AMIEL’S SUPER SUGAR MOUNTAIN!!

(August 2, 2007) Giant Mountain Bike Team Gravity expert Amiel Cavalier claimed first place in the Men’s Pro Super D at the National Mountain Bike Series Race #6 in Sugar Mountain NC over the July 27-29 weekend.

Amiel not only won the Super D event with a time of 5:25, he also defeated Adam Craig, his team mate and newly-crowned Super D US National Champion. Amiel’s margin of victory over Adam was a mere :02 seconds! Read below for a Q & A with Amiel on his recent achievements.

Team mate Carl Decker placed 8^th in the Super D, :36 seconds behind Amiel.

Amiel also was on the podium in 2^nd place in the Men’s Pro Dual Slalom. Team mate Jared Rando came in 3^rd. And in the Men’s Pro DH race, Amiel placed 4^th, just :05 seconds behind first place finisher Cole Bangert.

In other action at Sugar Mountain, Kelli Emmett took third place in the Women’s Pro Super D. In the Men’s Pro Short Track, Adam Craig was 2^nd, and Carl Decker 6^th.   And in the Pro Men’s XC, Adam Craig placed third behind 1^st place finisher Jeremiah Bishop and 2^nd place winner Geoff Kabush. Giant’s Carl Decker placed 8^th in the event.

For the XC race, the course was super-saturated after 2 days of rain. And the rain began falling again about forty-five minutes before the start of the event—and it continued throughout the race. For a Team Giant Report from Adam Craig, go to www.ridelife.net

We asked Amiel, normally a Gravity guy, to explain his sudden surge in the Super D:

Giant: So what’s with you and the Super D now??

Amiel: I figure it's really good training for DH. It’s fun! I have been very lucky though, North Carolina and Deer valley, where there has been a lot more down than up! I raced a Super D in Colorado and got smoked! There was a lot of up hill and it was mass start which makes it even more difficult.

Giant: You beat the US National Champion in Super D by 2 seconds!!  How did THAT feel?  And how did Adam take it?

Amiel: HAHA!! It was pretty good to pip Adam; it’s good for morale having a bit of trash talk between the team about the Super D between Carl, Adam and I! I have heard the Super D in aspen is going to be a tough one which will be hard, but fun! I'm sure Adam would have been like, "that sneaky little punk!"

(Editor’s note: Adam talks about this bit of “friendly competition” in his blog, which can be found at www.ridelife.net )

Giant: You were second in the Dual Slalom and fourth in the DH. How were the courses?

Amiel: The Slalom course was very long--about 40 seconds. It was a great course; just very tiring. It was a well-made course with some "old school" flat corners which are really good to see. I was having a few problems in the DH; it was the same course as last year and I kind of struggled there last year as well. I had a very bad qualifier making a lot of mistakes. In the final I got my head in the right spot and really put it together in the wet, slippery, rocky, root-y sections and was having a great run. Towards the finish I slipped off the course on a tight traverse costing me a lot of time. I was just really happy to turn my riding around as I just wasn’t feeling good on the bike. But all in all, I am really happy with my results from the weekend.

Giant: Just 5 days before you raced at Sugar Mountain, you were at the Whistler Crankworx Festival, riding the Garbanzo Enduro DH – and you suffered a nasty crash that was caught on tape!! (Editor’s Note: see Amiel’s Crankworx spill at: http://littermag.com/features/crankworx07/amielvideo/1.php)

Amiel: The course was very wet and very technical with lots of root sections and steep rock faces. I was really trying hard in my race and was riding well. I wanted to give it my all; I rode great for 90% of the course. It was very easy to crash on the slippery roots and I don’t think there were many people who didn’t crash.

I went and got checked out at the Medical Clinic and got x-rays on my Sternum which turned out to be just bruised and my head had just a mild concussion turned out. I am very lucky. It was jut a one run thing so there were no qualifiers or seeding runs.

Giant: Back to Sugar Mountain…which Giant bikes did you ride in which events, and how did they perform for you?

Amiel: In the Super D I was torn between my Slalom bike (Trance) or my DH bike (Glory DH). I felt like I needed to spend more time on my DH bike, so that’s what I rode. I thought I would suffer a lot more, but it worked out really well! In the Slalom, I used the Trance, built into light but strong parts with some grippy Michelin tires for the loose, off-camber turns. It works great for that event.

Below are more photos from Sugar Mountain, taken by MTB Team manager Elke Brutsaert.