel (Luna) took her second World Cup victory of the year at Nove Mesto, in the Czech Republic, and kept the battle going for the women's World Cup title, as she closed to within 140 points of series leader Julie Bresset (BH-Suntour-Peisey Vallandry) with one race remaining. Bresset took second, followed by Irina Kalentieva (Topeak-Ergon).

The technical course clearly suited some riders more than others, as a number of top contenders finished well back. Bresset got off to her usual fast start, taking a 15-second lead by the end of the long start loop, with Pendrel chasing alone, followed by Eva Lechner (Colnago Farbe Sudtirol) a further 12 seconds back. For the first couple of laps the status did not change, but then Bresset started to lose ground as she crashed multiple times, and Pendrel passed and dropped the French rider on the third lap.

"It was a very difficult, technical course, and I had many problems," Bresset said. "I crashed three times and then Catharine passed me and I could not stay with her, she was too strong."

Pendrel took a 32-second lead by the halfway point in the race, and extended it to nearly a minute by the finish. Behind the two leaders, Kalentieva had caught Lechner on the second lap after a slow start, as had the new European champion Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Multivan Merida), and the Italian barely manage to fend off British champion Annie Last for fifth place.

Just behind the top-five, there was a battle for sixth through ninth, with Marie-Helene Premont (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) moving up as high as fifth before fading to ninth, and Emily Batty (Subaru-Trek) battling with Lea Davison (Specialized) for seventh. The pair rode together for the last two laps, with Davison dropping Batty on the final straightaway to take seventh.

"It was a hard race," said Pendrel, "and I had more than my share of mistakes out there. At the beginning, Julie got a very strong start, and I made some mistakes. But I could see her in front of me, and I think maybe she went out a little too hard at the start. This is a great course, and I'm really happy to win here, and still keep the fight going for the [World Cup] title."

Race note

- American Lea Davison's seventh place finish was her best World Cup finish yet while Emily Batty clocked her second top 10 World Cup finish of her first elite season.

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