Christopher Blevins had a rough start to the world championships this week in Scotland, leaving his participation in jeopardy.
Blevins, the USA men’s elite national champion in both the cross-country Olympic and short-track cross-country disciplines, crashed on Sunday while training for those events.
Blevins suffered a broken finger, a concussion and required stitches on his face after the crash.
“After careful examination by the team doctors, Chris was diagnosed with a concussion,” said his team, Specialized Factory Racing, in a statement. “Doctors will monitor the situation throughout the week before making a call to participate in the world championships. Health first.”
The cross-country mountain biking championships will start on Wednesday with a mixed team relay. The elite short-track and junior cross-country races will take place on Thursday, while the cross-country Olympic races will take place on Friday for the U23 riders and Saturday for the elite field.
A bunch of Durangoans, in addition to Blevins, are in the field.
Savilia Blunk (Ford Rockrider Racing), the USA elite women’s national champ in XCO and XCC, is in Switzerland to battle for the two rainbow jerseys.
U23 racers Riley Amos (Trek Factory Racing), Carson Beard (Team Durango Segment 28) and Bailey Cioppa (Bear National Team) are also on the USA’s world team in Switzerland. Beard is the men’s U23 short track champion.
Amos finished second behind Blevins in both the XCO and XCC races.
This year’s championships feature 13 disciplines from road and track to BMX and mountain biking, and a few have already been decided.
In the men’s road race world championship one-day race on Sunday, Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands won the 271.1-kilometer race in 6 hours, 7 minutes and 27 seconds.
Wout Van Aert of Belgium, who is Durangoan Sepp Kuss’ teammate on Jumbo-Visma, finished second 1:37 later while Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia finished third in the same time as Mads Pedersen of Denmark (+1:45). Neilson Powless finished 11th (+4:20) to lead the USA.
The elite women will race on Sunday.
Durangoan Quinn Simmons, Pedersen’s teammate on Lidl-Trek, also qualified for the championships after winning a national title this summer, but did not compete.
Simmons was also forced to withdraw from the Tour de France after a tough crash and hasn’t returned to competition. However, Simmons received a three-year contract extension this week. Simmons signed with the team through 2026 whilst Daan Hoole, Edward Theuns, Alex Kirsch and Otto Vergaerde will race for Lidl-Trek through 2025.
“I’m super happy to be staying with the team,” Simmons said in a statement. “Over the past 4 years I’ve really started to feel at home here and feel that I’ve made good steps each year. I’m still super proud to be riding for an American team and representing an American brand, which is a key importance for me. I’m excited that I get three more years of that. For the future I look to continue improving and growing with the team. This year has been frustrating for me so I’m already looking forward to what the next three will bring. We have some big goals and I really hope to achieve them whilst wearing the jersey of Lidl-Trek over the next three years.”
In the mountain bike marathon world championships on Sunday, Henrique da Silva Avancini of Brazil won the men’s title 4:14:42. Martin Stosek of the Czech Republic finished second, and Lukas Baum of Germany placed third.
Mona Millerwallner of Austria won the women’s marathon title, followed by Candice Lll of South Africa and Adelheind Morath of Germany in third.
In the elite men’s downhill championships, Charlie Hatton of Germany won gold, followed by Andreas Kolb of Austria and Laurie Greenland of Great Britain.
Valentina Holl of Austria, meanwhile, won the women’s elite downhill title while Camille Balanche of Switzerland took silver and Marine Cabirou of France scored bronze.
