Durango’s beloved mountain bikers stole the show once again last weekend at the US Cup Eastern Grind in Williston, Vermont.
While it was no shock that Christopher Blevins and Howard Grotts both came away victorious, the races they won were a bit surprising. Blevins, a short-track specialist, took first place in the Men’s UCI Elite Pro cross country race. Grotts, a strong distance rider, won the Men’s Elite Pro short track competition with Blevins coming in second.
Grotts suffered a bit of bad luck out of the gates in the cross country race as a flat tire in the first lap set him back. Blevins took advantage and posted the fastest lap in the field with an opening lap time of 17 minutes, 34 seconds. The 19-year-old finished with a time of 1:31:53 and held off fellow Durangoan Todd Wells who came in with a second-place time of 1:32:13.
Stephen Hyde took third in 1:33:46 and Grotts’ tire issues led to a sixth-place finish of 1:37.27.
Grotts got revenge in the short track race, however. His time of 25:54 was nearly a full minute better than second-place Blevins’ 26:42. Hyde took third again just two seconds behind Blevins and Wells finished eighth in 27:00.
The Durango riders hold the top three spots in the series points race. Blevins seems to be well on his way to the $10,000 prize as he holds a commanding 137-point lead over second-place Wells (207) and third-place Grotts (200).
Kate Courtney continues to dominate the women’s mountain bike US Cup series. The Stanford University star won the Eastern Grind Elite Pro Women’s cross country and short track races. Courtney has won four of the six races this year and leads Rose Grant by 30 points in the series standings. Grant finished second behind Courtney in the Vermont short track race and third in the cross country competition.
The final event of the series will take place July 29 in Boston. However, they’ll be vying for supremacy this weekend in Snowshoe, West Virginia’s USA Cycling Mountain Bike Nationals.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
