Anne-Caroline Chausson wins double titles; Vouilloz, Lopes win theirs. The cross-country titles are down to the wire.
Mountain bike racing has seen one of its most significant dominances in history. When it comes downhill racing, no one can match Anne-Caroline Chausson or Nicolas Vouilloz’s claims. Each added another page to the resumes of their respective teams at the World Cup downhill event in Leysin (Switzerland), on the first weekend September.
Brian Lopes also added another title to his remarkable record.
LOPES & CHAUSSON TAKE TILES IN THE DUAL
Anne-Caroline Chausson and Brian Lopes won the World Cup Dual finals in Leysin (Switzerland), ending an extraordinary year. Lopes won this event for the seventh time in eight World Cup Dual events and easily took the Dual title.
Lopes’ final run was even more dramatic than the title decision. Lopes won the title because Michael Deldycke (a relative newcomer on the World Cup circuit), crashed in the final showdown. Cedric beat Peter Joch to win the consolation round. Cedric finished third overall and second for the day, while Joch came in fourth. Wade Bootes, the World Champion, crashed out just before reaching the final four. However, he finished third overall for the year.
Anne-Caroline Chaussons’ win seemed just as certain as that of Lopes. At the second World Cup Dual race of the year, she won her first World Cup Dual race. This event has been as dominant as the downhill for her since then. A-C had, reportedly, already won the title by the time Leysin arrived. The coronation was not complete without Tara Llanes’ win in the finals.
DUAL MEN FINALS
1. Brian Lopes.Volvo/Cannondale
2. Michael Deldycke
3. Cedric Gracia..Volvo/Cannondale
4. Peter Joch
Overall title: Brian Lopes
WOMENS FINALS
1. Anne-Caroline ChaussonVolvo/Cannondale
2. Tara LlanesSubaru/Specialized
3. Sari Jorgensen.Tomac
4. Lisa SherFoes/Azonic
Title overall: Anne-Caroline Chausson
VOUILLOZ & CHAUSSON WIN TILES; GRACIA WINS A FINAL
Nicolas Vouilloz & Anne-Caroline Chausson extended the remarkable streak of championship titles they have had as the fast French duo won the World Cup Downhill title for 2000.
Surprisingly Cedric Gracia beat Vouilloz, but could not overtake him in Anne-Caroline Chausson’s downhill finals in Leysin. This was Gracia’s first downhill World Cup win in 1998. But for Anne-Caroline it was business as usual.
This event did not affect the World Cup downhill series title chases 2000. Nicolas Vouilloz, who reportedly had problems on his final run at the top of the hill and ended up finishing second here, had won the year-end title. Chausson was also in contention.
The downhill race was shortened to 3.9km due to heavy rains on the morning. More rain continued throughout the day.
Anne-Carolines’ finals performance was particularly impressive, as Leigh Donovan finished 40 seconds behind the flying French champion. The rest of the women finished less than a minute behind Chausson.
American men did not make it to the podium. Myles Rockwell, the world champion, did not complete his final run due to difficulty on the course. For those wondering what happened to Brian Lopes, the downhill legend skipped this year’s race to focus on dual-slalom events. This decision was evidently a wise one, considering his success in this arena.
The UCI moved on to the shores at Lake Geneva for cross-country finals, where the Word Cup XC Series would conclude.
Final Results:
1. Cedric Garcia (FRA), in 2. Nicolas Vouilloz (FRA)at 3. Mickael Pascal, FRA (at 9.83
4. Kristian Eriksson, SWE (12.32)
5. Mickael Deldycke, FRA at 20.13
Nicolas Vouilloz, overall title
Womens Downhill Results:
1. Anne-Caroline Chausson (FRA) in 2. Leigh Donovan (USA), at 40.8 seconds.
3. Celine Gros (FRA) at 4. Missy Giove, USA at 5. Sabrina Jonnier, France (USA) at 5.
MEIRHAEGHE and FULLANA WIN CROSS COUNTRY FINALS. BUT MARTINEZ & BLATTER WIN TITLES
The 2000 World Cup season was ended in Lausanne (Switzerland) with rain and mud making it difficult for riders and their bikes. However, the most important race of the year was still ahead. Three weeks before the Olympics, many of mountain biking’s most prominent stars, such as Alison Dunlap, Paola Pezzo and Tinker Juarez, decided to skip the World Cup finals in order to better prepare for the Olympic events. Other racers showed up, but they kept their best efforts under wraps to avoid getting too tired before the final race in Sydney, Australia.
Barbara Blatter, a Swiss woman, stated that she intended to ride only two laps before pulling out. But once the race began, she found herself in the lead with Margarita Fullana, a world champion from Spain, close behind. Barbara decided to continue the race and win the race, but other women in it had different plans. Blatter was beaten by Fullana late in the race. Unfortunately, her legs gave way, and she was able to pass three more women. Fullana won the race with Elsbeth Vink second, Hedda Zur Putlitz third, Sabine Spitz fourth, and Blatter fifth.
Blatter won the World Cup title for the Year, but she took home the greater prize. Ironically, she had made a decision earlier in the year not to worry about the World Cup title. She had also skipped the North American rounds. In the final standings, Alison Dunlap, Alison Sydor (15th) after having brake problems and Margarita Fulana (4th) were the top finishers for the year.
WOMENS CROSS-COUNTRY FINALS
1. Margarita Fullana.Subaru/Specialized
2. Elsbeth VinkSubaru/Specialized
3. Hedda Zu PutlitzBe One
4. Sabine SpitzGermany
5. Barbara BlatterScott (Switzerland)
Overall title: Barbara Blatter
MENSXC FINALS
The men’s finals were dominated by a heavy downpour. It made it very muddy for them. These conditions have traditionally favored Thomas Frischknecht of Switzerland, who led for some time, but Filip Meirhaeghe of Germany, another great mud-rider, won the race later on. They fought back and forth but Meirhaeghe eventually took the lead and won, while Frischknecht finished second. He was disappointed that he hadn’t won at least one race since the World Cup series started. Roel Paulissen from Belgium came third, while Miguel Martinez from France was fourth.
Miguel’s performance was good enough to earn him the World Cup title. Bas van Dooren, Christophe Dupouey and Christophe Dupouey were his closest competitors for the title. They took 20th and 35th, respectively. Some of the men appeared to be saving their strength for next year’s Olympics, just like the women. Most people don’t hear much about mountain biking racing outside the mountain bike community until they see it on the Olympic telecast. A World Cup title or race win is huge for mountain biking. However, being on the Olympics will get a racer worldwide with more than a billion viewers. It also earns a rider a place on the history books. Cadel Evans, an Australian Olympic favourite and defending World Cup champion, finished in a relaxed 17th place, despite showing during the summer that he is capable of annihilating the competition at the World Cup level.
Miguel Martinez, who won the World Championships earlier in the year and got a bronze medal at the 1996 Olympics, was the overall champion of this year. He is also the odds-on favorite to win the Olympic gold. This will be his year, at least within the mountain biking community.
MENS Cross-Country FINALS
1. Filip MeirhaegheSubaru/Specialized
2. Thomas FrischknechtRitchey/Yahoo
3. Roel PaulissenGT
4. Miguel Martinez.Full Dynamix
5. Thomas DietschBianchi
Miguel Martinez
