A podium finish has eluded Christopher Blevins this season on the International Cycling Union (UCI) Mountain Bike World Cup circuit. On North American soil, he hoped his misfortune would come to an end Friday.
It wasn’t to be, as the defending men’s under-23 silver medalist from last year’s world championships rolled to a 22nd-place finish at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships at Mont-Sainte-Anne in Quebec, Canada. Blevins’ result was caused by a mechanical issue followed by a flat tire he had to ride for more than half of the fifth of six laps. The 21-year-old from Durango was in the lead group and hung onto second place for much of the race, and he was in a battle for fourth even after the first mechanical issue when the rear tire went flat.
Nobody would catch Romania’s Vlad Dascalu on Thursday. He finished in 1 hour, 19 minutes, 50 seconds, a massive 1:57 in front of second-place Filippo Colombo of Switzerland. Vital Albin of Switzerland was third, 2:06 behind the winning time.
Blevins was still the first American to the finish line, but he was 6:24 behind Dascalu. Also for the U.S., Jerry Dufour of Alabama was 29th, followed closely by Fort Lewis College rider Cole Paton of Washington, who was 30th. Another FLC rider, Henry Nadell of Carbondale, placed 35th. Sandy Floren of California placed 56th. A total of 61 riders finished, while 69 started.
Friday was a big improvement for Paton, who finished 61st at last year’s world championships. He has found his stride, with multiple top-20 finishes this year on the World Cup circuit. Still, Paton wanted more.
“Today was a tough day for me,” he said. “I’ve been having a great year chasing the World Cup circuit and was definitely hoping for more at world championships. A silly crash on the start loop put me chasing from the back, and I struggled to stay upright for the rest of the day. It was just about everything I had to make it to that finish line.
“The course here at Mont-Saine-Anne is the most technical on the circuit. It is packed full of natural features with extremely high risk. It rained all morning and added another element to the race. Not only were the features slick, but every corner and root was liable to cause havoc.”
At only 20, Blevins gained the attention of the entire world with his silver-medal ride in Switzerland following his first World Cup podium earlier that month when he placed second at Mont-Sainte-Anne.
While Blevins has turned in four top-10 finishes at World Cup races this year, the three-man podium has evaded him, with a fourth-place result at Val di Sole, Italy, so far his best result at a World Cup.
Though this year’s World Championship race is now behind him, he still will have a shot at a World Cup podium next weekend, as the season finale event will be held at a course he knows well at Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia.
And Blevins won’t leave Canada empty handed, as he will bring home another silver medal this year, this time from the team relay. It was the first U.S. medal in the team relay since 2007, and Blevins got the team started off the right way with his opening leg that would be the fastest lap time for the Americans all day.
The world championships will continue Saturday with the women’s under-23 as well as the elite men’s and women’s races. Savilia Blunk of FLC will compete in the women’s under-23, while Durango’s Stephan Davoust, an FLC alum, will compete in the elite men’s race.
All eyes will be on American Kate Courtney of California in the women’s elite race, as the 23-year-old will try to win a second consecutive world title.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
