It’s wise not to underestimate Asa Vermette’s ability on any downhill course in the world against any competition, and Saturday’s opening round World Cup event was evidence of that.
The 19-year-old downhill star from Durango finished his first men’s elite downhill World Cup race of his career in first at Mona Yongpyong, South Korea, on Saturday. Any questions over whether Vermette’s speed could translate from the junior ranks were quashed.
Vermette used the new venue to his advantage and had a typical Vermette run, building pace throughout the run until he gapped the rest of the field at the bottom. The nerves of dropping into the course last after qualifying first couldn’t stop him. He’ll have some of his idols chasing him in the standings in three weeks in France.
“I’m still at a loss for words,” Vermette said. “It was literally my dream. That was how I dreamt of the first race, and to actually do it was insane. I’m going to think about that for so long.”
Riding with Frameworks Racing, Vermette finished the 1.8-kilometer downhill course in two minutes and 43.301 seconds. Loic Bruni finished second in 2:44.869 and Amaury Pierron was third in 2:45.364.
The Mona Yongpyong course will always be remembered as the place Vermette got his first win. However, Vermette and a lot of the other riders weren’t very impressed with the track during the track walk. It seemed too tight and not very fun. But by the time practice was over, Vermette thought it was one of the most fun tracks he’d ridden. It was super loose, unpredictable and reminded him of home with there only being one line.
Vermette was surprised to qualify first because he didn’t think his run was good enough, and he also had to pass a slow rider, something he hadn’t done in a race since he was 14. Qualifying first made it even more nerve-wracking since it raised his belief in himself.
On his finals run, Vermette was ninth after the first split, but had the second-fastest second split to go over six-tenths up on Bruni. Vermette also had the second-fastest third split to stay six tenths up, before going fastest in the fourth split to increase his gap to 1.3 seconds.
“There was a little mistake up top, and I'm pretty sure I know where I was … and I'm stoked on that, because usually all my first splits are a little slower … So the rest of the run, it was good, but it didn't really feel like I was going that fast riding,” Vermette said. “It was just because I was in what they call a flow state … Then I watched my GoPro back, and I thought, ‘Holy, that was pretty pinned.”’
All of Vermette’s competitors were super stoked that he won and congratulated him at the bottom. Vermette went out to celebrate at dinner with his team with some great Korean food.
Next up for Vermette will be Loudenvielle-Peyragudes in France on May 28-31. Vermette looks to put together a good run after crashing there last year.
Durango’s Bailey Cioppa is in a big year for her development with it being her final season competing in the women’s cross-country mountain biking U-23 level of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.
She showed she’s ready to compete at the front, finishing third in the cross-country Olympic (XCO) race in Mona Yongpyong, South Korea, on Sunday for her first podium of her U-23 career.
Rain overnight made a new XCO course even trickier for the riders as they had to stay on their bike in the mud and get off it to run in some tricky sections. Cioppa’s offseason training with the national team in Bellingham, Washington, with former national champion and coach Jill Kintner, paid off as Cioppa had all the tools in her pocket to get her first podium.
“I’ve dreamt of being on a World Cup podium for so long now, and I knew going into this race that I was so strong,” Cioppa said. “My coach and I focused on being super strong at World Cups. I was a little disappointed with my early-season races, but I knew there was a plan and that I needed to trust my coach. It was such a dream to start the World Cup season like that and hopefully we’ll continue over in Europe.”
Cioppa finished the six laps around the 2.5 km course in 1:13:45. Valentina Corvi won in 1:07:33, and Elina Benoit finished second in 1:11:01.
She felt confident going into the race because of the course’s sustained climbing, something that plays to Cioppa’s strengths. She was excited for the conditions since everyone knew about a week out that it was going to be wet.
“It rained all night, and we started the race in the rain,” Cioppa said. “The first two laps were slippery, but it was all pretty rideable. Around lap 3, the rain stopped, which made the course clump up pretty bad. We ran a lot the last few laps, but it was a typical rainy race. The elite women weren't very happy with how much running was in it, but if you're able to adapt, then it's part of the sport.”
