After a few strong weeks of training in Texas and a week spent pedaling through snow in Durango, Howard Grotts traveled to Cyprus to open the 2018 mountain bike season.
Durango’s Grotts, 25, opened the Cyprus Sunshine Cup stage race with a 10th-place finish in the opening time trial. He finished the time trial in 24 minutes, 17.7 seconds, which was 58.609 seconds behind time trial winner Thomas Litscher of Switzerland. Grotts’ Specialized Racing teammate Jaroslav Kulhavy of the Czech Republic was third in the time trial in 23:48.2.
Friday was Grotts’ day. He conquered a 52-kilometer stage in 2:10:47.327 to win the stage in a field loaded with 92 of some of the world’s best mountain bikers. He asserted himself on the course’s big climb and took a commanding lead into the downhill before giving up some ground on a stretch of forest tracks.
Grotts finished 12.382 seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Lars Forster of the BMC Mountain Bike Racing Team. Kulhavy was fifth in the stage, 33.171 back of Grotts.
Grotts did have a crash, but Forster didn’t push the pace and allowed Grotts to rejoin him as the two raced together to the finish in a group of 12. Grotts hammered his pedals on the final steep climb with roughly 3 kilometers to go, and he held on for the stage win.
Also representing Durango is Benjamin Sonntag for Team CLIF Bar. Sonntag, who is originally from Germany and has spent the last month racing and preparing for the season in Europe. Sonntag was seventh in Friday’s stage, 1:02.231 behind Grotts’ winning time.
Grotts and Sonntag battled wet conditions with constant rain.
“Lots of fun terrain here, but my fingers are crossed for drier weather,” Grotts said in a post to Instagram. “It’s the ‘Sunshine Cup’ after all.”
Grotts now stands in third place in the general classification standings. He is 41.284 seconds behind the top time of Forster. Denmark’s Finni Carstensen is second, 40.791 seconds behind Forster.
Sonntag, who was 24th in the time trial, is ninth in the GC standings, 2:22.961 behind Foster.
Saturday’s stage is 66-kilometers. The race will conclude with a cross-country mountain bike event Sunday. Grotts is the three-time defending USA Cycling cross-country mountain bike national champion.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
