XCO Windham@2012 UCI MTB World Cup

Описание: Round six of the cross-country series for the RockyRoads UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano saw some of the closest and most exciting racing of the year. Catharine Pendrel led a 1-2-3 finish for the Luna team in the women's race, wrapping up the World Cup title in the process. On the men's side, a combination of heat and technical problems decimated the field, with Burry Stander (Specialized) the last man standing to take only the second World Cup win of his career.

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'.

Georgia Gould (Luna), came close to taking the first World Cup of her career a week earlier in Mont-Ste-Anne, but faded in the last lap. This time, on home soil, she was inspired, riding away from early leader Marie-Helene Premont of Canada to carve out a 50 second lead with a lap to go. Chasing were her two team mates - Pendrel and Katerina Nash - who had dropped Premont.

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 weere surprised to come upon their team mate, with less than 100 metres to go, sweeping 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 metres)," commented 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 1-2-3 , but I wanted the best legs to win on the day and that was Georgia."

Pendrel's third win of the season, gives her an insurmountable lead in te sandings, with one race remaining, in Val d'Isere, France at the end of July.

The men's race saw a small group of favourites take the lead in the early laps, including Stander, Manuel Fumic (Cannondale Factory), Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized), Florian Vogel (Scott - Swisspower), Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Wildwolf - Trek Pro Racing), Rudi Van Houts (Multivan Merida), José Hermida (Multivan Merida), Fabian Giger (Rabobank Giant), Marco Aurelio Fontana (Cannondale Factory).

Gradually, riders fell off the pace, either through mechanical problems (Fumic and Hermida), or because they were unable to handle the heat. Eventually, it was down to Stander, Mantecon and Fontana, and then Stander upped the pace with a lap and a half to go, steadily increasing his lead on Mantecon, with Fontana holding onto third. The three finished in this order, with Stander taking his first World Cup win since 2009.

"I have always done well on this course and always been in the lead group," explained Stander, "but then had problems at the end. This is a course where it is easy to crash, because it's very high speed. Easy to push too hard and get a flat tire. Today I just decided to ride my own speed and not worry about anyone else, just ride controlled. I made sure at the top of the climb I went into the singletrack first and I could control the speed on the way down, not taking any chances. Then, yah, toward the end I knew with the endurance coming into play and the heat it would be good for me."

The absent World Cup leader Nino Schurter (Scott-Swisspower) retained his lead in the standings, by a slim 12 points over Stander, with world champion Jaroslav Kulhavy a distant third.