Christopher Blevins is beatable in the men’s elite World Cup mountain cross-country short track races.
Blevins’ streak of five consecutive short track (XCC) victories came to an end on Friday at Pal Arinsal, Andorra, when Blevins lost a sprint finish against Luca Martin and finished second.
The Durangoan didn’t have the legs to contend in the men’s elite cross-country Olympic race and he finished 29th.
“It was a tough weekend,” Blevins said. “I knew it would be a difficult one, just with where it was at in the season and the altitude there is difficult. I was kind of frustrated with not quite getting that short track; I made a couple of mistakes but I’m still happy with it. Then Sunday was just a tough day. But those happen and I still struggled through the best I could.”
Blevins, riding for Specialized Factory Racing, finished second in the men’s elite XCC race in 22 minutes, with the same time as Martin, after 11 laps around the 900-meter course. Mathis Azzaro finished third, two seconds behind the top two.
The 27-year-old Blevins was in a good position to start the final lap, but he didn’t think he was aggressive enough on the final lap and Martin beat him. Blevins enjoyed the single track in the short track course.
On Sunday, Blevins finished the men’s elite cross-country Olympic (XCO) race in 1:24:39. Tom Pidcock, the 2024 Olympic gold medalist in mountain biking, returned to the mountain biking World Cup after spending a lot of time on the cycling WorldTour. He won the race in 1:20:30, 4:09 ahead of Blevins. Martin finished second in 1:20:5 and Charlie Aldridge was third in 1:21:22.
“Tom is definitely one of the best mountain bikers ever,” Blevins said about Pidcock. “People don't realize how well suited he is for the discipline. With his background in mountain biking, he doesn't lose the technical skills … Then with the training he does on the road, there may be a little bit of punch that doesn't come from that, but that he has naturally. So even though he doesn't race mountain bikes, he's preparing with all that road racing for it just as well.”
Blevins said the conditions on Sunday were slippery after the rain. He said it was a hard start but he put himself in a good place. Then Blevins’ body didn’t cooperate and he did the best he could managing his pace after that.
Despite losing his first XCC race of the season and having a three-race podium drought in the XCO, Blevins still has a commanding lead in the individual standings of the World Cup. He’s on top with 1,395 points, followed by his Specialized Factory Racing teammates, Martin Vidaurre in second with 1,082 points and Victor Koretzky in third with 930 points.
Fellow Durangoan Riley Amos didn’t have the points to race in the men’s elite XCC race and finished 35th in the men’s elite XCO race in 1:25:14, 4:44 behind Pidcock.
“Andorra World Cup was a day,” Amos wrote on Instagram. “With no short track and some really bad start luck, I was off the bike, standing in the woods in the bottleneck craziness, which doesn’t set you up for success. Felt strong and made up 25+ spots throughout the race, but another pretty mid result. To be honest, I’ve had nothing but consistent good training through the whole year, so to see guys riding where you know you have been and are capable of gets me fired up.”
Durango resident Sofia Waite competed in Pal Arinsal in the women’s U-23 category and finished 22nd in the XCC race, two laps down from Katharina Sadnik in first. Waite finished in 33rd in the XCO race, two laps down from Valentina Corvi in first.
Men’s junior downhill star Asa Vermette didn’t have the chance to show his full speed on race day. The men’s junior downhill final was canceled on Saturday due to extreme weather.
Therefore, qualifying times determined the finishing positions for this round of the World Cup. Vermette finished qualifying in second behind Max Alran. Vermette finished the 1.9-kilometer track in 2:39.711, 0.560 seconds slower than Alran.
Vermette is fourth in the men’s junior downhill World Cup standings.
The World Cup mountain bikers have over a month off until their next race in France in late August.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
