Two podium finishes greeted Durango mountain bikers on Saturday in the Czech Republic. A third may have been likely before a snapped chain.
Racing in the second International Cycling Union World Cup mountain bike race of the week in Nové Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic, Durango’s Christopher Blevins improved upon his sixth-place finish Thursday with a second-place result Saturday in the men’s under-23 race.
Only a blistering final lap from Thomas Pidcock could beat the Durangoan. Pidcock won for the second time this week, aided by a final lap of 11 minutes, 12 seconds. He finished the six laps in 1 hour, 15 minutes, 57 seconds to beat Blevins by 1:08. Blevins was right in the thick of chase for victory, but a final lap time of 12:03 saw him lose valuable time to Pidcock.
“It sure felt good to be back with everyone,” Blevins said in a post to Instagram. “Thanks to the countless amount of people who helped us race these two World Cups amidst the circumstances.”
Switzerland’s Vital Albin was third on Saturday, 22 seconds further back than Blevins. Switzerland’s Joel Roth was fourth, 1:39 behind Pidcock.
Blevins was the only American in the 87-rider field. The Durango star showed he will be right there to contend at next week’s world championships in Austria. He won silver at the under-23 worlds two years ago as well as a team relay silver last season.
Riley Amos, who also was on the team relay squad that took silver at last year’s world championships in Canada, made his European race debut Saturday. The 18-year-old from Durango rode to fifth place int he UCI junior series race with a time of 1:09:01. He was 1:01 behind race winner Tobias Lillelund of Denmark. Second went to Denmark’s Oliver Vedersø Sølvhøj, who was 30 seconds behind his countryman.
American Riley Bjorn placed third in 1:08:34. Switzerland’s Janias Baumann was fourth in 1:08:54. Amos finished two seconds ahead of Brazilian Alex Junior Malacarne to land on the final podium step.
“Finally getting to put the pedal to the metal on Saturday for the first time since February with the best in the world was a dream come true,” Amos said in a post to Instagram. “When the light turned green I had a bit of a hard time remembering what these kind of starts are like and I came out of the start loop just out of the top 20. I fought hard and came back to the front group after a lap and it was really tight racing for the rest of the race.
“I think I have even more in me, so hopefully I can find the key to unlock it by the end of this week in Leogang!”
Durango’s Ruth Holcomb also made her European race debut Saturday and was riding strong in sixth place before a broken chain on the second lap had her sprinting with her bike before she could get it fixed. The 17-year-old would finish 22nd in 1:15:01.
“Tough day at the Nove Mesto junior series race today,” Holcomb said in a post to Instagram. “After sitting in 6th for the first half of the race, I snapped a chain. A quick run and a super speedy chain swap by (Julien Petit) got me back out there to keep racing. While the race was tough, I learned so much and am so excited to get back out there for the World Championships next weekend.”
Austria’s Mona Mitterwallner, 18, placed first in 1:04:21 for a landslide victory. France’s Olivia Onesti, 17, was second in 1:07:39, while Karolina Bedrnikova of the Czech Republic was third in 1:08:08. American Madigan Munro of Boulder placed fourth in 1:08:26.
All will get ready to travel to Austria for next week’s world championships with medal aspirations during the tough COVID-19 pandemic shortened season.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
