February 19, 2007 (Valparaiso, Chile) – Racers took to the cobblestone streets of this UN heritage site yesterday to decide the winner of the Copa Contrapedal Urban downhill race in Valparaiso, Chile. Riders dodged the hundreds of wild dogs, thousands upon thousands of screaming fans, and random drivers who chose to ignore police warnings.

Out of the 60 riders that qualified, 30 moved on to the finals. Cedric Gracia (FRA) Commencal blazed his way down the course to a time of 1 minute and 22 second, firmly securing the win. Chilean rider Oscar Yunge managed to hold on long enough to ride into second place and whipped the crowd into a frenzy for the flying Frenchman.

Upon working his way to the podium, Gracia was liberated of all clothing but his boxers, and actually managed to start a riot for his jerseys. Chileans seem to love downhill racing, and came out in droves to support their favorite riders, local or not.

“I’m just happy to get down the course in one piece,” Canada’s Jeff Beatty said after the race. “It was crazy. I want to come back next year.

Gracia agreed, saying that, “The race went really good, the people are really [****ed] up here. It’s like racing WRC, you jump and don’t know where you are going to land until people move out of the way. It’s crazy, they just want to touch you, dogshit on the streets and lots of pedaling. Super crowd and a lot of hot girls. My first run went ok, my legs hurt so bad I couldn’t pedal and wasn’t fast at all.”

“The second run was really good, I pedal in the strategy points, people are so crazy in the steep part. People were almost in the middle of the road and then the dogs show up. It was unbelievable. I almost ate it on the last corner in front of Van Dine. It was fantastic I hope we come back. Maybe twice more people were here than in one World Cup DH, and we’re in Chile. It’s crazy,” he added.

“People are crazy here, they fight to have a pair of socks. I gave away everything and just go home in my underwear and I was holding on to it to make sure I didn’t lose it as well as there was a lady… and she wanted my underwear!”

Results

1. Cedric Gracia (FRA) Commencal, 1:22.41
2. Oscar Yunge (CHILE) Oxford, 1:24.73
3. Lars Sternberg (USA) Fluidride, 1:24.84
4. Sanjay Shanbag (USA) Unattached, 1:26.41
5. Antonio Leiva (CHILE) Fusion, 1:26.98
6. Sabastian Vasquez (CHILE) Cannondale, 1:27.08
7. Ignacio Rojo (CHILE) Cannondale, 1:27.61
8. Chris Van Dine (USA) Cannondale the Cut, 1:28.16
9. Martin Flano (CHILE) Mcdonald Giant, 1:29.32
10. Mauricio Jordan (BOL) Unattached, 1:29.62
11. Jeff Beatty (Can) Orange Mojo
12. Duncan Riffle (USA) Honda Iron Horse