Mavic-sponsored riders found success across all disciplines at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Champery, Switzerland. Leading the pack was Canadian Catharine Pendrel of the Luna Chix mountain bike team, who won first place in the elite women’s cross-country. This gold medal is Pendrel's first medal at a world championship event, and it's Canada's first elite women's XC title since 1996, when Alison Sydor won. The Luna Chix team is sponsored by Mavic and uses Crossmax SLR wheels and Fury shoes.

 

In addition to Pendrel’s success, young female rider Linda Indergand from Switzerland won the Junior XC World Championship wearing Fury shoes.

 

Two-time Olympic champion, Frenchman Julien Absalon started full speed in the Elite men category, but crashed in the second lap out of seven, hitting a root in a muddy descent that throw him over the bar. He had to double his effort to come back to the top two. By consequence, he lost a lot of energy and even if he considered new rainfall as an advantage in the 3rd lap, the top two contenders were out of reach. He pedaled hard till the end, finally taking the bronze medal, which is a great result considering the rain and mud of this world-class track.

 

In the gravity events, under heavy rain, the French downhiller Emmeline Ragot won the elite women’s DH world championship by 15 seconds over British competitor and former World Champion Rachel Atherton. Damien Spagnolo (FR) took second place in the highly competitive men’s race where the top contenders failed due to awful riding conditions. Both rode Deemax Ultimate DH wheels in the muddy, wet conditions.

 

Earlier in the week-end in the four-cross event, on an impressive and challenging “rebuilt” natural track, Anneke Beerten from Netherlands took her Crossmax ST to a gold medal, crowning a great World Cup season in which she’s ranked first overall.