Durango was well-represented on the timing sheets at the 2023 Life Time Little Sugar Classic.
Savilia Blunk finished second in the 100K professional women’s division, and Cole Patton finished third in the 100K pro men’s division this past Sunday in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Durango’s Howard Grotts finished sixth in the pro men’s division, and Payson McElveen finished ninth in the pro men’s division.
Blunk finished with a time of five hours, four minutes and 34 seconds. She averaged 12.14 miles per hour.
Haley Batton finished first with a time of 4:53:22.
“It was a super unique marathon race because it was almost 100% single track,” Blunk said. “So yeah, it really was a unique challenge for the racers and I've never raised something like it.”
Blunk focused on cross country World Cup events this season, but her love for Bentonville and the generous $65,000 prize purse split evenly between the top five women and the top five men motivated her to compete in the event.
She said she it had been a few months since she last rode over three hours in a race, as her World Cup events are about an hour and a half.
“It’s just an honor to be part of the cycling community and atmosphere around the event,” Blunk said. “I think everyone is so excited about not just the race but Bentonville and sharing their trails and the community with us as racers and visitors. So it was really cool to be a part of that.”
Patton finished third in a thrilling 100K men’s pro race with a time of 4:25:35. Keegan Swenson beat Matthew Beers to the line, but they both finished with a time of 4:25:16.
Patton led the first few hours of the race, then watched Swenson and Beers battle it out the last few miles 20 seconds behind.
“I was just really stoked to have such a high-level mountain bike race that was technical the whole time,” Patton said. “It really felt like a pure mountain bike race. There was no outside support allowed. So we all had to pack all of our own food and water and be prepared to repair any equipment. And so I think that was a really cool element to this race because it really equaled the playing field.”
The Little Sugar Classic gave Patton some confidence going into the Big Sugar Gravel this weekend. The Big Sugar Gravel is the final event in the Life Time Grand Prix. Patton is third in the standings with 130 points out of 35 riders. Alexey Vermeulen is only two points ahead of Patton in second place.
“It's really close,” Patton said. “The whole top from second to fifth are all within reach, I think. It could all change up on Saturday. So it’ll all just come down to that.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
