One of Durango’s top-up-and-coming mountain bikers continued to show his speed at the global level at his first World Cup race.
Seventeen-year-old Asa Vermette took care of business last weekend at Fort William, Scotland at the UCI Men’s Junior Downhill World Cup, winning by six seconds over a field of riders from around the world.
Vermette finished the 3-kilometer downhill track in 4 minutes and 10.55 seconds riding for Frameworks Racing. New Zealand’s Luke Wayman finished second with a time of 4:16.64.
“The race was rad,” Vermette said. “It was sick to be at my first World Cup where I've always been watching obviously. It was rad to be there. It was absolutely insane to be able to ride with all the dudes I've always watched on TV.”
Vermette loved the atmosphere at Fort William for the men’s junior race which he said felt like a pro race. He said his goal during the race was to have a super smooth run which would result in a fast time. Vermette thought it was possible to win by six seconds but it wasn’t his goal.
The Durangoan started his ride up 0.378 seconds on Wayman after the first section. Vermette then put in a phenomenal second section and went up 2.364 seconds on Wayman. Vermette said he could’ve gone faster in the top sections if it was an elite race but he wanted to be as smooth as he could.
In the third section, Vermette pulled out an even bigger gap of 4.519 seconds and had a gap of 5.236 seconds after the fourth section before crossing the finish line.
“I figured out that I had the fastest time from when you're entering the woods, when you leave like the gravelly stuff and get into the dark dirt in the woods, all the way past the road gap,” Vermette said about the third to fourth section. “I had the fastest time out of the pros on that section.”
Vermette’s next race is in Poland next weekend. However, Vermette and his crew ran into trouble in London when their van with their bikes in it was stolen.
Fortunately, Vermette should have a race bike for his next race in Poland, according to his father Joshua.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
