Pendrel in Pyrenees to defend world title
Catharine Pendrel refuses to change tactics, even with the finish line to her storied mountain biking career looming just over the horizon.
She rides her own race and sticks to her own game plan regardless of where she lands in a pack of rough-and-tumble cyclists navigating boulders and careening over perilous drops.
“I always go for it from the gun,” the 34-year-old said via Skype from a coffee shop in the Italian Alps. “I don’t wait to see what happens. I think if you go right from the get-go, then you’re always putting out your best performance rather than sitting in a group and trying to be strategic.
“Sometimes, if you try to be strategic, that leaves a little more up to fate and what other people are doing — what pace they’re setting — to determine the outcome.”
That strategy has proven a winner for Pendrel over a career that has spanned two decades. The Kamloops resident is set to defend her world title on Saturday in Andorra, between France and Spain in the picturesque Pyrenees Mountains.
History shows the path to the podium is steep. In 12 world championship appearances, Pendrel has reached the podium only twice. Both times proved golden.
“Getting everything right on that day is incredibly difficult to do,” she says. “Everyone is trying to be at their best. But I feel strong. I know I’m one of the most consistent women in the world, so I know I’ll be part of the race, and hopefully everything just comes together to really put out a strong showing.”
In a training run Wednesday, Pendrel ripped through the thin air to finish third. She heads into the race ranked fourth in the UCI world rankings.
Fellow Canadian Emily Batty, 27, is ninth. Canada is the only nation with two women ranked in the top 10 and, in terms of recent results, little separates Pendrel and Batty.
The Olympics next year will mark the finish line for Pendrel.
“I’ve had a fabulous career, and I’m really happy with what I’ve been able to accomplish to this point,” she says. “To stick around for another quadrennial is a bit tough when you’re a 34-year-old woman and you know you may want to have a family and explore other opportunities in life, as well. But I plan to race for life.”