Nico Vouilloz was signing a race poster just after winning Saturday's downhill race and he tagged his autograph with a "9x" signifying his nine wins. But it was quickly pointed out that he had just won his 10th, so he just put "X," the roman numeral for 10. Vin Diesel may be XXX, but he's just an actor. Nico is the real thing, a real "X-Man."

"Honestly, I didn't really think about the fact that it was 10," said Vouilloz after a nearly flawless run. "It's just a number, and a friend told me not to think about it. I knew Steve (Peat) would be my biggest rival today, but I had a feeling I could beat his time."

And he did, ending a brilliant career with his 10th World Championship gold medal in 11 tries. He beat England's Peat (Orange England) by just a half-second, relegating the Brit to three-straight silver medals. Vouilloz dominated Kaprun's demanding 3.2km course in just over five minutes, with Peat just 0.54 of a second behind.

"I'm devastated," Peat said flatly after the race. "I've had enough silver medals, but Nico really knows how to turn it on at Worlds." Peat had plenty of time to sit and await the arrival of Vouilloz, who had qualified third-fastest while Peat had deliberately produced a slow qualifying time, coming down the mountain 23rd from last. "I stopped for about 12 seconds during qualifying. I didn't want to be last down the mountain," he said.

As the finals progressed, only 6th-seeded Chris Kovarik (AUS, Intense Cycles) came close to Peat's time, finishing in 5:13. After two more riders missed Peat's mark, Vouilloz raced down the mountain to overtake the lead and wait for top qualifiers Mickael Pascal (FRA, Be-One Team) and Cedric Gracia (FRA, Volvo-Cannondale) to arrive.

Vouilloz and Peat have been rivals for several seasons, at times trading wins by just hundredths of a second. But when Vouilloz injured a finger this season and dropped out of the World Cup series, it looked like this might be Peat's year.

"I think it was good that I stopped racing the World Cup this season," said Vouilloz, who was able to recover and concentrate on this one-day championship.

Neither of the remaining two riders could unseat Vouilloz, who was soon crowned World Champion once again, with Peat in 2nd and Kovarik 3rd.

"I feel good and I'm improving every year," said Kovarik afterward. "I just wish I could have had more speed at the end of my run, but I just wanted to finish without a crash." Asked if he felt the pressure today, Kovarik replied "There was some pressure leading up to the qualifier, but after I qualified 6th I thought I'd leave the pressure for the other guys. I just had to remain calm."

And all the other riders may soon find themselves with one fewer obstacle between them and a gold medal, as Vouilloz told MountainZone.com that this crowning achievement in a distinguished cycling career will likely be his last. Responding to rumors of retirement, Vouilloz said "I tried not to think too much about retirement before today, but maybe now is a good time after this win. I could keep racing, but I don't want to race just to race if I'm not going to win."

— Ari Cheren, MountainZone.com Correspondent