A gold, a silver and a bronze in three cross-country mountain bike races at the U.S. Pro Cup in Fayetteville helped Riley Amos (Trek Factory Racing XC) win the event’s Athlos UCI Challenge.
Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) and Savilia Blunk (Rockrider Racing Team), meanwhile, both finished the Cup on top of the podium with cross-country Olympic wins on Saturday.
After finishing second to Blevins in the opening cross-country Olympic race, Amos came back and beat Carter Woods (Giant Factory Off-Road Team) by one second to win the short-track race on Friday.
“So thankful for every single one of these moments, not something to take for granted,” Amos posted after the win.
The final men’s elite XCO race on Saturday was also tight, but Blevins took his second win, followed by Woods three seconds later and then Amos (+:10).
“Saturday’s HC race was a great finish to the weekend with another tight battle that ended with (bronze) for me,” he said. “(Gunnar Holmgren) set a blistering pace at the front from the beginning and I was dangling on the back of the group of four. I was struggling a bit with my back and a small mechanical and the pace never eased up at all for the first hour. Two laps to go Chris went to the front and really started pushing some parts of the track and Gunnar had an unfortunate flat. At the finish line when Chris started the sprint, I was set up right this time but just didn’t have the legs to go with him and Carter. Cherry on top was getting the overall Athlos Challenge for the week.”
After finishing second in the first XCO and the short-track race to Kate Courtney (Scott-SRAM MTB Race Team), Blunk won the final sprint on Saturday’s XCO to leave with a win.
Blunk, Courtney and Gwendalyn Gibson (Trek Factory Racing XC) all finished in the same time, 58 minutes, 48 seconds, but Blunk’s front tire crossed just ahead of Gibson in second and Courtney’s in third.
“Stoked to take the win in another close finish, maybe a little too close” Blunk posted.
Courtney, however, edged Blunk to win the Athlos Challenge for the elite women. Sofia Waite (We Development) and Owen Clark (Hockley Valley Resort Armada) took the U23 Athlos crowns.
Waite and Clark also won the U23 XCO races on Saturday, finishing just ahead of some Durangoans. Ruth Holcomb (Bear National Team) finished second, Bailey Cioppa (Bear National Team) crossed third and Lauren Aggeler (Trinity Racing) finished fifth in the women’s race.
Carson Beard (Durango Segment 28) crossed third behind Clark, but finished one spot ahead of his brother, Austin Beard (Bear National Team) who races for Colorado Mesa University. Dane Grey (Durango Segment 28) finished eighth and Cobe Freeburn (Bear National Team) also cracked the top-10 with a ninth-place finish.
