France's stranglehold on downhill mountain biking was loosened a bit Saturday when an outrageous pair of Americans — Shaun Palmer and Missy Giove — beat the coolheaded French pair of Nicolas Vouilloz and Anne-Caroline Chausson. In an exciting afternoon of hot and dusty action, the Gallic World Cup leaders were toppled in close, mechanical-free racing.

King Palmer

It was the best scenario any U.S. fan could hope for, when Giove took her first world cup win of '99 and Palmer his first world cup win ever. With a full weekend of racing at Snow Summit, qualifying and final racing both took place on Saturday in front of approximately 3,000 spectators. The 1.5-mile course sent the world cup riders down 1,200 vertical feet of hot, dry and dusty conditions. It's the type of course that would seem to favor American racers, and Palmer and Giove's confirmed it with two stunning victories.

WOMEN:
Giove won the women's event by powering her way down the technical course just one half second faster than arch-rival Chausson. Chausson had qualified fastest, but even that semi-final time was only one second faster than Giove. It was clear this would be a close battle in the finals, so long as Giove didn't flat a tire, which has happened several times this season to the radical rider.

Missy Giove

Chausson came down last in the final, but slipped a pedal at the top section, losing about a second – just enough to make catching Giove's blistering time impossible. "I went as fast as I could, but just couldn't go fast enough today," said Chausson.

Giove was ecstatic to finally win a race this season after coming close in the previous three European rounds. Riding for her small new Foes/Azonic team, Giove also exacted a bit of revenge on former team Volvo-Cannondale who this season hired Chausson to win the overall title. "My bike is working really good, and my support is unprecedented," said Giove. I'm just really happy."

Marla Streb (USA, Yeti) took the bronze, finishing ten seconds behind Giove and Chausson and grabbing her second third-place finish this season. Leigh Donovan (USA, Intense) finished fourth for her second race in a row, keeping consistent and keeping herself in third overall. With her second-place points, Chausson holds on to the leader's jersey and is 225 points ahead of Giove.

MEN:
Shaun Palmer (USA, Mountain Dew / Specialized) has watched his stock (and hype) rise and fall several times in the mountain bike industry, especially after receiving what is rumored to be the largest contract in the sport's history three seasons ago. While he's won on several NORBA tracks (including this one at Snow Summit), until Saturday he had yet to take out his gold lamé suit for a world cup victory party.

"I've had some pressures in the past and with my bike, plus I wasn't always mentally in it, but I'm looking forward to the rest of the season with this win...."— Shaun Palmer

That all changed this weekend, when he out-rode nemesis Nicolas Vouilloz (FRA, Sunn) in the final, proving that for once the talent lives up to the hype. After several great qualifier and final runs this season, he powered down this course determined to prove that he could beat Vouilloz (or anyone else) on any day, in a fair fight.

I'm just happy to have my first world cup win," hesaid, smiling in the afternoon sun, before changing into a brand-new sparkle suit and crown, made by his mom. "I've had some pressures in the past and with my bike, plus I wasn't always mentally in it, but I'm looking forward to the rest of the season with this win."

Shaun Palmer

Palmer had qualified third fastest in the semi's after several days of long training sessions on this familiar So Cal terrain. He knew he had plenty of competition in Vouilloz and Steve Peat (GBR, GT), but didn't let it keep him from railing the short course with an unbeatable time.

He didn't think his time of 3:50 would be fast enough, however, as Vouilloz had run a 3:49 in qualifying. But the course degraded during the afternoon and actually slowed down by a second, a rare occurrence. So after Vouilloz made a mistake and crashed on the upper portion of the course, the lock was in and Palmer – waiting in the hotseat below – crossed his fingers as he watched Vouilloz fly down the mountain in a cloud of dust.

Vouilloz not only missed Palmer's winning time, but that of five other people as well to finish sixth – a scant four seconds off the winning time. Second place went to Mr. Consistency Steve Peat (GBR, GT) - who took his second silver medal for the season and regained the leader's jersey from Vouilloz just one week after his 25th birthday. Peat has now finished first, second or third in all his races this season.

— Michelle Quigley, freeriding with Marla Streb for MountainZone.com