Lea Davison rides off with the bronze at Mountain Bike Worlds on Saturday
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Lea Davison on the podium with her bronze medal
Davison had hip surgery in January and didn't even race until July when she won the cross-country national title in Pennslyvania. Now, after adding her first world championship medal to her resume – it looks like her comeback is complete.
Davison spent the first part of the race moving up from a less-than-ideal start position. By the end of lap two, she was in fourth, and with three laps to go took over third. Maintaining the bronze medal position wasn't easy though. The Vermont native had to fight off a hard-charging Tanja Zakelj (SLO) who ultimately settled for fourth after almost catching Davison in the final lap.
Ahead of Davison was Catharine Pendrel (CAN) to take her second world title while Irina Kalentieva (RUS) was second.
Also representing the USA in the women's event was Georgia Gould (Fort Collins, Colo./LUNA Pro Team) in 24th, Chloe Woodruff (Tucson, Ariz./Backcountry.com) in 31st, Erin Huck (Boulder, Colo./Tokyo Joes-VCGraphix.com) in 38th, Mary McConneloug (Chilmark, Mass./Team KENDA-Stan’s NoTubes) in 44th, and Evelyn Dong (Park City, Utah/Backcountry.com) in 49th.
In the elite men's race, Stephen Ettinger (Bozeman, Mont./BMC Mountainbike Racing Team) was the first American to cross the finish line. He finished 28th, about nine and a half minutes off the winning pace which was set by Julien Absalon (FRA). Nino Schurter (SUI) and Marco Aurelio Fontana (ITA) were second and third. Also riding for Team USA Cycling in the elite men's event were Russell Finsterwald (Colorado Springs, Colo./SRAM-Troy Lee Designs Race Team) in 34th, Todd Wells (Durango, Colo./Specialized Factory Racing) in 44th, and Spencer Paxson (Bellingham, Wash./Kona Factory Team) in 56th.
Mountain Bike Worlds will conclude on Sunday with the elite and junior downhill competitions. Catch the action live via Universal Sports or Red Bull TV, or follow #MTBWorldChamps on twitter.
COMPLETE RESULTS
PHOTO GALLERY
2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships
Hafjell, Norway
September 2-7, 2014
Elite Men XC
1. Julien Absalon (FRA)
2. Nino Schurter (SUI)
3. Marco Aurelio Fontana (ITA)
28. Stephen Ettinger (Bozeman, Mont./BMC Mountainbike Racing Team)
34. Russell Finsterwald (Colorado Springs, Colo./SRAM-Troy Lee Designs Race Team)
44. Todd Wells (Durango, Colo./Specialized Factory Racing)
56. Spencer Paxson (Bellingham, Wash./Kona Factory Team)
Elite Women XC
1. Catharine Pendrel (CAN)
2. Irina Kalentieva (RUS)
3. Lea Davison (Jericho, Vt./Specialized Factory Racing)
24. Georgia Gould (Fort Collins, Colo./LUNA Pro Team)
31. Chloe Woodruff (Tucson, Ariz./Backcountry.com)
38. Erin Huck (Boulder, Colo./Tokyo Joes-VCGraphix.com)
44. Mary McConneloug (Chilmark, Mass./Team KENDA-Stan’s NoTubes)
49. Evelyn Dong (Park City, Utah/Backcountry.com)
This Article Updated September 6, 2014 @ 06:30 PM For more information contact:
