The winner? Well, Tara Llanes held on for dear life, even when her right leg was being chewed up by the spikes in her rear wheel.

Llanes' first Winter X Games gold medal came with a painful price. Her torn riding pants were proof of just what she was willing to endure to win. Llanes took home a bronze medal in both downhill and speed at the 1997 Winter X Games.

"Elke (Brutsaert) and I came around the first turn, I was ahead and she went high," Llanes said. "The next thing I felt were spikes in my leg -- and it just burned. But I just kept going.

"I lost a pedal or something and my leg went behind my seat. It got caught on my spiked tires, I felt it rip, but I didn't care at that point. I just thought, pedal, pedal, pedal."

Llanes -- who is no stranger to pain at the Winter X Games after suffering a concussion that required a CAT scan last year -- ignored the burning enough to take the lead over the rolling berms and into the next high-banked turn. It was there where pre-race favorite Missy Giove made a move to pass her. But Giove's front wheel caught a rut and she tumbled over the handlebars.

From there it was all Llanes, 22, down the mountain. April Lawyer finished a distant second -- benefiting from a pair of washouts midway down the course by Lisa Sher and Marla Streb. Brustsaert got up from a fall herself to finish with the bronze.

Giove, who was the fastest time in qualifying Wednesday, never officially made it down the course. After Brustsaert ran over her in the first turn, she misjudged the double jump, missed the next gate and was waved off the course. She was awarded fourth place.

"It was full-on carnage," Giove said. "That's just the way it is, you can be the fastest out there and not be able to win. It's all about finding the right lines. I was there, felt I could make a pass on Tara.

"But it's all good. I had a good time; it was a little frustrating this run.

"I got ran into a lot, but I did run into Missy," Brustsaert said. "I tagged her pretty hard in the berm, poor thing. I just rolled down for third. And as I'm going along, there are just bodies everywhere. Lisa here, Marla there. Missy off the course over there. I was lucky I got third."

With all the problems sure to come, Llanes knew she needed to get out of the gate quickly. Lined up next to Giove, the Southern California native relied on her BMX background to make sure she'd get the hole-shot into the first turn.

"Missy had the second gate and she was right next to me, so I knew if she got the gate, she was going to cut over," Llanes said. "So I said it was all or nothing. As soon as I got out of the gate, I put my elbows out. That's what you have to do. As I came out, I just remembered to stick my elbows out to make sure nobody got around me."

Brustsaert had the lead into the first turn, but Llanes passed her out of the first berm. But not before her leg came flying off the pedal.

"I didn't even know (who was behind me), once I got around Elke on the first turn," Llanes said. "I didn't even care. I didn't even want to think about who was behind me. I just thought, as long as I just keep my line, do what I did in practice, I felt I could pull it off."

Lawyer, who is a professional snowboarder and will compete in the Boarder X and Big Air, just waited for the others to make their mistakes. The silver medal is the first for her on a bike or snowboard.

"When I made the final, I looked at the other girls and knew they'd be aggressive," Lawyer said. "But I also knew there is a good chance some of them would crash and I could capitalize on the opportunity. I got out of the gate and into a good position and just held it.

"People were crashing, I ran into Elke, made it around her. I was in third, then Missy crashed right in front of me. Then I was in fourth again, caught back up. It was back-and-forth the whole time. I just kept telling myself, 'Stay there, stay calm.' And it just worked my way."