There are 31 athletes who were named to compete on behalf of USA Cycling in the cross-country mountain bike world championships. More than 20% of those riders are either from Durango or compete for Fort Lewis College.
The seven Durango-based riders are part of an even larger contingent of cross-country mountain bike elite riders from Colorado, as nearly half of the athletes currently call the state home. In contrast, only one rider out of 21 named to the USA Cycling downhill team for the upcoming International Cycling Union (UCI) Mountain Bike World Championships at Mont-Sainte-Anne in Canada hails from Colorado, elite women’s rider Samantha Soriano of Littleton.
This year’s world championships are scheduled for Aug. 28 through Sept. 1 at the ski resort in eastern Canada in Beaupré, Quebec.
For Durango’s Christopher Blevins, it will be a chance to climb one step higher on the podium after he finished second in the under-23 world championship race a year ago in Switzerland.
A few more riders from the area will make a return trip to worlds after competing one year ago, as FLC stars Savilia Blunk and Cole Paton will compete in the under-23 races, with Paton in the same field as Blevins. Also in that race will be FLC star Henry Nadell.
Junior women’s star Madeleine “Maddie Jo” Robbins also will return and will aim to improve upon her 34th-place finish last year in Switzerland, where she competed with a severe left wrist injury. Two weeks ago, Robbins punched her ticket back to worlds with a national championship sweep of the cross-country and short-track titles. She said she is eager to lay it all on the line in her final year before she jumps to the under-23 ranks, and she has goals of competing in many more world championships and Olympics in the future.
Robbins also said having a chance to pre-ride the world championship course while taking podium finishes in all of her Canada Cup events this season will have her prepared to compete at a high level.
Making a world championship debut is Riley Amos in the junior men’s category. He has been a force all season, with national championships in both cross-country and short-track as only a 17-year-old in the junior men’s 17-18 age division. Those backed up his medal haul at this year’s Pan-American Continental Championships, strong showings with USA Cycling at the Canada Cup events and his national title sweep in the junior men’s 15-16 age division a year ago.
“The level of world competition is such a different ballgame as far as the level of athletes,” Amos said. “I’ve ridden with a couple of the best riders here and there and done fairly well. I feel like the course is good for me at world champs, but I have no idea when you throw all the best athletes in the world together. I’m only a first-year guy in this age group, and there are a lot of second-year guys. It’s going to be a lot of fun with not too much pressure.”
Also set to compete is Durango’s Stephan Davoust in the elite men’s field. He will join cross-country national champion Keegan Swenson of Utah, Colorado Springs’ Russell Finsterwald, California’s Alex Wild and North Carolina’s Luke Vrouwenvelder.
Davoust is a native of Durango who raced at FLC along with Nadell and Paton, and he’s looking forward to competing at a worlds with so many friends. Also on board is mechanic Tom Neb of San Juan Cycles, who routinely travels with USA Cycling for the biggest events.
“To have this whole Durango crew going makes it all the more fun,” Davoust said. “It’s awesome to have all the support up there, and I’ve always worked with (Neb) and looked to him as a mentor. Together, we will have the opportunity to do as well at worlds as we can.”
Davoust, who placed third in short-track and fifth in cross-country at nationals to back up a second-place finish at marathon nationals, said Durango’s Howard Grotts, the 2016 Olympian and cross-country national championship runner-up after he had won four consecutive national titles going into this year, likely would have been selected for the team if he wanted to compete. He is happy to continue the strong lineage of Durango men to compete at worlds in the elite field after he petitioned USA Cycling for a chance to make the roster.
“I had to go through the petition process to get on the radar of the worlds committee that selects the team. It became apparent that if I wanted to go to worlds, I had to go to all these events on the East Coast and Canada,” Davoust said. “There are so many other races I wanted to do, so I didn’t go to those. So, I didn’t think I was going to worlds. But I had some good rides, and national championships solidified my selection to worlds with a top-five and top-three. It definitely draws attention to the selection committee, and it’s awesome to be one of the five Americans chosen to go.”
The lone cross-country category in which a Durango-based rider will not compete is in the elite women’s field. That squad is headlined by reigning world champion Kate Courtney of California, as she will look to retain the rainbow jersey for another year.
“This mountain bike world championship team represents the best U.S. athletes across the board from junior to elite,” USA Cycling mountain bike performance director Marc Gullickson said in a news release. “I expect them all to represent the United States well. I feel very good about the strength and depth of our women’s cross-country teams with (Courtney) as well as phenomenal World Cup and Nation’s Cup performances from riders like Chloe Woodruff, Haley Batten and Maddie Jo Robbins.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
