May 9/04 8:55 am - Lisboa Downtown Downhill: Photos, Story and Results

Posted by Editoress on 05/9/04
 

Lisboa Downtown Downhill Lisbon, Portugal
Courtesy organizer (Gesport Comunicacao)

Photos

A sunny day, a big audience and the world's best downhill athletes performing in the historic neighborhood, made for an exciting afternoon at the Lisboa Downtown. The British biker Steve Peat was for the 3rd time the King and France's Anne-Caroline took her first title as Queen.

Early in the morning the bikers began training on the circuit, surprising many tourists in the area. The first to drop out of the competition was Nolvenn Le Caer, second in the world female ranking. She did try, but was unable to compete due to an injury suffered 3 days before during training. All the other bikers were up to the task.

Adrenaline went up at 14:00h when the Portuguese rider André Beato started the race. From this moment on, bikes began to race downwards amazingly, meandering in the small streets and stairs of Alfama, while the audience became steadily larger and more enthusiastic.

Cedric Gracia, winner of the first edition of the Lisboa Downtown in 2000, set the semi-final record for the men. The French biker went down the 1000m course in 1:39.097 and none of the following riders could break his time. Only one second separated the four best qualified from the semi-final. Mick Hannah (AUS) was 2nd, David Vazquez (ESP) 3rd and Steve Peat (GBR) 4th. From the 48 competitors of the semi-final, only the top 30 qualified for the final.

13 women started, with 10 proceeding to the next round. Multiple world champion Anne Caroline (FRA) dominated the semi-final with a time of 1:50.291, 4 seconds faster than Helen Gaskell (GBR). Anneke Beerten (NED) took 3rd. In the final the fastest was, once again, Anne Caroline, this time with 1:47.103, winning for the first time Lisboa Downtown. The big surprise came from Anneke Beerten. She took 2nd and Helen Gaskell was the 3rd fastest.

Meanwhile, the Alfama course was crowded and red-hot, as the men began their runs. The riders had saved their best rides for the final, with all the top riders beating their previous times. Steve Peat took the lead after recording 1:35.962. The remaining 3 riders, Vazquez, Hannah and Gracia did their best to beat his time, but couldn't manage it, with Mick Hannah taking 2nd and Gracia 3rd. David Vazquez, number one in the world downhill ranking was 4th, and world champion Greg Minnaar (RSA) couldn‚t manage more than 7th place, in his first outing for Honda.