Montreal, May 23 2010 (Sportcom) - Marie-Hélène Prémont finished fourth in the race won by the British Columbian Catharine Pendrel Sunday at the World Cup in Offnerburg, Germany.
Pendrel took the early lead in the race, closely followed by her Luna Pro teammate Georgia Gould. Pendrel, who covered the race distance in 1 h 37 min 24 s, crossed the finish line with an advantage of 28 seconds over Gould. Switzerland's Esther Süss grabbed third place, lagging behind Pendrel by 38 seconds.
"It was a great race for me, although I would have liked a podium today. I even had the victory in mind because I knew that I felt great, " she indicated. "The downside was, I had the disadvantage of having a starting position too far back, because I was 26th on the starting line. I came through the start well. I had a good start and I gave it a good shot so I was up among the top 10."
"The three girls out front could work together and it hurt me in the race. I couldn't catch up and all the portions of the course where it was flat, I could not benefit from the draft. It's okay, it's part of the game and at least I know I felt good and I'm back all the same, " said Prémont.
Faced with respiratory problems during the last season, the Chateau-Richer athlete has remedied the situation and everything seems to go according to her plans.
"The feelings are good, the breathing is super good and I found the cycling energy I had before. Last year, it was a really tough season because every race, it was not a battle against the other racers, but against myself, trying all the time to challenge myself, but being all the time limited. I no longer have that feeling and I feel my fitness progresses, it just keeps improving."
Earlier this season, Prémont had placed eighth at the World Cup in Dalby Forest Yorkshire. At Houffalize, Belgium, she did not finish the race after an equipment failure. "I was thinking about trying to win, because in Houffalize, I knew I was in good shape. I was doing well before I had my mechanical and it was still hard to take, so I wanted to take my revenge today. It's still a sweet revenge, but it will get better and better."
Marie-Hélène Prémont will be back home Monday. Since the next World Cup will take place in July, she intends to participate in some races on North American soil plus the Canadian National Championships to continue the work on her fitness.
Translated from Sportcom Press release.