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Vermette wins World Cup race on qualifying time, Blunk gets two top-10 finishes

Riders competed in Haute-Savoie, Les Gets, France, last weekend
Durango's Asa Vermette rides down the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Men's Junior Downhill track in Les Gets, Haute-Savoie, France, in qualifying on Friday. The race on Saturday was canceled due to incoming weather so Vermette won with his top qualifying time. (Photo by Nathan Hughes)

It wasn’t a conventional victory for Durango’s Asa Vermette. The teenager downhill superstar has been fantastic in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Men’s Junior Downhill series with two wins to start the season.

In the fifth round this past weekend in Les Gets, Haute-Savoie, France, Vermette qualified first in tricky conditions. Conditions were expected to be really bad so the men’s junior race was called off so the men’s elite race could happen before the bad weather came in. Therefore, the qualifying times the riders set on Friday determined the race finishing order which made Vermette the winner.

“It definitely was a bit of a bummer not to race on race day,” Vermette said. “The weather seemed like it was going to be pretty gnarly and it was when the pros were racing, when we would have racing. I would have been stoked to race in the mud and then it cleared up for a couple hours. Qualifying went well, it was not the best run I've ever had, but it was surprisingly good enough. I'm stoked I came out on top.”

Qualifying was bone dry, according to Vermette. This made things worse for when all the rain came because the course then turned into a slip and slide.

Vermette barely beat out France’s Max Alran in qualifying. He ripped down the 2.38-kilometer downhill track in three minutes and 31.016 seconds, Alran was right behind with a 3:31.091. Vermette now leads Alran in the standings by 23 points with three rounds to go. This is a slim margin with the winner receiving 60 points and second place receiving 50 points.

“The course was sick,” Vermette said. “It was a mix between high speed and slower, technical stuff. There was everything in it. There were some pretty decent jumps at the bottom half. Halfway down, it was pretty fast in the trees and you were holding insides and whipping. It was a fun course, the top section was a big grassy field you rip down … It was the most fun track I've done all year.”

Vermette separated his AC joint in his shoulder a few weeks ago at the World Cup event in Val di Sole and let it recover before Les Gets. He said it didn’t hold him back at all.

Next up for Vermette is the downhill national championships in three weeks in Rock Creek, North Carolina. Vermette will be racing in the men’s pro category.

Durango resident Savilia Blunk continued her steady form with two seventh-place finishes, one in women’s elite cross-country short track (XCC) on Friday and the other seventh-place finish in women’s elite cross-country Olympic (XCO) on Sunday.

On Friday, Blunk finished the eight laps around the 1.07 km XCC course in 20:17. Winner Alessandra Keller finished in 19:50.

Like in downhill for Vermette, conditions were slippery and muddy for competitors in women’s and men’s elite races. Blunk slipped on a supper muddy descent in the XCO race but was able to recover quickly.

In women’s elite XCO, Blunk finished seventh with a time of 1:34:34 after seven laps around the 3.5 km XCO track. Puck Pieterse finished first with a 1:29:12.

It was a lonely finish for Blunk as her nearest competitor to her as she crossed the line was 17 seconds behind.

With her consistency in both XCC and XCO, Blunk moved up to fourth overall in the women’s elite standings as she now turns her focus toward the Olympics in a few weeks in Paris.

“Suffer fest in Les Gets yesterday, not great feelings but I really loved these conditions,” Blunk wrote on Instagram. “Just enough grip to make you think you have it under control but also keep you on your toes, dancing on ice. A little bit of fine-tuning now then we’re off to the Olympics! Thanks for all the support and cheers out there!”

One name that was absent from the top of the results was Durango’s Riley Amos. He’s dominated the men’s U-23 class but took some time off to be with his family on July 4th.

Durango’s Christopher Blevins did compete at Les Gets and finished 15th in the men’s elite XCC and 16th in the men’s elite XCO.

On Friday, Blevins finished with a 21:52 in the XCC race after 10 laps around the 1.07 km short track. He finished 24 seconds behind winner Alan Hatherly.

Then Blevins finished the XCO race on Sunday with a time of 1:27:10 for 16th place after eight laps around the 3.5 km XCO track. Hatherly won the XCO race with a time of 1:23:14.

In the women’s U-23 XCO race on Sunday, Lauren Aggeler finished 53rd one lap down. Bailey Cioppa finished 58th and two laps down.

Both Aggeler and Cioppa said they struggled in the muddy conditions because it’s not what they’re used to.

“My race wasn't awesome,” Cioppa said. “The course was amazing. But when it dumps rain the night before you really have to switch your mindset and maybe your tires. It was a hard race for me, but I've learned a lot and I’m hoping to take that into the next few World Cups and just my career racing.”

Cioppa also finished 37th in XCC on Friday in very dry conditions. Cioppa will be in Bear Creek, Pennsylvania for the USA Cycling MTB National Championships from July 17-21.

Aggeler said it was frustrating to have sunny, dry conditions all week until Saturday when the storm hit and made the track very muddy.

She said she handled the muddy conditions better than she did in Crans-Montana and Aggeler now feels better about racing in the mud.

“The weekend was pretty good,” Aggeler said. “I wanted more. If it was dry, I could have had a way better performance, just because my fitness was there but the skills were lacking a little bit. The European girls were just so good at that. It was a great way to end the trip. I was in Europe for five weeks, I can't complain.”

Aggeler said she lost the most time in the start. She was in the back of the pack because she didn’t qualify for XCC and XCC helps determine a rider’s starting position in XCO. She also said she wasn’t as confident on the muddy descents as the European girls which lost her time.

Like Cioppa, Aggeler’s next event is the USA Cycling MTB National Championships from July 17-21.

bkelly@durangoherald.com