Howard Grotts worked his way from the back of the field to the front last weekend in Germany.
The 24-year-old professional mountain biker from Durango was the lone competitor from the United States at the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships in Singen, Germany.
Grotts placed 27th overall a year after taking ninth at the same world championships on a different course in France.
This year, Grotts finished in 3 hours, 24 minutes, 46 seconds. World-famous Austrian mountain biker Alban Lakata claimed his third marathon world title. He crossed the finish line in 3:17:24 to beat Portugal’s Tiago Ferreira by one second. Third-place Daniel Geismayr, also of Austria, was third in the same time as Ferreira.
Grotts started in 144th position out of 176 riders in the field. He has participated in more North American races this year and hasn’t focused on as many UCI points events. Starting position is based on UCI standings, so Grotts had to work his way up through the pack to climb into the top 30.
The women’s marathon world championship was won by Annika Langvad of Denmark. She finished in 3:06:49 to finish one second ahead of Germany’s Sabine Spitz and eight seconds ahead of Norway’s Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa. No American woman competed.
Durango’s Payson McElveen was the second American selected to represent the U.S. at marathon worlds, but he declined the invitation. USA Cycling does not provide support teams for marathon because it is not an Olympic discipline. It would have cost McElveen at least another $6,000 to provide his own support crew.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
