Team members Solveig Tofte, Dara Reimer and Peter Yuen left the competition, nick-named the Coupe, tired and disappointed, but without regret. “I'm happy it's over, as the last year has been crazy, but I certainly wouldn't trade it for anything,” Tofte says. “I met the best bakers in the world, I met the challenge and managed to do pretty well.”

To the delight of the hometown crowd, France took first place and the rights to the bronze-cast bread boule Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie trophy. Upstart Taiwan followed in second place, and Italy rounded out the top three. By virtue of their finish, the three teams qualified to participate in the next Coupe. The next Team USA will need to qualify through regional competitions.

Teams consisted of three participants, each responsible for a specific category. Yuen, who handled viennoiserie, was individually honored as a top-four finisher in the division. Tofte handled the baguette, specialty and ethnic breads division, and Reimer was responsible for the artistic design category. A category introduced in 2005, savory selection, encouraged teamwork.

“I don't think we could honestly say we wanted to finish anywhere but the top three, but we're very proud of the team,” says Jeff Yankellow, owner of Simply Bread, Phoenix, and the team's coach. “We overcame some things that we didn't foresee in practice, and we still made products that looked and tasted world-class.”

A full points list, released after the bakers had returned home, revealed how close Team USA was to a coveted top-three finish. Out of 700 possible points, second-place Taiwan and fourth-place Team USA were only separated by one point. Italy edged Team USA by a margin of less than half a point. The news led to a few inevitable groans. Tofte had nightmares about what she could have done differently, but they were short-lived. Now, the results offer vindication.

“For certain, we didn't finish within the eight hours allotted, so we were docked 10 points right there. If not for the penalty, suddenly we'd be in second,” Yankellow says. “Seeing the scores now, I feel a lot better about our performance, it shows how strong our products were and how well the team did. They hit some speed bumps and things that they didn't encounter in practice, but they didn't give up and finished right at the top.”

And there were plenty of speed bumps. The team planned on setting up when they arrived on Easter Sunday, but holiday-related closures kept them locked out until Tuesday. Upon finally gaining access, they had to scramble to track down the correct practice flour. Yankellow said it was stressful walking into the facility, already behind, to find 8 bags of the wrong flour.

“If you really are on the top of your skill set, it shouldn't matter,” says Craig Ponsford, owner of Artisan Bakers in Sonoma, Calif., and team consultant. “It's exciting, actually. Part of the training is using different flour types. If you are well-trained, you should be able to figure it out pretty quickly.”

The team endured a facility that didn't live up to amenities Team USA had enjoyed in years past, then were in for another surprise on the morning of the competition. The competition space was flooded and the rack oven's steam injection did not work.

But the team overcame these issues and refused to use them as an excuse. Team members credit a training regimen aimed at teaching adaptation and thinking on the fly, with their ability to deal with the curveballs they faced.

In years past, a single facility was used for all of the training. This time around, the training occurred at a dozen sites across the United States. The selection and training processes exposed each team member to advice and criticism from a number of bakers.

“The travel was my favorite, not the planes, but being exposed to so many shops, ovens and pieces of equipment,” Tofte says. “My Achilles' heel was that I haven't baked in many different places, so a new situation would freak me out, and I'd start out behind the curve in terms of confidence level. Having used so many mixers, so many ovens with different quirks, though, it teaches you to stop being scared of equipment.”