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Lauren Rosser, Clare Buchar take downhill bronze medals

Canadian team takes three medals at world championships in Switzerland

Sea to Sky riders picked up two of Canada's three medals at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Champery, Switzerland last week with Squamish's Lauren Rosser - the reigning champion from 2010 - placing third in the junior race this year and Whistler's Clare Buchar placing third in women's downhill - her best result in 10 years of World Championships and a decade racing World Cup.

Buchar finished the long, wet course in 5:21.96, holding off French riders Myriam Nicole and Sabrina Jonnier for the third step on the podium. Emmeline Ragot of France was first by a long margin in 4:54.01, followed by British rider Rachel Atherton in 5:09.30.

Other Canadians in the race were Casey Brown (Revelstoke and part-time Whistler), Miranda Miller (Squamish) and Katherine Short (Sunshine Coast), who placed 12th, 13th and 15th respectively.

Buchar took an unusual route to the top this year, forgoing her usual World Cup tour to stick closer to home and save money. She kept a low profile until Crankworx, where she placed second in the Canadian Open DH against a World Cup-calibre field, and first in the Garbanzo DH. A week later she was on top of the podium at the national championships, securing a spot racing for Canada in the worlds.

"I didn't race any World Cups this year because we didn't have the budget," Buchar told Canadian Cyclist. "But I came here with great motivation. A good friend in Canada, Nick Geddes, is in the hospital with leukemia, so us Canadians wore yellow shoelaces to show our support. And every time I thought it was tough out there I thought of Nick. So this one's for you. Nick for the win!"

While the weather couldn't have been worse, she tried to stay positive and ride to the conditions.

"The track got worse as the day went on," she wrote in her blog at KovarikRacing.com. "I knew that all the juniors were crashing in their finals, the conditions were horrendous. The track was the gnarliest I've ever seen it, just getting eroded and lots of slippery shale slabs coming through.

"I decided that if I just toned it down a little, rode smart and stayed on I could get a good result. I didn't expect third! But trying to stay on was not an easy feat, (it) was so scary and I literally was, at moments, just hanging on like superwoman."

The men's team was without Nanaimo's Steve Smith, who finished his season ranked fifth overall after injuring himself in training at the last World Cup event of the season.

Danny Hart of Great Britain was the top rider in the men's race with a time of 3:41.98. Damien Spagnolo of France was second in 3:53.68 and Samuel Blenkinslop of New Zealand third in 3:54.98. Reigning champion Sam Hill of Australia placed seventh on the day.

The top Canadian was Olympic ski cross racer Chris Del Bosco in 44th overall, with Rob Fraser in 47th and Remi Gauvin 64th.

In the junior women's DH, Lauren Rosser struggled a bit but still made the podium with a five second gap over the fourth place finisher. Manon Carpenter of Great Britain was first in 5:11:54, followed by Agnes Delest of France in 5:26.00 and Lauren Rosser in 5:28.79.

Rosser was okay with the result, given the number of crashes she had on the muddy course.

"I had a lot of crashes because it's really slick," she told Canadian Cyclist. "But it's a good course and it's really challenging. I think only the top riders will be able to go with no dabs and it's really starting to rain up there so it'll get even slicker. It's about who can hold it together and take a safe line. I had three crashes at the top and probably three down at the bottom. Smooth is fast and fast is smooth; that's what I had in my head."

The top Canadian junior was Luke Stevens in seventh overall, with Riley Suhan in 22nd, Kyle Sangers in 37th and Jordan Hodder in 45th.

While Canada's downhillers had a lot to celebrate, the biggest celebration of the week belonged to Kamloops' Catharine Pendrel, who placed first overall on the cross-country course. She finished in 1:46:14, followed by Maja Wloszczowska of Poland almost 30 seconds later and Eva Lechner of Italy 1:08 later. Canadians Emily Batty and Marie-Helene Premont were eighth and ninth respectively, while Jean Ann Berkenpas was 30th, Catherine Vipond 31st and Amanda Sin 35th.

With the win, Pendrel is the first Canadian woman to win the world championship title since Alison Sydor in 1996.

It wasn't easy. Wloszczowska was leading after the first climb but Pendrel, a good technical rider, thought she was faster on the descent and took the lead. She expected the Polish racer to be right behind her coming out of the woods, but discovered that she had flatted. Pendrel tried to run her own race until she got the word that Wloszczowska was back in the race and reeling her in.

"I said to myself, 'this is go time,'" she told Canadian Cyclist. She picked up the pace a little bit, but was also careful on the descents not to go out with a flat of her own. By the top of the climb on the last lap she knew it was hers, even if it wasn't going to be by much.

"I never really feel confident because I've done stupid things when leading a race before," she said.

"You dream of this day your whole life, and when it finally happens it's just awesome."

In the men's XC race, Geoff Kabush battled to a 10th place finish overall, with Max Plaxton in 22nd, Derek Zandstra in 26th, Adam Morka in 56th, Matt Hadley in 71st and Andrew Watson in 90th. Squamish's Neal Kindree was briefly named to the team, but was taken off after other riders with more Canada Cup points protested.

Lauren Rosser also raced in the women's junior cross-country race, placing 27th overall.