Rockwell

Myles Rocks DH Well
Sierra Nevada, Spain: June 10, 2000
[Results]   [Anne-Caroline Chausson Interview]

Anyone who thought that the French had a monopoly on winning the downhill should have flown to the World Championships this week in Spain, to watch Colorado's Myles Rockwell (USA, Team Giant) edge out Steve Peat (GBR, Team GT) by a half-second on the high-altitude rocks of Sierra Nevada. It marked a pinnacle of U.S. downhill racing and the high point of Rockwell's decade-long career.

While Anne-Caroline Chausson (FRA, Volvo-Cannondale) won the senior women's downhill, another American, Kathy Pruitt, lit up the slopes of the Junior downhill race by winning America's second gold medal of the day. Dual's Brian Lopes (USA, Volvo-Cannondale) couldn't make it three though, losing to Aussie Wade Bootes (Trek-Volkswagen) in the finals of that sport's exciting Worlds debut.

Men's Downhill:
Myles knew that his Saturday was going to be at least different when he woke up and saw the entire mountain covered in snow from a freak storm. "I didn't even take one practice run," he said. "I didn't want to get all muddy and ruin my confidence, so I went to the race pit area and watched TerraFirma 6 and GP motorcycle qualifying."

But the night before, the man known as Smyles knew his day would be special. "My dad told me years ago that when I finally decided to win one of these things, I would. And last [Friday] night I decided to."

As it was, Rockwell had already achieved something impressive by qualifying third fastest in Thursday's seeding run, behind only Bas DeBever (NED, Be-One) and top-qualifier Steve Peat (GBR, Team GT). "I just wanted to take the lead when I came down the mountain, and I knew I'd at least be on the podium," he added.

So after Cédric Gracia (FRA, Volvo-Cannondale) sat in the hotseat for a record-setting hour-and-a-half before finally being bumped by Gerwin Peters (NED, Be-One) and teammate Mickael Pascal (FRA, Be-One), Rockwell came across the finish and took the lead by just .67 of a second. And that was with just two more to go.

With three minute intervals between top qualifiers, Rockwell had a couple minutes to celebrate his run and explain that it wasn't an exceptional run, but a good one. He then sat watching, as reporters told him where to look on the mountain at what time to see if someone was on pace to beat him. First De Bever hit landmarks a second off, letting him breath easier for a minute.

	Peat

Then Peat, who was the favorite for the course (Nicolas Vouilloz (FRA, Vouilloz Racing Team) only qualified 5th-fastest), came down with the same split time, and hit all the landmarks at exactly the same time that Rockwell had. Rockwell was squirming in his seat, wondering if all this time, two broken legs and tons of emotion would finally be justified with the biggest win of his life.

It was, as Peat missed his time by just .57 of a second, making Rockwell the sport's newest senior downhill champion and breaking Vouilloz's incredible four year winning streak in this category. It also gives the USA its first men's senior downhill rainbow jersey since 1993 when Mike King (USA, Haro/Lee Dungarees) won it in Metabief, France.

Peat ended in second, with Pascal in third — setting the Worlds three-person podium. But in fourth was Peters and fifth, Mr. Consistency, Eric Carter (USA, Team GT) finished just 1.55 seconds off the pace. It is quickly being called the greatest men's downhill race ever.

Women's Downhill:
Anne-Caroline Chausson (FRA, Volvo-Cannondale) wasn't exactly the favorite for this year's race, strange as that may seem. She's seemed distracted lately and was also committed to racing in the dual — plus she qualified fifth-fastest in Thursday's qualifying behind top woman Marla Streb (USA, Yeti).

But A-C is nothing if not professional and determined, so she pulled out all the stops and, even though she hates this course and others like it (especially ones at altitude), bore down the mountain to win over Katja Repo (FIN, Team GT) by just 1.1 seconds. It marks the 8th-straight rainbow jersey for this French phenomenon as she continues to amaze as the sport's single most dominant athlete.

For the Americans, Marla Streb provided the race's bright spot, as she proved she's no qualifying specialist and increased her speed in the finals enough to finish third for the bronze medal and a spot on the podium. Marla is confident that she'll win a big race soon, maybe even in the next month and we wouldn't count her out. This race marks her first World's medal, after her previous best sixth-place finish in ÅÅre, Sweden last year.

Elke Brutsaert (USA, Schwinn/Toyota) also had a great race for fourth after spending some time in the leader's chair, while Sabrina Jonnier (FRA, Team GT) rounded out the traditional top-five listings. Missy Giove (USA, Foes/Azonic) crashed hard in her run and only finished ninth, while Leigh Donovan (USA, Schwinn/Toyota) also crashed and finished a distant 17th.

Dual:
After an inspirational downhill awards ceremony where Rockwell and Pruitt had the American national anthem played twice (such a rarity at Worlds), it was time for nearly 15,000 spectators to move over to the nearby dual course, fill the grandstands and hillside and watch the first-ever running of this new Worlds discipline.

Brian Lopes (USA, Volvo-Cannondale), with years of experience and the '98 World Cup title, was the odds-on favorite for the win even though Wade Bootes (AUS, Trek-Volkswagen) qualified faster and thus got lane choice in the important final run — assuming they both made it that far. They did, and met up in one final heat for the jersey, both of these BMX stars (Lopes is retired from BMX, Bootes is still racing) ready to spin the pedals and get the holeshot into the first critical turn.

Bootes made it there first and, in the course design's only real flaw, effectively ended the heat and shut out Lopes until the end — even though they were within meters of each other. Then minutes later Mickael Deldycke (FRA, Taillefer) beat Sean McCarroll (AUS, Team Giant) in the men's consolation round for third place.

Women's dual racing was less eventful, as Chausson surprised no one by winning her second rainbow jersey of the day (another first) by beating Tara Llanes (USA, Subaru-Specialized) in a close final run. Tara is a honch rider in her own right, with a World Cup win under her belt. But she was no match for Chausson's power and conceded the win with style.

The women had 16 contestants and thus fewer brackets to work through, but women like Sabrina Jonnier (FRA, Team GT), who beat Sari Jorgensen (SUI, Tomac/Manitou) in the consolation round, were jumping high over the doubles and keeping things exciting for the women as well as the men.

—Ari Cheren, soaking in the stars and stripes on this auspicious occasion for MountainZone.com