Source: Canadian Cycling Association
(Mont-Sainte-Anne, QC - September 1, 2010) The 2010 UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships, being held at Mont-Sainte-Anne, opened today with an outstanding performance by the young Canadian cyclist Andréane Lanthier-Nadeau (Quebec QC), who finished tenth in the women's JR cross-country race, doing so in her first international race.
Lanthier-Nadeau stormed the technical cross-country course of Mont Sainte-Anne, where she has been training and studying lines for the last two weeks.
"It's simply magical! I had no hopes or objectives in terms of results. I'm really happy and I think this happiness will last for a long time. I did not have many objectives, I just wanted to start, keep up with the pace and listen to my coaches. The coaches have done a tremendous job to motivate us," said Lanthier-Nadeau, a first year Junior.
"It's been two weeks since I have been training here, so I knew the course very well. I didn't even need to think about the choice of lines. I was nervous, but it was more the euphoria of nervousness. I do not know what to expect. There were seven Canadian girls in the race, but I did not know the competitors from other countries, so I was able to concentrate just on my cycling, and not other girls. "
"I really did a lot of mental preparations and course visualisations. I believe it really helped my race, and I made my way by pushing hard at each climb. I gained advantage everywhere I could gather and increase speeds.
In the same race, Lauren Rosser (Squamish, BC), also in her first international race, finished in 11th position. In the final sprint, Rosser crossed the finish line within a bike's length of Lanthier-Nadeau. Rosser will be back in the saddle tomorrow for the Downhill timed session, and will compete on Sunday in the Downhill race.
Kristina Laforge (Alma, QC), which won a medal at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in August, finished 16th, a respectable position considering she arrived back in Canada from the Games on Sunday night.
Canada, with three riders in the Top 16, took the honours of best cycling nation in the junior women's events.
Pauline Ferrand-Prevot of France won the gold medal and the World Champion title. The young French rider grabbed her second World Championship title this season as she won the gold medal in the road race earlier this summer. The Ukrainian cyclist Yana Belomoyna took the silver medal and Germany's Grobert Helen won the bronze.
In the team relay, Canada placed eight. Max Plaxton (Victoria, BC), Francis Morin (Magog, QC), Antoine Caron (Stoneham, QC), Mical Dyck (Victoria, BC) took part in the relay. Switzerland took the victory, followed by Germany and Czech Republic.
In the Team Relay, each country is represented by four cyclist comprised of one Elite men, one U23 men, on Junior men and one women.
The 2010 UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships continue tomorrow with the presentation of the cross-country event in the U23 category, as well as the timed session for the Downhill event.
