If Riley Amos and Madeline “Maddie Jo” Robbins had any fatigue from their national championship performances Saturday, it didn’t show Sunday.
A day after the two claimed USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships titles at Winter Park in the junior men’s and women’s 17-18 age category cross-country races, the two repeated the feat Sunday in short-track to give Durango a sweep of the championship jerseys at the highest junior level of U.S. mountain biking.
“To put on the Stars and Stripes jersey at every race for the next year in XC and short-track, it’s such an honor,” said Amos, who also swept the two jerseys at the junior 15-16 level last year at nationals in West Virginia.
Robbins wasn’t able to compete in short-track a year ago after she had already claimed the cross-country title in her first year racing the 17-18 category. A torn scaphoid ligament in her left wrist kept her from competing. To win the short-track this year was a special way to end her junior racing career at the national level before she makes the jump to the under-23 ranks next season.
“I definitely wanted to get it to end the year, but I didn’t know if I could,” Robbins said. “To do it is so cool and gratifying, and it’s a huge boost of confidence going into next year.”
Sunday’s races ended nearly identical to Saturday’s cross-country. Amos rode away from the field to win by a commanding margin, while Robbins needed to sprint past Boulder’s Madigan Munro to claim another one-second victory. After, the two Bear Development Team riders were swarmed by family and friends.
With so many junior men in the field this weekend at the Trestle Bike Park, Amos had to qualify for the short-track final with an abbreviated version of the race Sunday morning. He posted the fastest time of any rider in qualifying, earned a front-row start for the final and then once again blasted past the competition on the final few laps. His winning time of 28 minutes, 58 seconds was 24 seconds in front of Arizona’s Zachary Fernau and 32 seconds in front of teammate Bjorn Riley of Boulder. Nolan Jenkins of Colorado Springs was fourth in 29:42, and Evergreen’s Robbie Day was fifth in 29:52. There were 50 men in the final race.
“My legs felt surprisingly good this morning,” said Amos, son of Charlie and Rosaleen Amos. “...The way short-track was set up, there was a steady paved climb and then it wound around the village on flat pavement before it fell onto singletrack with berm corners that were loose and blown out and then some rollers. I could use my skills on the singletrack portion, so I conserved my energy the best I could on the pavement the first few laps.
“Before the singletrack, I attacked and put some time in, and the next couple of laps I let (Fernau) reel me back on the road, but I knew I could recover on the downhill. I did that a couple of laps, but then I looked back and he wasn’t crazy close, so I put my head down the last couple of laps and rode solo the rest of the way.”
Robbins won in 29:57, followed one-second later by Munro. Ada Urist of Boulder was 12 seconds behind to take third for a second consecutive day. Katie Clouse of Utah was fourth in 30:11, and Haley Randel of California was fifth in 31:29. There were 35 women in the race, and Durango’s Sage Davis placed 31st.
A day after Robbins had to sprint past Munro in the cross-country race, she didn’t think she had the legs to even make the podium Sunday. She proved she had more left in the tank than her rivals.
“I was feeling strong in my warmup, but, when the race started, they pinned it from the beginning. At that point, I was pretty dead,” the daughter of Denise and Jeff Robbins said. “I was hanging on for fourth most of the race. They’d attack, and I’d do everything to hang on. At one point, I hit (Clouse’s) wheel and then (Munro), and they got a huge gap.
“I was able to pull it back, but I was dead the next multiple laps. But by the end of it, they got really tired and started dropping and blowing up. I said, ‘OK, don’t give up, you can do this.’ I went for it the last lap, got ahead on the singletrack, sprinted for it and never looked back.”
Robbins takes it in a sprint with Munro in second and Urist in third completing your unofficial Womens 17-18 Podium #MTBNats pic.twitter.com/LSEKMan4Su
— USA Cycling LIVE (@usacyclinglive) July 28, 2019
Lauren Aggeler stood strong to represent Durango in the junior women’s 15-16 short-track race, as she placed fifth while riding in the lead group all race. She finished in 20:01, which was 12 seconds behind the winning time of Lakewood’s Sofia Forney. Aleah Austin of Durango was in eighth, 31 seconds behind the winning time. Abbey Sheppard placed 11th, 43 seconds behind, while Bailey Cioppa and Hannah Garvey fiished 20th and 21st, respectively, both 1:23 behind Forney.
In the junior men’s 15-16 race, Ian Kutzleb led Durango in 21st in 28:54, which was 1:44 behind the winning time of Lakewood’s Ryan Campbell. Durango’s Riley Jaber was 26th.
Now, Amos and Robbins will turn their full attention to the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships from Aug. 28 through Sept. 1 at Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada. They got to preview the course while on a trip earlier this year with USA Cycling to the Canada Cup races and are excited about their prospects.
Amos said he will ride with no pressure as a first-year junior 17-18 rider, while Robbins, now healthy, aims to improve upon her 34th-place finish last year at worlds in Switzerland when she competed with the wrist injury.
“It’s all about world champs right now and trying to get the best I can and lay it all out there,” she said. “Then, I look to the future and U23 racing. At nationals next year, I want to be top three so I can go to world cups and race in Europe all year. That would be a phenomenal experience. My long-term goal is the Olympics some day, and this is my next stepping stone.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
