  Mountain Bike World Cup: Downhill, Round 4/6 Les Gets/Haute Savoie, France Saturday, August 10, 1996 Victory for Vouilloz While French riders may never regain the dominance of international downhilling that they enjoyed between 1993-5, they were still good enough to take both men's and women's races at the fourth round of this year's series. What's more, wonder-kids, Nicolas Vouilloz (FRA-GT) and Anne-Caroline Chausson (FRA-Sunn/Chipie) achieved the double in front of an enthusiastic home crowd numbering around 20,000. For Vouilloz (20) the win was especially important. The reigning world champion and world cup title holder had not won a World Cup race this season and, after finishing third in the three earlier world cup downhills, was starting to question his ability to top the podium. "I don't know what to say...it is a great feeling to win here in France," said Vouilloz with a look of relief on his face. The ride that broke his losing streak set a new record on the fast, curving course which had been made less technical reportedly to give international riders a more sporting chance. Vouilloz had made a mess of his semi-final run and so started half way down the field, almost an hour before top seed, Tomi Misser (ESP-Volvo/Kona) began his run. Series leader, Misser, who had won two world cup races so far this season, was not at his best, and finished fourth. But rising US star, Shaun Palmer (USA-Intense Cycles) , starting sixth from last, went close to pipping the Frenchman. "My heart was pounding in my chest," said Vouilloz, who watched the descent of the tatooed snowboard hero live on television in the trackside MTV tent. Palmer (of Palmer Snowboards fame) rode on the limit of control, but was just 0.69 seconds slower at the finish. "My trouble is that I've done no training for this sport. Once I start training, it's gonna be all over," said the bullish American about his prospects for a world cup win. A third placed today boosted Marcus Klaussman (GER-Hot/Chilli) into third overall in the series. With two rounds remaining, both Vouilloz and Klausmann are within 12 points of leader Misser. The outcome of the 1996 world cup series is still in the balance. For Chausson it was business as usual. She took her third win of the series, finishing almost ten seconds ahead of second-placed Mercedes Gonzales (ESP-GT). Kim Sonier (USA), who just this week signed for theVolvo/Cannondale team, impressed her new sponsors with a third place finish. Top US women, Missy Giove (Volvo-Cannondale) and Leigh Donovan (Mongoose) were delayed by crashes. "I had three," said a disgusted Giove. Gonzales, a Spaniard who was brought up in the USA, was pleased to have taken second place, saying, "my main goal today was to go under 5:56, which I did, and after that I didn't mind where I finished." But the women's race belonged exclusively to Chausson. "I think I was faster in training, but my run today was good enough," said Chausson, who now looks almost certain to win the series. -- Paul Skilbeck, Mountain Zone Contributing Writer |
Just the Facts
Crowd: 20,000 Weather: hot, sunny Course conditions: Dry, fast Course Length: 3.1km Drop: 664m Previous record time: 5:21 MTV Speed trap: Scott Sharples, 51.2kph; Karen Van Meerbeeck, 45.2kph Next race: Kaprun, Austria, August 13-14th
Results Men
Women
Men
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