October 15/06 2:50 am - Pendrel Silver at Pan-Am MTB Championship

Posted by Editor on 10/15/06
 

Canada Wins Silver at Pan American Championships
Courtesy CCA

Catherine Pendrel (BC) won the silver medal in the elite women's 2006 Mountain Bike cross-country Pan American Championships competition in Camboriu, Brazil, on Sunday (October 15th). American Mary McConneloug took the gold medal and Argentina's Jimena Florit finished third.

The Penticton, BC rider, who was aiming for a top-five finish (which she had captured in the 2005 Pan Am Championships in Mexico), was full of joy after her race: "I worked my way up and in the second lap already found myself in third position. I rode consistently and was feeling really good. Conditions were way better than the training conditions over the past few days, with lots of sunshine and the course much drier. Before the race, I said to Michel (Leblanc, CCA mountain bike coach): I'm going to medal today!"

"It's so exciting, when you imagine that Catherine just learned one week prior to the event that she was selected to replace Alison Sydor (who could not make it to Brazil from the Roc d'Azur in France ˆ which she won - in such a short period of time)," added Michel Leblanc, Canadian National Team mountain bike coach.