VOL. 56 ISSUE 15 APRIL 16, 2019 P29
world-class obstacles. The
shootout course consisted
of four tests that each rider
would do twice. Former
National Champion Geoff
Aaron laid out four very
challenging tests, with huge
rocks and huge gaps. There
were sections on each
test that required multiple
minders for rider safety.
Each rider had their share of
dabs, fails and cleans in the
Pro Shootout.
On the first test, Niederer
led the group with a clean
run and a three-point run,
while all the other riders had
at least one fail (automatic
five-point penalty) in their
two runs at the section.
On test two, Davis dominated,
recording only one point. Test
three saw Blanc-Gonnet and
Davis fight it out for a tie with two
points each; however, Blanc-
Gonnet cleaned one of his two
runs on the test. Davis continued
his hot streak on test four and
opened up the points gap by
only scoring one point. Davis
followed up his loop-one per-
formance with the best score in
the shootout, while Roper and
Niederer battled to the same
scores. Blanc-Gonnet had a few
struggles and lost significant
points.
Taking day one was Davis, with
Niederer following close behind.
Riding solid all day, the young-
ster, Roper, wrapped up the day
in third. Blanc-Gonnet, ranking
number-two rider in the nation,
fought hard as he rode through
an injury.
After day one, Blanc-Gonnet
confessed that the injury was
more of a mental hindrance than
a physical one and that he should
not have let it get to him like it
did.
Blanc-Gonnet pushed the
injury out of his mind on Sunday
and was on fire, while Davis
struggled to find his form from
the previous day. The roles
were flipped, as Blanc-Gonnet
was leading the group of riders
with two perfect loops with zero
points. Roper and Niederer were
battling at each test. After the
first two loops the overall scores
were very close. Blanc-Gonnet
made up significant ground from
Saturday's struggles. Davis still
led with 24, Nederer with 27,
Blanc- Gonnet with 29 and Roper
with 30.
Loop three had the opportunity
to shake up the podium, Davis
dug deep, and Niederer rode
masterfully. Blanc-Gonnet contin-
ued riding like a man possessed,
trying to get back into contention,
and Roper rode a solid loop to
keep the scores close. After 50
sections, only six points sepa-
rated the riders.
Davis robbed the favorites
to take the win. Niederer took
the second spot and Blanc-
Gonnet pulled off the comeback
to secure the third spot on the
podium. The competition was so
close, after the event each pro
shared the one mistake that, if
they could do it over, could have
given them the win.
Davis said of his win: "I
couldn't be more excited."
Bob Theobald
Alex Niederer gave chase but couldn't catch Davis.
