Catharine Pendrel, who now calls Kamloops home, is on top of the world.

Pendrel won the last cross-country race of the World Cup season, in Wyndham, N.Y., on Saturday, and clinched first place in the UCI World Cup standings.

It was Pendrel’s first World Cup championship. She had finished second in 2008.

Pendrel, who rides for the Luno Pro Team, and Marie-Hélène Prémont of Château-Richer, Que., who finished second on Saturday, will represent Canada at the 2010 UCI mountain bike and trial world championships in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Que., starting on Wednesday.

Pendrel is the third Canadian woman to win the World Cup. Prémont won it in 2008 and Alison Sydor of West Vancouver won it multiple times in the 1990s.

“I felt really good today. I felt strong,” Pendrel said in a news release. “Marie-Hélène was pushing me the entire race. I’m really excited that we’re both riding strong going into the world championships.”

Pendrel, 30, grew up in Harvey Station, N.B., and attended the U of Victoria. She relocated to Kamloops because of its favourable terrain for mountain bike training.

“This is amazing, to win my second World Cup of the season, and the (overall) World Cup title, all a week before the world championships take place in Canada,” said Pendrel, who has been on the Canadian team since 2003. “To win a World Cup race is always special, but to be consistent right through the season and win the title is hard. The race for the title was so tight all season, it is extra special to win it.”

Pendrel attacked on the first of five laps, opening a 25-second gap on Prémont. The Canadians rode away from the rest of the field, with the gap between the two remaining steady until the final lap, when Prémont managed to close it and catch her rival at the top of the last climb. Pendrel was able to pull away on the last descent.

“I know that I am stronger in the first half of the race, so I wanted to go out hard and establish a gap,” Pendrel said. “Marie was coming behind me, but I was able to get into the final descent ahead of her and it was enough to keep me in the lead.”

Pendrel, who twice has been honoured as Kamloops’ female athlete of the year, reached the podium in four of the seven races on the 2010 calendar, winning twice.

On Saturday, Pendrel won in one hour 39 minutes 48 seconds, just four seconds ahead of Prémont, whose second-place finish Saturday was her first podium placement of the 2010 campaign.

Georgia Gould of the U.S., a Luna teammate of Pendrel’s, finished third, followed by Slovakian Blaza Klemencic and Austria’s Elisabeth Osl.

The Daily News/CP