The Loudenvielle, France, UCI Downhill World Cup course hasn’t been kind to Durango’s Asa Vermette recently, and that includes the 19-year-old’s run in Round 2 of men’s elite on Sunday.
Vermette crashed out of his men’s junior downhill race at Loudenvielle last year, and Vermette didn’t cross the finish line on Sunday either. The painful part for Vermette (other than the crashes) is that every split Vermette has completed during a final run at Loudenvielle has been green, meaning he’s been the fastest rider.
“I have no idea why I can’t get all the way,” Vermette said. “I really like the track. It seems like it would be a really good track for me … I just never finish a run.”
After crashing in the first qualifying session, Vermette was fastest in the second qualifying session, but this still put him as one of the earlier starters, with the fastest from the first qualifying session going second.
Vermette was 0.275 seconds up after the first split, 0.789 seconds up after the second split and 2.277 seconds up after the third split. Then, Vermette went into a section he’d struggled with all weekend. He went too fast through an off-camber corner, hit a pad right near the middle of the line, which got him out of control, crashing him into the timing pad and into a wired fence, saving him from falling off a cliff.
Durango’s downhill dude said he’s fine, but is just bummed that he crashed on a good run.
“The track changed so much over the weekend,” Vermette said. “I came into a rut, it wasn’t there anymore, and I slid out … being in elite is a lot different now … if you go to a little series in the U.S., like a national series, it’s crazy how the track is destroyed (in World Cup men’s elite). Normally, there’s a couple of fast dudes in a good line, and now every dude’s on that good line, and then they’re just destroying it.”
Next up for Vermette is Round 3 in Saalfelden Leogang, Salzburgerland, Austria, on June 14. Vermette said it’s a track he likes.
Check out Vermette’s run in the video down below, with his run starting 42 seconds in.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
