April 3, 2006

The 2006 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup cross-country season opened on Saturday April 1st, on the island of Curacao in the Dutch West Indies, with Canadians Marie-Hélène Prémont (QC) and Seamus McGrath (ON) earning 4th and 9th place finishes, respectively. Both Canadians were also the top North American performers in the event.

In the women’s competition, Marie-Hélène Prémont (Rocky Mountain-Business Objects), gold medallist at the recent Commonwealth Games finished in 4th place with teammate Alison Sydor (Canadian National Team) 11th and Kiara Bisaro (Canadian National Team) 14th. Prémont finished 3’39 behind the current World and Olympic Champion, Norwegian Gunn-Rita Dahle (Multivan Merida). German Sabine Spitz (Specialized) took the silver and Spanish Margarita Fullana (Spiuk Iles Baleares), the bronze.

The women’s event, which was held under extreme temperature, included 5 laps plus a start loop on the 6.7 kilometre circuit. As National Team mountain bike coach Michel Leblanc explained, “Prémont experienced a bad start which relegated her to 20th position and she had to make a comeback to the group.” Leblanc added "If Prémont has been a little more aggressive from the beginning she could have avoided the crash which happened in front of her at the start, and made it on to the podium. She also did not drink enough in the first laps and paid for it later, suffering from dehydration."

Sydor was in the front (4th) at the start but, as coach Michel Leblanc described, "A rider knocked her off the track while attempting to pass, Alison had a flat and lost time to the repair." Sydor spent the rest of the time trying to catch up, and was able to finish 11th.

“Bisaro was troubled by the crash of a rider falling into her and Prémont. After this difficult start, she chased up to 14th position. Despite the lack of luck, our 3 Canadian riders have to be proud of what they achieved and they’re enjoying good positions, with 3 in the top 15", Leblanc commented.