Durango professional mountain biker Howard Grotts received a good measurement on the worldwide stage when he finished ninth at the
Grotts, who was the top American finisher, took a time of 4 hours, 6 minutes, 23 seconds and narrowly beat out Marcus Kaufmann of Germany who finished 10th with 4:06:53.
“Long day of racing at XCM Champs (Cross Country World Marathon Championship),” said Grotts on his Twitter account. “Content to land ninth after being with the lead group for 75 percent of the race.”
The 62-mile race was brutal enough for Grotts to end his tweet with hashtag cratered.
Tiago Ferreira of Portugal won the event with a time of 4:01:56, Alban Lakata of Austria came in second with 4:02:15 and Kristian Hynek of Czech Republic came in third with 4:02:52.
The closest American finisher next to Grotts was Jeremiah Bishop of Georgia who took 23rd with a time of 4:15:26.
Local rider Todd Wells was the third American to cross the finish line as he took 48th overall with a time of 4:25:24.
Bishop, Grotts and Wells were the only Americans who competed in the international event.
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