The top mountain bike riders in the United States flocked to Fayetteville, Arkansas, last week, and Christopher Blevins and Riley Amos showed that Durango still has the best elite riders in the country.
Blevins and Amos occupied the top step of the podium of the men’s elite class at the U.S. Pro Cup in Fayetteville, with Blevins winning the cross-country Olympic (XCO) race on Wednesday and the cross-country short track (XCC) race on Friday. Amos took the top step in Saturday’s XCO race.
“I came in feeling a bit crappy and had some low expectations with how the body was going to perform based on the last two weeks of not a lot of training,” Amos said. “I had some knee problems and some health stuff … but I guess feeling good is overrated because I was still able to have some really good performances.”
In the youth levels, Owen Deale took victory for Durango’s Team Segment 28. Anna Morozowich also represented Durango on the top step of the podium with two wins in the girls 15-16 category and Owen Morozowich won in the boys 11-12 XCO race on Saturday.
On Wednesday, Blevins took the XCO win in one hour and 18 minutes. Amos was 11 seconds behind in second. Part-time Durango resident and former Fort Lewis College cyclist Cole Paton finished seventh in 1:19.49, and Durango’s Ivan Sippy finished eighth in 1:20.04.
It was a rough start to the race for Amos as he got tangled up with another rider early on and he was outside the top 10 on the first lap. After being down by around 40 seconds at one point, he was happy with how he executed the rest of the race, catching up to the front group on the final lap and getting second.
If it wasn’t for the first lap incident, Amos felt like he could’ve challenged Blevins for the win.
Next for Amos and Blevins was the XCC race on Friday. Blevins won the six-lap race in 20:40, with Amos finishing in second with the same time. Team Segment 28’s Austin Beard finished seventh in 20:47.
Amos was really happy with how he competed in the XCC with his positioning and energy saving. He compared the XCC course to Formula 1 with how riders protected the corners and had to start wide to chop to the inside. Despite the good execution, Blevins still got the best of his younger Durango counterpart.
“It always comes down to a one-minute kick on the last lap up the hill into the finish,” Amos said. “So I was positioned really well around Chris’ wheel, made him have to lead out the sprint, and gave it a good crack. I was closer than I've been to him on an effort like that. He's the best in the world in a sprint like that. It's just unbelievable how much torque and how much power he has.”
On Saturday, Amos finally got the best of Blevins in XCO. Technically, nearly the whole field did since Blevins didn’t finish. But Amos and Blevins were alone for most of the race. Amos was feeling really good despite the warm temperatures, thanks to strong hydration. He knew he needed to continue to attack Blevins to keep him off his game and it worked.
Amos created some separation going into a downhill section, but when he looked back, he saw Blevins’ wheel blew up, which led to him retiring. Amos won the seven-lap race in 1:16:20, 40 seconds over Gunnar Holmgren in second.
Next up for Amos is the next U.S. Pro Cup in Temecula, California, from April 10-12. Amos has already done nine races this year. He was down in Tucson, Arizona, over the winter for training. He said he’s at a better level than last year at this time with far less training.
Morozowich, an eighth grader, continues to impress by racing up an age level. On Friday, Morozowich won the junior girls 15-16 XCC race in 21:29 after five laps of racing, four seconds ahead of Zoe Leclair in second. Older sister, Leah, finished third in 21:37.
“I’m really happy with how I performed, how it went, and overall, it was an amazing weekend,” Anna said.
Anna took the lead early in the XCC race with her sister. The lead group continued to shrink as the race progressed, and Anna pulled away with two minutes left to have a comfortable victory.
On Sunday, Anna won the girls 15-16 XCO race in 55:58, 35 seconds ahead of Leclair in second.
Anna was aggressive again at the start, beginning with a single-track section. She led the descent, quickly breaking up the front group with her pace until she was all alone for the final 45 minutes of the race.
“Then, the rest of the race, I just kept it smooth over the rocks,” Anna said. “I made sure that I was keeping the pressure on them in the descent and then just pushing all the climbs and just having fun out there.”
It was a great experience for the Morozowich crew to see idols like Amos, Blevins and Haley Batten take time to speak with them and encourage them as top pros in the sport.
Deale took the win in the men’s U-23 race in 21:14 on Friday. Owen Morozowich won in the boys 11-12 XCO in 35:33.
Durango’s Bailey Cioppa was also competing in Fayetteville. She finished eighth in the women’s elite XCO in 1:26:30, 10:58 behind Batten in first. Cioppa finished 10th in the women’s elite XCO in 20:30, 49 seconds behind Batten in first. She then finished her weekend by finishing eighth in the women’s elite XCO on Saturday in 1:24:19, 8:36 behind Gwendalyn Gibson in first.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
