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On Sunday the action turned to the downhill event with the semi-final
run to determine riders start positions (championship points given)
followed by the downhill race itself (full championship points given).
The rain started at quarter to ten on Saturday night and waking
in the morning it was still raining. Practice started at eight and
it was already half past. Time to get breakfast in Fort William
and buy some waterproof overtrousers.
Back at Nevis Range the weather had picked up slightly, it was
no longer raining heavily and the occasional break in the clouds
to the west offered up some hope although looking a few hundred
feet up the hill, the clouds were hiding everything from sight.
Despite the weather the crowds were once again looking good. The
Red Bull DJ was spinning tunes and The Extreme Team were beating
out their rhythmic sounds.
As I went up to the top of the hill on the gondola the weather
was proving to be rather weird…the middle third of the hill was
covered in cloud while the top third was actually clear and bright
with the sun making a very welcome appearance. Already crowds were
lining the top of the course ready for the start of the day's racing.
As the first riders started down on their seeding run the clouds
started lifting with the weather remaining pleasant for the rest
of the racing - I didn't need to buy those overtrousers after all!
Women's semis
Missy Giove (USA) was burning the track with a 12.5 second
lead over her nearest rival second placed Helen Gaskell of Great
Britain - a fantastic result for one of Britain's rising stars.
Third place went to Marielle Saner (SUI), fourth to Vanessa Quin
(NZL) with fifth going to Fionn Griffiths of Great Britain, another
great result.
World Champion Anne-Caroline Chausson appeared to be struggling
with the conditions only managing a sixth. The next placed Brit
was UK Champ. Tracey Moseley, way back in 20th spot.
Men's semis
British expectations were high for this race. Steve Peat had shown
amazing form this year, showing he had fully recovered from the
injury he received to his shoulder in 2001 that had ruined his chances
of taking the DH crown. Steve delivered with a 1.17 second lead
over his archrival of the past few seasons, Nico Vouilloz of France.
Third place went to Chris Kovarik (AUS), fourth to Mickael Pascal
(FRA) and fifth to the superb showman, Cedric Gracia (FRA). Other
UK riders doing well were Rob Warner (10th), Nigel Page (16th) and
Scotland's very own Crawford Carrick-Anderson (20th).
Women's finals
As the course continued to dry out it looked like those who could
manage to clear the remaining muddy sections would likely get the
fastest time.
As the riders came down the hill in reverse order (fastest last)
Tracey Moseley took the leader's seat with a time six seconds slower
than Missy Giove's semi final time. Rider after rider came down
the hill none with a time even approaching Tracey's. Missy was last
down the hill, reportedly speeding hard down the top section, surely
with the title in the bag but a BIG crash relegated her to
fifth position.
Tracey had won - her first World Cup win. A surprise to many after
her semi's run - in reality only building on her previous third
place spots in World Cup events in 2001. Quin (NZL) managed second,
with Jonnier in third. More great news for the Brit fans was Fionn
Griffiths' fourth place and Gaskell's ninth, showing the world the
Brits were on the move! Chausson had a terrible run ending up down
in 19th place, more used to coming first or, very rarely second,
only the next World Cup race will show if this was a one off blip
in her form.
Men's final
After the thrill of a British win in the women's event, all eyes
were on Steve Peat to make it a British double. All the riders were
down with only the final five to go - Gracia, Pascal, Kovarik, Vouilloz
and lastly Peat. Gracia had a great run, taking the lead. Pascal
came down next but couldn't better Gracia's time. Kovarik next and
he was in the finish arena way ahead of schedule 14 seconds ahead
of Gracia - a lead unheard of in Men's World Cup downhill.
It was all down to Peat. Fireworks set off to mark the start of
his run, cheering could be heard from high up the track, then silence.
Something was up. The clock ticked away and still no sign of Peat.
Then he arrived cruising down looking dishevelled and barely pedalling,
his heart not in it. Two big crashes leaving him with no seat, a
broken brake lever and damaged goggles had ruined his chance of
taking the win. A big cheer for the big man as he entered the finish
arena but his disappointment was clear to all.
That meant the final podium line up was Koravik, Gracia and Nathan
Rennie (AUS) tied in second spot with an identical time down to
1/100 of a second, with Nico (FRA) fourth and Pascal fifth. There
was also a great 10th place for GB's Nigel Page, a best ever result
in World Cup DH.
The prize giving ceremony was an amazing event, pipers piping the
victors up to receive their award to a rapturous crowd, especially
for Tracey Moseley, almost in tears and with the Union Jack wrapped
around her - Britain's first female World Cup downhill champion
and surely not the last.
Although Steve Peat hadn't taken the win in the men's event the
crowd celebrated an amazing performance from Kovarik. To be that
far ahead in the condition the course was in showed a near flawless
performance.
Five minutes after the ceremony finished the heavens opened again.
How the organisers had arranged for the rain to hold off as well
as the whole weekend running so well I don't know - roll on next
year!
George Ridge
6/6/2002
Overall impressions
Ups
*A fantastic time, great fun
*Plenty to see and do - from wandering around the pit area talking
to members of the team - everyone from top riders to the support
crew were approachable
*Excellent bike trials demonstrations from Martin Ashton
*Cool tunes pumped out by the Red Bull DJ
*A great vibe, in no small part created by The Extreme Team
*An enthusiastic crowd
*Great for the local economy - I couldn't get a B&B place, everywhere
was fully booked
Downs
*4X seeding should be on separate day
*Should have had tannoys a various stages up the hill to keep
crowd informed of what was happening on the course ie. split times
and times through the finish
*Should have had radar gun to measure riders' speed through fastest
part of track
*Mud - this was the worst thing about the whole event - some infrastructure
is needed to cope with this style of event - properly constructed
paths are a necessity, especially if you are charging for spectators.
The state of the marked out "paths" got to be truly ridiculous by
the end of the weekend. In Scotland, in the summer, bad weather
should have been expected!
*Perhaps there will be money available next year if the event returns
and hopefully it will.
Sponsors
Tissot (main sponsor), Lochaber Enterprise, Forestry Commission,
Nevis Range, SportScotland, The Highland Council, Rare Management,
Santini, Shimano, Red Bull, British Cycling and the UCI.
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