Grouse World Cup DH Results 2003
Cam McRae

Riders awoke to sunny skies and balmy temperatures on Saturday morning and specators were showing some skin. After qualifying the sky began to look daunting but the weather held off for the entire women's field. nsmb team rider Barb Haley has shifted her focus to freeriding but she qualifiied and managed to prove she still belongs with the best in the world finishing an impressive 18th.

Fionn Griffiths of Great Britain took home the gold with an stunning time of 2:17.29 - a time that would have easily qualified her for the men's event.

 


nsmb team rider Barb Haley. Photo - Cam McRae

 

1 Fionn Griffiths GBR 2:17.29
2 Sabrina Jonnier FRA 2:17.92
3 Kathy Pruitt USA 2:19.65
4 Marla Streb USA 2:20.36
5 Missy Giove USA 2:20.55
12 Danika Schroeter CAN 2:25.72
18 Barb Haley CAN 2:40.39
20 Michelle Dumaresq CAN 2:55.64
A complete list of women's results can be found here.

Missy Giove managed to reach the podium wearing a cast on her broken wrist.


Kathy Pruitt dropping in. Photo - David Ferguson

Unfortunately Dustin Adams, Canada's most promising downhiller, was unable to compete after breaking his scaphoid. Dustin was struck by a car on a training ride - reinjuring the wrist he has broken twice before. He healed up fine the previous two occasions but it sounds like surgery is in the cards this time around. We're looking forward to seeing Dustin back on his Giant.

 


Dustin Adams - spectating. Photo Cam McRae

Kyle Guay, another nsmb team rider managed to crack the top 50 after posting a 2:15.01. Kyle is an outstanding lad with tons of potential.

After 45 riders in the men's field had posted their times it began to sprinkle. Sprinkles turned to drops and soon it was a deluge - a little reminder to our vistors that this is actually Canada. Those short shorts and t-shirts no longer seemed like a great idea when the temperature began to drop.

nsmb team rider Kyle Guay. Photo - David Ferguson
Gary Houseman started right when the heavens began to weep and the visibility was still good and he managed to post a 2:06.26 - three seconds faster than his qualifying time. Next up was Jordie Lunn who managed a 2:09.90 only eight tenths slower than his qualifier. Talented riders Jared Rando and Bas Debever, who were next up, weren't so lucky. Caught with their dry weather tires when the rain really started to pelt down they posted times of 2:28 and 2:29 respectively.

Just when things were looking bad they got worse - the clouds rolled in. You would think that things wouldn't be too bad in the trees but most of the photographers were in there trying to keep equipment and bodies dry and when the flashes bounced off the mist the results were blinding. Once riders got out into the final fast section of the course the visibility was even worse and where we were standing riders would disappear into the mist almost as soon as they appeared.

Will Longden riding through the clouds. Photo - David Ferguson
Rider after rider limped through the final sections of the course and the times continued to get slower. Steve Peat was apparently very happy with his run but he was 8 full seconds off the pace as was Cedric Gracia. The second to last rider down the course was Mickael Pascal of France. He went by us looking pretty good but by this point we had given up hope of any fast times. I thought the announcer had made a mistake when he announced a time of 2:08.77. The time stood up though and this was undoubtedly run of the day. The visibility had improved some but the course conditions were at their worst. I rode it later on in the day and it was amazingly snotty so for him to miss the podium by a quarter of a second was nothing short of herculean.


Gary Houseman's lucky day. Photo - David Ferguson

There was no indication that riders deliberately ran slow qualifiers but if you had listened to the weather office or even looked up, a smart rider would have adopted this strategy. As folks mumbled about 'what a shame' this turn of events was my buddy Morgan piped up as he always does. His view was that this is part of the beauty of outdoor sport and that facing the elements is one of the reasons we are drawn to mountain biking rather than bowling or bridge. The usual riders didn't win in the men's field but they will certainly survive and a crop of riders who normally finish mid pack managed to taste the Veuve Clicquot for the first time. It would have been tough to script a more compelling outcome.


A very happy bunch. L to R Colin Bailey, Ivan Oulego Moreno, Gary Houseman, Kirt Voreis and Stuart Thomson
Photo Cam McRae

1 Gary Houseman USA 2:06.26 6 Mickael Pascal FRA 2:08.77
2 Ivan Oulego Moreno ESP 2:06.59 7 Rich Houseman USA 2:08.78
3 Kirt Voreis USA 2:06.94 8 Mathieu Laurin CAN 2:08.83
4 Colin Bailey USA 2:07.77 9 Henry O'Donnell USA 2:08.85
5 Stuart Thomson GBR 2:08.54 10 Andrew Neethling RSA 2:08.96

A complete list of men's DH results can be found here.
Also check out 4X results for men and women.

Cam McRae