Christopher Blevins predicted the Colorado Classic would be decided during Friday’s Vail Pass time trial. If that’s to be the case, Gavin Mannion is in the driver’s seat.
Mannion, an American riding for the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team, stormed the 9.87-mile course that climbed 1,574 feet to a finish near the top of Vail Pass. He finished in 25 minutes, 41 seconds, which was 11 seconds ahead of his teammate Serghei Tvetcov of Romania.
Mannion, who is from Massachusetts, assumed the race’s overall lead after two of four days of cycling. He improved 22 positions from his finish during Thursday’s opening 68-mile circuit race through Vail. Tvetcov is in second and is separated by the same time as his time trial finish Friday. Hugh Carthy of the United Kingdom is third in the general classification standings, 21 seconds behind the lead.
“The (time trial) is one of the most famous (time trials) in America,” Blevins said Thursday. “Vail is an awesome town to host it, as well. The race will mostly be decided on this time trial this year.”
Blevins, who finished fifth in Thursday’s opening stage to sit six seconds behind Stage 1 winner Gage Hecht, was 56th during the time trial Friday. His time was 3:20 behind Mannion. That moved him to 40th in the overall standings. Blevins will target the weekend stages that start and finish in Denver for better results and as an opportunity to help his Hagens Berman Axeon teammates. Sean Bennett is the team’s top rider in the GC standings at 1:58 behind Mannion.
Durango’s Griffin Easter is in better position. The 303Project team rider is in 26th in the standings after two days. One day after he placed 14th, also six seconds behind Hecht, Easter put together a solid time trial in 26th place, 1:49 behind Mannion.
“I think it was a fairly good ride for me,” said Easter, a former national champion for Fort Lewis College. “I wasn’t going to blow up once I hit the climb. Luckily, my director was following in the car. I hit the climb, and they encouraged me to keep digging and scrounging away.”
Cullen Easter, also with the 303Project and a Colorado Mesa University alum, finished 46th on the time trial. The Durango-based rider was 3:04 behind Mannion. He moved up two spots in the general classification and is now 48th, 4:38 behind Mannion.
Hecht, a 20-year-old from Parker, finished the time trial in 21st and was 1:30 behind Mannion. He fell to 17th in the GC and is 1:12 off the lead.
In the women’s time trial, Washington’s Katie Hall, who rides for Education First-Drapac/Cannondale, won in 30 minutes, 8.07 seconds. Her teammate Leah Hall was second to the line, 26 seconds behind. Gillian Ellsay of Rally Cycling was third, 48 seconds behind.
Katie Hall now has the GC lead.
The race will transition to Denver for Stages 3 and 4. Saturday’s queen stage is 100 miles for the men with 8,133 feet of climbing on a route that passes Coors Field, travels to Golden and over Lookout Mountain, through Red Rocks Park and into Evergreen.
After climbing Indian Hills and going over Dinosaur Ridge, the riders face a tough sprint from Wheat Ridge High School to the Denver finish line.
“I think the crowds on Lookout Mountain will be impressive,” Griffin Easter said. “I’ve done that before from my college days, and I’m excited to check that one out. I think the plan is to get into the breakaways, get our name out there and go for the aggressive rider jersey. For me, I want to see if I can get over the climbs with the front group and have a good crack at the finish. It all depends on if I can get over those climbs.”
Sunday’s final stage is a circuit through downtown Denver. It features eight laps around a 9.1-mile loop.
The Colorado Classic is in its second year. It replaced the defunct USA Pro Challenge, which ran from 2011-15.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
