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2002 MTB Worlds - CDM
Kaprun, Austria, 24 August - 1 September, 2002
Results Team Relay Cross Country Downhill Four Cross Other events
August 31 - Downhill Live Coverage
Start time: 13:00 CEST
Finish time: 14:30 CEST
Welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of the men's downhill world championships in Kaprun. The men's race was due to start after the women, but due to TV scheduling requirements it has been moved forward to start at 13:00.
It's a beautiful day in Kaprun, like a World Cup ski race with an estimated crowd of 10,000 present. So far, 25 of the 106 riders have made their run, with young Canadian Justin Adams setting the best time of 5.25.32. He knocked Britain's William Longden out of the hot seat, after setting a time of 5.29.73.
13:45 CEST
Steve Peat (GBr) set a fantastic time of 5.09.73 and his time may be the winning
time. Second place is John Waddell (Aus) at 5.17.22 and third is at 5.17.84.
The course is very fast according to Eric Carter (USA). It's dried out from earlier in the week, and is getting faster and faster.
There are 10 riders to go, and Peat is still in the hot seat.
13:53 CEST
Nathan Rennie (Aus) is on his way down, finishing in 5.17.93, fourth best so
far. Still eight riders to come.
13:59 CEST
Jared Graves (Aus) was having a great run, but lost it on a corner halfway down
and lost 10 seconds.
14:03 CEST
Chris Kovarik (Aus) is now on his way, and is 1.7 seconds behind Peat at
the first time check. If he keeps this up he'll ride into second place.
He comes through in 5.13.88 - that's clearly the second best time. The final Australian, Mick Hannah will be next, followed by Spain's Tomas Misser and the three Frenchmen: Nicolas Voullioz, Mickael Pascal and Cédric Gracia.
14:07 CEST
Mick Hannah has started his run, and is a little slower than Kovarik and
Peat, losing 3.5 seconds at the first time check. He rides home in 5.18.34,
only good enough for 6th place.
Tomas Misser is on the course now.
14:11 CEST
Misser is having a smooth run, but is 5.28 seconds behind Peat at the intermediate
time check. He doesn't have the explosiveness that Peat does.
He is pretty clean over the bottom half of the course, and finishes in 5.18. He knocks Hannah out of sixth place.
So with three riders to come, it's still Peat, Kovarik and John Waddell.
14:15 CEST
The first of the three Frenchmen, Nicolas Vouilloz is now on his way down.
He sets a new fast time at the first intermediate check: 1.77 seconds ahead
of Peat at the same point.
He's continuing to increase his margin, and is up by 2.3 seconds. He's riding the tricky second part of the course with great precision.
His time is 5.08.53 - the new fastest time!
14:18 CEST
Vouilloz' compatriot Mickael Pascal starts his run, but will have to have
a super ride to beat Nico.
He's not looking good at the first intermediate, and is five seconds behind Vouilloz. However, he could get a medal if he has a great second half.
Pascal finishes in 5.17.41, which is fifth at the moment.
14:21 CEST
If anyone can beat Vouilloz it's Cedric Gracia, the last man on the course.
He qualified fastest, and is a real daredevil.
Gracia, the "human heart attack" is riding like a wild man. He's really the opposite of Vouilloz. He comes through the split 2.54 seconds behind Vouilloz. It's going to be tough.
Gracia seems to be having trouble with the second part of the course, losing 3.3 seconds at the second time split.
Here he comes - 5.14.50. Fourth place, which means that Vouilloz wins the gold from Steve Peat, and Chris Kovarik takes the bronze medal in 5.13.88.
Results
Provisional 1 Nicolas Vouilloz (Fra) 5.08.5 2 Steve Peat (GBr) 0.01.2 3 Chris Kovarik (Aus) 0.05.4 4 Cedric Gracia (Fra) 0.06.0 5 John Waddell (Aus) 0.08.7 6 Mikael Pascal (Fra) 0.08.9 7 Oscar Saiv (Spa) 0.09.3 8 Nathan Rennie (Aus) 0.10.4
