Durango’s Asa Vermette’s men’s junior downhill world championship defense in Champéry, Switzerland, on Saturday didn’t come down to his speed. It came down to a flat tire.
Vermette was the fastest rider through the first few splits with only Max Alran, Tyler Waite and Oli Clark still to ride. Then disaster happened when Vermette’s rear tire went flat near the end of the run. He lost all of his speed as he crossed the finish line.
The 18-year-old star downhill rider finished in three minutes and 7.823. Max Alran won the world championship in 3:00.78; Waite finished second in 3:03.794 and Till Alran finished third in 3:04.257.
“The whole weekend was pretty sick and track was sick,” Vermette said. “I was feeling good on the track; it was super steep. Champéry was definitely ripping. It rained on quali day and I ended up getting fourth in qualifying because I didn't want to get hurt for that race today. It was pretty gnarly so I took it easy. In the race, I was feeling good and was looking pretty good, but I got a flat that slit the sidewall of my tire.”
Usually a slow starter, Vermette was on it from the beginning of his run and was 0.684 seconds up on Till Alran after the first split. He increased that lead to 0.802 seconds after the second split. The flat tire happened in the third split and Vermette still led by 0.504 seconds. His pace really fell off at the end as he was 1.159 seconds down on Till Alran.
Vermette enjoyed the sunny conditions and the dirt at Champéry after rain on the previous few days. It was one of the steeper tracks that Vermette has competed on and he enjoyed the berms; it reminded him of some of the steep stuff he grew up riding in Durango.
It’s impossible for Vermette to know if he would’ve had the pace to defend his title. He was feeling good, but so many things can happen during the run without flat tires. Vermette knows the 2025 world championship isn’t the end of the world as he has a long career ahead of him.
The Durangoan is excited for the rest of the World Cup. However, he tweaked his shoulder in a test ride early this week and hasn’t rode since.
“Hopefully I'll be good enough to race Lenzerheide … next weekend, but other than that I've been feeling good on the bike and I want try to get a win or two before the end of the season,” Vermette said.
The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup will return on Sept. 18 in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
Durango resident Cole Paton was also in Switzerland for the cross-country marathon world championships in Valais. On Saturday, Paton finished 18th in 6:15:36.5.
Fellow Life Time Grand Prix rider Keegan Swenson won the world title after he finished the 77.67-mile course in 6:01:44.3. Italy’s Samuele Porro finished in second in 6:02:10 and Héctor Leonardo Páez Leon from Columbia finished in third in 6:05:27.2.
Paton was inside the top 20 for most of the race and was as high as 13th about 2.5 hours in, according to the timing splits.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
