News

23-08-2008

Pendrel and Chengyuan Narrowly Miss Olympic Medals

They missed it by a whisker! Although the Orbea women bikers put in an enormous effort to earn a medal, it was Germany's Sabine Spitz -bronze medal winner in Athens 2004- who took gold. Spitz took a commanding lead from the first lap, completing the laps around the course in 1:45:11. She beat Poland's Maja Wloszczowska, who took silver, by 45 seconds. Russia's Irina Kalentyeva fought off a battle against Catharine Pendrel in the two final laps to win the bronze by 9 seconds. 

The tough course took its toll on many riders, since only 18 out of the 30 participants on the start list -including several favourites- managed to complete the race. The athletes mounting Orbea bicycles proved they were in good shape, fighting nonstop to climb to the podium. 

Catharine Pendrel of the Luna Chix team was the best among the Orbea-sponsored athletes. She was followed by Ren Chengyuan (5^th) of Orbea Jiangsu, the only Chinese rider to win the MTB World Cup (in Houffalize, Belgium). US Georgia Gould (Luna Chix) and China's Liu Ying, also of Orbea Jiangsu, did a very good job, finishing 8^th and 12^th, respectively. It was bad luck that prevented the Chinese biker from grabbing a medal in her homeland, as she had a problem early in the race which stood in her way to the podium. 

There's no doubt that Orbea's bikes have performed flawlessly in Beijing 2008. They've shown that they're a fundamental part of a good cycling team.