Pendrel leads Luna Pro Team podium sweep

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Round six of the cross country series for the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup produced some of the closest and most exciting racing of the year. Catharine Pendrel (Luna led a one-two-three  finish for the Luna team in the women's race, wrapping up the World Cup title in the process.

Extreme heat, plus a dry and dusty course with lots of climbing, made for hard conditions. Riders had to drink constantly, and avoid going out too hard, too early if they didn't want to "blow up".

In the elite women's race Georgia Gould (Luna) had come close to taking the first World Cup of her career a week earlier in Mont Ste-Anne, but faded in the last lap, and was overtaken by teammate Pendrel. This time, on home soil, she was inspired, riding away from early leader Marie-Helene Premont (Rocky Mountain) to carve out a 50-second lead with a lap to go in the five-lap race.

Two teammates chased her: Pendrel and Katerina Nash, who had dropped Premont. Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Multivan Merida) passed Premont to move into fourth, while the Canadian was holding off a late charge by American Olympian Lea Davison (Specialized).

Cresting the final climb, Gould looked to have the win, but then suffered a pinch flat in a a rocky section. She quickly used an inflation cartridge, but the tire went flat again almost within sight of the finish, and she started to run. Pendrel and Nash were surprised to come upon their teammate, with less than 100 meters to go. They swept around her and sprinting to the line, with Pendrel getting the victory. Gould hung on for third.

"I was really sad (about catching Gould in final meters)," said Pendrel. "I did not want it to come down to that. Georgia rode so well, she was obviously riding the best both up and down today. She deserved the win. I looked back and thought maybe Katerina is not going to sprint, but Katerina was going to sprint, so I gotta go for it. It was not the situation I wanted; yes, I wanted Luna one-two-three , but I wanted the best legs to win on the day and that was Georgia."

For Gould it was a bitter disappointment, and the American champion could not talk with choking up. "I had a really good gap, and I just pinch flatted on one of the rocky downhills, I thought it might seal up but I had a lot of high speed downhill, so I stopped and used my CO2 cartridge to fill it up. But it was very soft, and it just went flat again. I just didn't have enough traction for the last climb and had to get off and run. It's pretty disappointing."

Premont took fourth after Dahle Flesjaa flatted, and Davison became the second American on the podium, in fifth. It was Davison's first-ever World Cup podium appearance. Emily Batty (Subaru-Trek), after struggling in the early laps, surged in the final lap to finish 11th.

Pendrel's third win of the season gives her an insurmountable lead in the standings, with one race remaining, in Val d'Isere, France at the end of July. Nash moves into second, followed by Dahle Flesjaa and Gould.