LUNA CHIX PRO TEAM

After heavy rains on Thursday and Friday, the World Cup course in Champery, Switzerland became a bike handlers dream, if you like mud, slippery roots, and big drop-offs. Katerina Nash showed once again that she is one of the best bike handlers in the world with her 5th place finish. After a second row call-up, she had a fast start and was in the first chase group behind the two leaders, Nathalie Schneitter (Colnago Arreghini Sudtirol) of Switzerland and teammate Eva Lechner of Italy. Many of the technical descents became so treacherous that it was faster to run than ride, favoring Katerina's superb cyclocross skills.


Check out Georgia and Katerina's cool new national champion skinsuits. Good job Waldek!
Photo by Colin Meagher


Photo by Dave McElwaine

Catharine Pendrel had a tough day at the office. A slow start and then a jammed chain on the first lap put her way back in the field, making it extremely difficult to move up. After fighting her way back to 11th she suffered a "burped" tire, losing enough air to require a wheel change in the pit. That ended any hopes of getting on the podium. Her 16th place finish dropped her to third overall, 61 points behind the leader.


Photo by Dave McElwaine

Georgia Gould struggled as well, possibly feeling the effects of jeg lag and not getting to pre-ride the course the day before. Because of the heavy rains, the officials shut down the course to training. For a course this challenging, Georgia was at a huge disadvantage not getting to see the crazy descents she'd have to ride on race day. But that's racing in Europe and a lot of other riders were in the same predicament.


Photo by Dave McElwaine

Katerina's podium finish puts her in 11th overall. Georgia is in 6th and Catharine still has a great chance of winning the overall with two races left. Next up for the team is World Cup #5 in Val de Sole, Italy. Look for the Blue Train of redemption