Asa Vermette won and lost at the 2025 USA Cycling Gravity Mountain Bike National Championships.
The Durango downhill star finished ninth in the elite men’s downhill national championship at Big Bear Mountain Resort in Big Bear Lake, California, on Saturday. Vermette came into the race as one of the favorites after winning the elite men’s downhill national title last year. However, his speed was still good enough for Vermette to take the junior men 17-18 national title.
“My run was smooth and conservative,” Vermette said in a USA Cycling press release. “I only had two days of rest after Red Bull Hardline and missed the track walk, so I really wasn’t able to learn the track quick enough. I knew the other guys were going to push hard. I’m still stoked to come away with the junior national title, and we’ll just keep learning.”
It was quite the week of travel for Vermette, who became the youngest winner of Red Bull Hardline on July 27 in Dyfi, Wales. He then traveled home to Durango for a few days before leaving for California.
Vermette finished ninth in the elite men’s standings with a final run of two minutes and 51.781 seconds. Ryan Pinkerton took the elite men’s title with a 2:47.838 run, followed Evan Medcalf in second in 2:48.813 and Dakotah Norton in third in 2:49.095.
The 18-year-old Durangoan easily won the junior men 17-18 title, with second-place Bode Burke nearly five seconds back in 2:56.413; Burke finished 15th in the elite men’s standings.
Vermette had the fourth fastest time in the elite men’s standings in the first split and had the fifth fastest time in the second split. He was slower in the third split compared to his competitors and he couldn’t recover in the fourth and final split.
Next up for Vermette is the seventh round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Haute Savoie, France, from Aug. 21-31. Vermette’s father, Josh, said the rising star is really looking forward to the rest of the World Cup schedule as well as the world championships in early September.
Vermette is fourth in the men’s junior downhill World Cup standings and is without a World Cup win this season.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
