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Vermette & Shaw Star in Top 6 as Goldstone Retains World Champ Title
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- Vermette & Shaw Star in Top 6 as Goldstone Retains World Champ Title
Asa Vermette came up just short of winning his first elite world championships medal in his first appearance at the big show. Despite the near miss, he says he'll walk away from Val di Sole with his head held high. And deservedly so.
"For sure I had a chance and was so close to the podium today, and, yeah, that's a bummer, but for my first (elite) world championships to be fourth, I'm still stoked with everything," Vermette told Bike Mag in the bustling Val di Sole finish.
Brian Pinelli
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Building on this in all ways possible and feeling good on the bike – I think I'm only gonna get better, so I'm stoked.
The 19-year-old Durango downhiller's fourth-place result came among a deep and talented field of 80 riders on a hot and sun-drenched late afternoon in the Italian Dolomites. The 2024 World Junior Champion nailed the bottom of the iconic Black Snake course, ultimately finishing just eight-tenths of a second out of the medals and 1.5 seconds behind Jackson Goldstone, who stormed to his second straight world title.
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Vermette confidently sent it down the 1.5-mile course with seven top competitors to follow behind him. He was precise, aggressive, and dynamic, and especially quick through the lower sections, approaching the bottom and off the final two jumps. The Colorado kid punched it into second place, only trailing New Zealand's Lachlan Stevens-Mcnab at that point.
Brian Pinelli
"That's how I usually am making up time, for some reason, but I need to work on my first split," Vermette told Bike Mag in the Val di Sole finish.
He was never more than a few hundredths of a second off the pace, but it seemed like a larger chainring could have made a significant difference in the lower splits.
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"Overall, my run was pretty good. It was basically perfect. I just had a couple little stalls that cost me just that little bit of time," he said.
Vermette would have to sit and wait nervously to see if his time of 3:30.293 would hold up for a medal.
Great Britain's Jordan Williams dropped Asa to third place, but he remained in bronze medal contention as the final competitor, Goldstone, left the start. Not surprisingly, the 22-year-old Canadian speed demon electrified the roaring crowd, many cheering from the side of the mountain, blazing into the lead at the fourth and final split, and soaring off the two final jumps en route to victory.
"He ripped it today, and I'm stoked for him," Vermette said about his fellow North American competitor.
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Despite the disappointment, a valiant effort from Vermette, no doubt. He demonstrated power, form, and line choice on the sport's biggest stage, while noting that he also enjoyed the ride.
"Conditions on the course were phenomenal today," Vermette noted, despite periods of overnight rain in the Trentino mountainous region. "That was one of the most fun rides I've done on my mountain bike. I was just flowing and smiling all the way down, so it was a sick one."
Francesco Minghetti/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
Vermette's American teammate Luca Shaw (Canyon Collective Factory Team) finished sixth, a respectable 3.14 seconds behind Goldstone's smoking time, on an overall strong and satisfying day for Team USA, despite missing out on the medals.
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Shaw, 29, was mostly satisfied with his run down the steep and sinuous Black Snake track.
"I'm pretty happy with how I rode the top half, and then I made one mistake, and then tightened up a little bit at the bottom, so I know I left a little bit of time up there," Shaw tells Bike Mag. "Regardless, pretty happy with sixth; it's tied with my best result at Worlds, and on this track, that's really good for me."
The North Carolina resident said he likes his chances moving forward.
"I feel like I've got the speed to mix it up for the win and even on a track where I didn't feel super comfortable all week," Shaw said. "I feel like I built my speed for the race run, and I can be proud of that. Just excited to try and finish the season strong."
Francesco Minghetti/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
"Good performance from Luca – I was cheering him on while sitting on the podium," Vermette said. "We gotta keep that American rivalry going – we had a sick day."
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For the world's premier downhillers, with the Italian world championships now in the books, it's onward to North America for the final two tour stops in Soldier Hollow, Utah, and Whistler, British Columbia.
Vermette – currently second in the UCI World Cup standings, while only trailing Goldstone – appears to be gaining confidence and quickly developing into one of the fastest downhillers in the world. He is capitalizing on a stellar season in which he sped to an unexpected first elite downhill victory in South Korea in May. The North American races beckon with two final opportunities to be fast in 2026.
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This story was originally published by BikeMag on Aug 29, 2026, where it first appeared in the Mountain Bikers section. Add BikeMag as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
