Mother Nature may be the only thing that can slow down Durango’s Christopher Blevins this season.
On Friday, Blevins won the cross-country short track race (XCC) in the dry in Leogang, Austria. It was his fifth consecutive UCI Mountain Bike World Cup men’s elite victory of the season and his fourth consecutive World Cup short track win.
Then Mother Nature showed up on Sunday with plenty of rain to turn the cross-country Olympic (XCO) track into a slippery and muddy challenge. Immediately, for the first time this season, Blevins didn’t have the pace to run at the front and he finished a season-worst 17th.
“XCO in Leogang, it do be like that sometimes,” Blevins wrote on Instagram. “The first lap gave me the clear feedback that I wasn't on for a great race, but I worked to accept what my best on the day looked like, and just give all I had. Ended it with a 17th to maintain the WC overall. Still a great weekend and totally different style of racing than the first three rounds. XCO in Leogang, it do be like that sometimes.”
The men’s elite World Cup leader won the short track race in 23 minutes after 10 laps around the 950-meter track. Fellow Specialized Factory Racing rider Martin Vidaurre was second in 23 minutes and Charlie Aldridge was third in 23:01.
Blevins had a good start and was sixth to start the second lap in the main group and remained in the top 10 at the start of the third lap.
The Durango star stayed toward the bottom of the top 10 in the fourth lap and was in that spot in the fifth lap. Blevins crossed the line in fifth place at the start of the sixth lap. He dropped back outside the top five to start the seventh lap.
Mathias Flückiger and Aldridge pushed the pace to start the eighth lap and Blevins went with them. He was fourth at the start of the ninth lap and the final lap.
Blevins timed it perfectly on the climb on the last lap. He used the first part of the climb to get into position next to Aldridge and then he crushed him on the final part to take a commanding lead into the descents. Blevins had time to look back and celebrate.
Ondrej Cink won the men’s elite XCO race in 1:25:05 after seven laps around the 3.57-kilometer track. Flückiger finished second in 1:25:23 and Fabio Püntener finished third in 1:25:32. Blevins finished 17th in 1:28:50, 3:45 behind Cink.
Blevins had a decent start but struggled for grip on the first climb at the start and fell back. He maintained his position in fourth early in the first lap as the front was blown apart.
The Specialized Factory Racing rider lost some time in the muddy woods section and was down in seventh, about 10 minutes into the race, about 15 seconds off the lead.
Blevins came across the line eighth to start the second lap before being caught from behind by a group and he was in 11th early in the second lap.
A lead group of four had broken away while Blevins was deep in a big second group in the middle of lap two, down in 16th.
Blevins started the third lap in 20th, 58 seconds down. He couldn’t find a groove as the race got away from him.
The gap between Blevins and the leaders continued to grow. He was in 19th at the end of the third lap and about 70 seconds back.
He was on his own in the fifth lap, 15 seconds away from any rider in 21st. It was a nice rally in the sixth lap for Blevins, who battled to get into 18th. He continued to fight for positions all the way to the finish.
Blevins still has a healthy lead in the men’s elite World Cup standings heading into Val di Sole, Italy, from June 20-22. The Durangoan has 1,092 points while his teammate, Victor Koretzky, is in second with 751 points after a tough weekend in Austria.
Durango’s Asa Vermette bounced back from a tough start to his men’s junior downhill World Cup season on Saturday in Leogang. Vermette finished third for his first podium of the year.
“In the first two rounds, I felt like I had the speed to get on the podium or win,” Vermette said. “I just didn't have the best runs; I was on good runs and just messed up my line, or was just in my head about something and had a crash, but I turned it around. I wanted to have a smooth run in Leogang, and that's what I did. It wasn't anything crazy fast or anything. So we'll hopefully turn it up for this next weekend.”
Vermette finished the 2.115-kilometer track in third in 3:01.955. Oli Clark finished in first in 3:00.724 and Max Alran finished second in 3:01.322.
Leogang isn’t Vermette’s favorite track on the calendar. It’s a weird track for him. There’s nothing wrong with it in his eyes; it’s a fun track to ride, but it’s one of the easier tracks on the downhill circuit. Therefore, the times are super tight.
Vermette lost all of his time on the top section, in the first two splits, before the woods section. He was nearly two seconds down on Alran after the first two splits and about 1.5 seconds down on Clark. He knew those guys were going to be super quick at the top, but he didn’t want to risk another crash so he didn’t go as hard.
