Durango’s Christopher Blevins and Riley Amos have had challenging seasons in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, but both have shown their best form in the last two weekends.
Blevins’ men’s elite cross-country Olympic (XCO) and cross-country short track (XCC) World Cup title defenses got off to a poor start in Round 1 in South Korea in early May. He broke his collarbone in practice between the men’s elite XCC and XCO races, forcing him to miss the next rounds. Blevins returned to action in Round 4 in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, from June 19-21, but he clearly wasn’t at 100%, finishing outside the top 25 in both races.
The Durango star made progress in Round 5 of the World Cup in La Thuile, Val d’Aosta, Italy, from July 3-5, but Blevins really looked like himself at Pal Arinsal, Andorra, in Round 6 last weekend. Blevins got on the podium in the XCC race like he did so many times last season, and finished fourth in the XCO race.
“It’s a lot more fun up there, I have to say,” Blevins said in a post-race interview after the XCC race in Andorra. “It feels really good. This sport keeps you humble and your racing against the best in the world every week, and we all try so hard day in and day out … I just worked, step by step, and you have to really believe in yourself.”
Amos had struggled with some sickness and his energy levels early this season, leading to some mediocre results. However, Amos seems like he has things dialed in after a fifth-place finish in the men’s elite XCO race in Round 5, his best-ever finish in either XCC or XCO in his men’s elite career. Amos followed that up by finishing 14th in the XCC race in Andorra and ninth in the XCO race.
“Words can’t describe how good it feels to finally pull off a World Cup top 5 in La Thuile,” Amos wrote on Instagram. “Thanks to those that have always believed in me and who I am over the last 1.5 years. I’ve fought a lot of battles but never fought them alone, and with every knock down learned to get up stronger. The better you get at failing with your eyes on the prize, the less you fail and the more you grow.”
In Italy, the men’s elite weekend started with the XCC race on July 3. Neither Durangoan had much success, with Amos finishing 15th in 20 minutes and 35 seconds after nine laps around the 800-meter track. Blevins finished 30th in 21:16. Blevins’ Specialized Factory Racing teammate Adrien Boichis won the race in 19:39, with Luca Martin in second in 19:40 and Charlie Aldridge in third in 19:55.
Amos was just inside the top 20 at the end of the first lap, but slowly made his way to the edge of the top 10 by the sixth lap. However, Amos couldn’t hold his pace and dropped back to 17th at the start of the final lap.
The men’s elite XCO race was on July 5, with Amos finishing fifth in 1:26:50 after eight laps around the 3.2 km XCO circuit. Blevins finished 18th in 1:29:58. Martin won in 1:24:36, with Mathis Azzaro in second in 1:25:43 and Boichis in third in 1:25:56.
Amos had a good start up the long climb at the start. He got up to 12th early in the lap as riders were mostly stuck in their positions in single-track sections. He was 11th after the first lap about 16 seconds back.
The Trek-Unbroken XC rider got closer and closer to the front during Lap 2, getting up to eighth and at the end of the lead group. He was only five seconds off the lead at the start of Lap 3.
There was a break in the lead group during Lap 3, with Amos at the end of the second group in eighth. He was alone early in the fourth lap in seventh, but Amos did a great job keeping the lead group within sight. He avoided a collision in front of him and was up to fourth, six seconds behind at the start of the fifth lap.
Amos led the chase group of three in fourth as the top three increased the pace and were up by 15 seconds early in the fifth lap. He dropped down to fourth and in the middle of the chase group as the leaders increased their lead to about a minute late in the sixth lap.
Martin was out in front by himself in the seventh lap, and by the time the eighth lap started, Amos’ chase group had broken up, and he was alone in fifth. He rode the final lap alone for an elite-best fifth.
Last weekend in Andorra, Blevins finished third in the XCC race in 20:57 after 10 laps around the 900 m track. Fellow American Bjorn Riley won the race in 20:54, with Boichis in second in 20:55. Amos was 14th, 25 seconds behind Riley.
Blevins had to start way back in the field due to his poor start to the season, but by the start of the fifth lap, Blevins looked like his old self again, going around the outside of the pack to get to the front.
He was outside the top three at the start of the final lap, but Blevins got to third after Aldridge crashed in front of him.
Blevins’ third place in the XCC set him up well for the XCO race with a front-row start, but he fell outside the top 10 in the first lap. However, he bounced back to get in fifth at the start of the third lap. He got into fourth shortly after that. Then, it was a pretty lonely ride for Blevins in fourth.
Boichis took the win in 1:14:48 after eight laps around the 3.5 km circuit. Azzaro was second in 1:15:07, Luca Schwarzbauer was in third in 1:16:00 and Blevins in fourth in 1:16:50. Amos finished ninth in 1:17:57.
Fellow Durangoan Asa Vermette had an up-and-down start to his first men’s elite downhill season, with a win in South Korea followed by two crashes. Vermette seems like he’s found some consistency, finishing second in Italy and fourth in Andorra.
Vermette was so close to his second victory of the season in La Thuile. He finished only 0.961 seconds behind Jordan Williams in first. In Andorra, Vermette was fourth in 2:44.207, 2.541 seconds behind Williams in first. Vermette is third in the men’s elite downhill standings.
Elsewhere in the World Cup mountain bike results, former Fort Lewis College cyclist Savilia Blunk continued her strong season by finishing third in the women’s elite XCC race and second in the XCO race in La Thuile. Blunk also finished sixth in the XCC race and fourth in the XCO race in Andorra.
The next UCI Mountain Bike World Cup races for Durango’s cross-country and downhill riders will be in Haute Savoie, France, from Aug. 21-23.