Cioppa started the race in third, but went back and forth between third and fourth for the rest of the race. At the end, she dropped fourth place on the climb and knew she couldn’t celebrate early in the tricky conditions because any mistake could’ve cost her the podium.
On Friday, Cioppa nearly got her first win in the cross-country short track race (XCC), but she collided with another rider with about a minute left and both riders crashed. Cioppa finished the race in 11th, 1:21 behind her close friend and Colorado Mesa rider Makena Kellerman in first.
Christopher Blevins’ World Cup title defense has started with some adversity. After finishing 28th in the men’s elite XCC race in Mona Yongpyong, South Korea, on Friday, Blevins broke his collarbone in a practice crash and couldn’t race in the men’s elite XCO race on Sunday.
“Alright well time for a reset before the season could get going,” Blevins wrote on Instagram on Sunday. “I had a small wash out in training that ended with a broken collarbone. I'll be flying home early tomorrow and getting surgery next week. It's definitely part of the sport, and I've been fortunate to have had many injury free years before this.”
On Friday, Blevins finished one lap down in the men’s elite XCC race behind winner Mathis Azzaro after 12 laps around the 950-meter course.
Blevins had a mediocre start from the front row, was seventh at the start of the first lap. He put his tire in front of the pack in the second lap and started the third lap in fifth.
The Durango champion disappeared in the dust on the climb to start the fourth lap, falling back in the field to 21st at the start of the fifth lap.
There was a massive pack at the front, and all of a sudden, he was up to third at the start of the sixth lap. Blevins fell back down to the back of the massive front group, he was eventually gapped when the group exploded and Blevins didn’t have any pace.
Riley Amos had a strong start to his second men’s elite season, finishing 10th in the men’s elite XCC race in 24:28, 19 seconds behind Azzaro.
Amos had nearly the opposite race as Blevins. He was around 20th for the first 10 laps, but came alive in the final two laps, fighting his way to 14th at the start of the final lap.
The top nine were too far in front of Amos on the final lap, but he beat everyone in the second group to finish 10th.
On Sunday, Amos finished 32nd in the wet and wild conditions. He finished in 1:32:21, 7:45 behind Dario Lillo in first.
Amos had a great start up in fourth in super muddy conditions. He was up to third and was mostly running through the mud in the first part of the lap as he was gapped by 20 seconds by the front two.
Amos was fourth at the start of the second lap, but was passed by Charlie Aldridge into fifth. He was caught by a few in the slippery conditions in the third lap as the gap grew to Lillo. Amos was eighth at the start of the fourth lap, but he dropped down to 15th shortly after and continued to drop as the riders kept running.
“I seem to be ok at riding bikes but I don’t think there was a worse runner on the field yesterday,” Amos wrote on Instagram. “I really love conditions like this and felt good on the bike, but really broke down physically after 3 laps and slipped backwards worse and worse. It was really nice to have a good start and have a taste of being at the front of an elite World Cup but I didn’t have what it took to stay there.”
On the women’s elite side, Durango resident Gwendolyn Gibson finished 14th in the XCO race in 1:32:57, 5:54 behind winner Sina Frei. Former Fort Lewis College cyclist Savilia Blunk finished 13th. Gibson had an even better day on Friday in the XCC race in the dry conditions when she finished sixth in 23:06, six seconds behind Frei in first. Blunk finished 16th.
“In the past my day would have been over before the start line when I saw the rain coming down,” Gibson wrote on Instagram. “But, yesterday I could just smile and make the most out conditions that maybe don’t suit me the best. I’m so proud with my growth as an athlete to be able to show up no matter what and put together a race I can be proud of.”
The cross-country mountain bikers will be back in action in Nové Město na Moravě, Czech Republic, on May 22-24 for Round 2. Fans can watch on HBO Max.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
