Asa Vermette didn’t have the ideal start to his UCI Mountain Bike World Cup season.
The 18-year-old Durango downhill star qualified well at the opening round at Bielsko-Biala, Poland. But Vermette made a mistake in the middle of his men’s junior downhill run in the slippery and muddy conditions. He crashed, quickly picked up the bike and could only salvage a 10th-place finish.
“It was pretty much a silly mistake,” Vermette said. “The crash wasn’t anything gnarly; it was easily avoidable by taking an outside line. I just slid out, trying to gain some more time on this inside line. But I was feeling good. It was a full-on mudder race. We don't get too much mud riding in Durango. So it's not that's something I'm crazy used to, but it's so fun to ride in the mud and it was just another learning experience.”
Vermette finished the 2-kilometer downhill course in three minutes and 15.44 seconds. France’s Max Alran finished first in 3:07.964. New Zealand’s Tyler Waite was second in 3:08.851 and New Zealand’s Oli Clark was third in 3:11.393.
The run was going well early for Vermette at the top of the course. He had the second-to-last run behind Alran. He had the fastest time in the first split at the time and ended up with the second fastest first split behind Alran.
Shortly after the first split, Vermette entered a slight right-hand corner and he took the inside line to get into a banked left-hand corner. His back tire slid out to the left and Vermette fell softly into the mud. He got back on the bike quickly but lost more time when he had to shake his right glove off and finished the ride with one glove.
Vermette said he took that inside line in practice three times in the same conditions, but he was going slower. On race day, the rut was a little more blown out after the pros and Vermette’s back wheel over the top of the line.
The Durangoan doesn’t have as much experience in the mud as Alran but feels like it’s similar to riding in super loose and dusty conditions. After the crash, he has more of an understanding of what lines to take to avoid sketchy situations.
“I knew if I had a good run, that we're both going to be pretty close in timing,” Vermette said about the battle with Alran. “After I got up the last couple of splits from where I didn't have a mistake, just coming down the run, I was a second quicker than him. So that's pretty cool just to see.”
Vermette will have a chance to bounce back in the second round of the World Cup downhill series in Loudenvielle, France, on June 1.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
