Catharine Pendrel (Luna Pro Team) sets the pace on her way to winning(Image credit: Brian Hodes / VeloImages)
Catharine Pendrel (Luna Pro Team) lost ten seconds to Nash when she had a small bobble. That was the ballgame.(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Catharine Pendrel (Luna Pro Team) had a poor first lap but then picked off lots of riders(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
What a different a few weeks makes. Late last month, Catharine Pendrel (Luna Pro Team) was off the front, winning the Fontana round of the US Cup and US Pro XCT. Yesterday, she broke her collarbone in a crash.
Pendrel crashed while training, and while the injury does not require surgery, she is prohibited from racing for the next six weeks, which means she will have to miss the opening round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa next weekend.
"I'm feeling pretty pain free so far, so optimistic for a speedy recovery. Bummer to miss the first WC though!" said Pendrel according to her team.
"The second worst thing about breaking your collar bone on April 1st is having to convince people it's not a bad joke," Pendrel also said on her Facebook page.
While it's only the second time that she's broken a bone during her career, it is the second time in two years that the Canadian Olympian has fractured her collarbone. She also did so in the summer of 2013 and had to sit out several major races.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Sue George is an editor at Cyclingnews. She coordinates all of the site's mountain bike race coverage and assists with the road, 'cross and track coverage.
