The Olympic experience will be quick for Durango’s Riley Amos and Christopher Blevins.
The two mountain bikers representing the United States in the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris will face off against the best male mountain bikers in the world on Monday at 6:10 a.m. MST (2:10 p.m. Paris time)
Amos is tied for the sixth-best odds to win the gold at +1500 according to DraftKings Sportsbook. A $5 wager on Amos to win would return $80.
The 22-year-old has a legitimate shot to come home with a medal. He’s dominated the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in the men’s U-23 field by winning all five cross-country Olympic races he competed in.
It is a step up in competition for Amos which is likely why he doesn’t have better odds. He’ll be racing against multiple past Olympic gold medalists and the other top riders in the men’s elite field. Regardless, Amos will be a factor.
Blevins has slightly worse odds at +2000 which are ninth-best in the field, according to DraftKings. A $5 wager would return $105 if Blevins were to win gold.
The 26-year-old started off his World Cup men’s elite season with a win in the opening round in Mairoporã, Brazil, in the cross-country Olympic race. He struggled after that win to find the same form but had his best finish since his win in Brazil in Les Gets, France, with a 16th-place finish in early July.
Blevins does have the advantage of Olympic experience. He finished 14th in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics mountain biking race. Like Amos, Blevins should be in the mix for a medal if all goes well.
Riders will compete at the 2.7-mile Élancourt Hill course, located about 25 miles outside of Paris. The highest point of the course is 758 feet above sea level and has about 360 feet of elevation gain.
It has been described as a physical course more than a technical one. It has groomed gravel paths, a difficult climb and a challenging rock garden.
The venue was designed by South African Nick Floros. He also designed the mountain biking courses in the Rio Olympics in 2016 and the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Former gold medalist Nino Schurter said the gravel at Élancourt Hill is super loose and slippery, according to ABC News. He also said he could feel there had been no mountain biking there and it was man-made.
The favorite to win another gold medal is Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock. The defending Olympic champion has only competed at two World Cups this year, but he’s won both of those men’s elite cross-country Olympic races.
Pidcock also won the 2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. He hasn’t had the best health recently as he had to pull out of the Tour de France due to COVID-19.
The 24-year-old Brit is a -175 favorite for gold, according to DraftKings. A $5 wager would return only $7.85 if he won.
Pidcock’s two biggest challengers according to the oddsmakers are France’s Victor Koretzky and Switzerland’s Schurter.
Koretzky is Blevins’ teammate on Team Specialized Factory Racing and is seventh in the men’s elite World Cup standings. Koretzky has had two wins in short track but has only managed second twice in cross-country Olympic races.
This is Koretzky’s third Olympic Games. He finished 10th in Rio in 2016 and fifth in Tokyo in 2020. Koretzky currently has the second-best odds for gold at +400 on DraftKings. A $5 wager would return $25 if Koretzky would win.
Schurter is a mountain biking legend who won the Olympics in 2016, finished second in 2012, third in 2008 and fourth in 2020.
At 38 years old, he’s currently second in the men’s elite World Cup standings and took a win at Val di Sole, Italy, this year.
Schurter’s experience and Olympic consistency are spectacular and are a big reason why he has +500 odds to win. A $5 wager would return $30 if he wins. Expect to see Schurter battling at the front.
The men’s Olympic mountain biking race can be watched on USA Network on Monday.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
