Published September 13, 2002 01:00AM
By Jason Sumner, VeloNews Associate Editor
After repeatedly hinting at it during the world championships and World Cup finals, Nicolas Vouilloz made it official Friday, announcing his retirement from professional downhilling.
In a news release posted on his Web site, www.NicolasVouilloz.com, the 26-year-old Frenchman said he wanted to focus more attention on product development, rally car racing, and possibly starting a family with his longtime girlfriend Sandrine. Vouilloz also said that he plans on competing in downhill marathon events like those of the Megavalanche series, where runs typically exceed an hour in length.
Vouilloz leaves the sport as the most dominant men’s downhill racer in history. Among the records he holds are most World Cup wins (16), most World Cup titles (5), most elite world championship titles (7), and most overall world titles (10). Before joining the elite ranks, Vouilloz won three junior world titles from 1992-94.
This year the Frenchman battled a finger injury during the middle half of the season that caused him to miss to two World Cup races and took him out of the hunt for the overall title. But Vouilloz came back at the end of the summer to win the world title in Kaprun, Austria. He also took third at the World Cup finals in Les Gets, France.