AC Chausson

World Cup Goes Down Hill in France
Downhill #1
Les Gets, France: May 21, 2000
[Results]

Anne-Caroline Chausson (FRA, Volvo-Cannondale) and David Vazquez (ESP, Subaru-Specialized) - two Europeans riding for American sponsors - lit the fires of the 2000 season in France this weekend, shaving just hundredths of seconds off their runs to beat an international field at this opening round of downhill action in Les Gets. With sunny blue skies and the snow-capped Alps as the background, round one of the Tissot-UCI Mountain Bike World Cup hosted a memorable event with unforgettable results.

Chausson was a cool customer all weekend here in the scenic Haute Savoie - maybe because she's the perennial local favorite or because the previous three times they've had a world cup DH here she's won. Regardless, she needed all the composure she could muster Sunday morning in order to beat fellow Frenchwoman Sabrina Jonnier (FRA, Team GT) by a mere .66 of a second.

Racing was as close as it gets Sunday, as the downhill mountain bike circuit moves toward an alpine ski model - with shorter runs and (hopefully) smaller time margins. With a 2.3-km course and lightening fast speeds, the UCI seems to have gotten their wish as riders came across the lines with several decimal places needed to distinguish their times.

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The course was steep though - dropping 438 meters down the fall line of the ski slopes, through the woods and around massive root systems. Down below, the voice of mountain biking - Peter Graves - gave the play by play from the Tissot truck as a throng of spectators gathered in the race pit area - peering up the hill as riders flew toward the finish.

Jonnier, back on the circuit after missing most of last season - yet still winning the '99 Jr. World Championship - nearly bested Chausson and beat third-place Missy Giove (USA, Foes/Azonic) by just one one-hundredth of a second. Thank God for Swiss timing…

The Missile was racing on a broken foot - sustained in practice Friday - yet still kept herself in the money by staying off the brakes and railing the tight, banked turns of this speedway course. Behind her was Brit crash-star Helen Mortimer (GBR, MBUK Jamis), who had qualified second-fastest. Nolvenn LeCaer (FRA, Team GT), who had the second-fastest time training run Saturday, finished 5th.

Men's racing was even closer than the women, with the top ten separated by just six seconds. Britain's Crawford Carrick-Anderson (GBR, Giant/Toyota UK) took the early lead with a run that held for some 24 riders, and was replaced by Kirt Voreis (USA, Subaru-Specialized) and a great run. Eventually David Vazquez (ESP, Subaru-Specialized) took the leopard-skinned hotseat/sofa from Gerwin Peters (NED, Be-One), then kept it for the rest of the race - remarkable considering who was to come down the mountain next.

First the eight-time World Champion Nicolas Vouilloz (FRA, Vouilloz Racing Team) failed to unseat him, after confessing to only two mistakes on the whole course (versus Vazquez's one). Then Steve Peat (GBR, Team GT), who won here last year, missed the mark as well. Finally top-seeded Mickael Pascal (FRA, Be-One) came across the line and had to settle for third place - behind Vouilloz and ahead of Peat. All four of them were only two seconds apart!

Most competitors seemed happy with their runs, and not one of the 80 starting men DNF'd - unheard of in world cup racing. All in all it was a great day of racing and an auspicious beginning to the 2000 season. The traveling circus will now load up and head for the chi-chi Italian resort of Cortina, replacing Nevegal's old venue and hosting round two of this series next weekend.

—Ari Cheren, trading Francs for Lira for MountainZone.com