“It wasn't anything crazy technical,” Vermette said. “On camera, it probably doesn't look as blind, but most of those ones that I lost time on were blind breaking and then you drop down into a blind right or left corner. I was just not going fast enough into the apex of it. So I just lost some time there. But nothing crazy. At least I know exactly what I did and I'll be able to learn and build from it.”
Vermette is excited for Val di Sole in two weeks; he said the woods section there reminds him of Purgatory Resort in Durango.
Durango’s Bailey Cioppa continued her strong and consistent season in the women’s U-23 cross-country field. She finished 10th in the women’s U-23 XCC race on Friday and 13th in the XCO race on Sunday.
“They were both really good,” Cioppa said. “Leogang is a pretty different course than the others. It's so steep and so much more climbing than we're used to in some of the other World Cups. But I executed a good weekend. The short track was pretty dry and hot out, and then when we got to the XCO, it was downpouring the whole day.”
Cioppa finished the seven laps around the short track in 20:47. Ellna Benoit won the race in 19:32, while Vida Lopez de San Roman finished second in 19:44 and Ella MacPhee was third in 19:52.
The Durango native had a superb start from the front row and led the first two laps. The energy she spent early on caught up with her and she didn’t have the gas to stay at the front in the final five laps.
Cioppa admitted she may have gotten a bit excited leading a World Cup but was happy to have that experience.
While some riders ran gravel tires in the XCC races, Cioppa went with her Maxxis Aspen ST Tire, which she was very happy with.
On Sunday, Cioppa finished 13th in the muddy and rainy XCO race in 1:18:38 after five laps around the XCO course. Fiona Schibler won the race, Monique Halter finished second in 1:13:41 and Benoit was third in 1:15:07.
Cioppa was on a mud tire and didn’t have much trouble on the climbs because they were on fire roads. The most challenging parts were the muddy, steep descents over roots. Cioppa had to unclip multiple times like most riders.
“When it's muddy, you really just have to adapt more than when it's dry,” Cioppa said. “I haven't in the past been super good in the mud. But as you race more, you learn a lot more. You have to be willing to keep going after you make mistakes because every single lot you're making multiple mistakes.”
Cioppa was happy with her race and said she was consistent as she rode her own race. She loves the long and punchy climbs Leogang has to offer.
Durango resident Savilia Blunk had a solid showing in Leogang, finishing eighth in the women’s elite XCC and women’s elite XCO 14th.
“I was kind of excited about the weather, because it always throws everyone off when conditions change so much,” Blunk said. “But it definitely is really challenging for the body, because you race short track with 75 degrees in the heat with ice socks and dump bottles. Sunday was the complete opposite, where you're trying not to get too cold.”
Blunk finished the women’s elite XCC race in 22:05, 52 seconds behind winner Puck Pieterse after eight laps on the short track. Samara Maxwell finished second in 21:29 and Nicole Koller was in third in 21:34.
The Decathlon Ford rider had a decent start and was 12th after the first lap. She continued her quest through the field and was ninth about seven seconds back at the start of the fourth lap.
“I was never able to completely close the gap on the front group,” Blunk said. “I would be super close at the bottom of the climb and I'd try to carry my speed and close. I would close it by three seconds every lap, but then at the top of the climb, they'd open it up again and then I'd be with you with the same gap.”
Tactics didn’t play out a ton in the XCC race for Blunk. She described it as a minute all-out climb and a 40-second descent. That simplicity led to everyone going all out and not thinking about tactics like staying in the group or floating on someone’s wheel.
In the XCO race, Blunk was excited about running her new mud tire but wasn’t feeling great in the race. Blunk realized after the race that she came into the weekend more fatigued than she wanted to be because of the busy World Cup schedule.
Pieterse won the race in 1:26:39 after five laps around the XCO circuit. Maxwell was second in 1:27:29 and Ramona Forchini was third in 1:28:05. Blunk came home in 14th in 1:30:45.
Blunk had a great start and was fourth early in the first lap. She dropped to fifth but got back into fourth in the woods on a very slippery and muddy descent. Blunk was about 25 second back from Pieterse.
The former Fort Lewis College star was fourth and 28 seconds back at the start of lap two. It was a tough opening half lap of the second as Blunk fell back to 10th as a big group caught her before the riders got into the muddy descents in the woods.
“(The key is) being as relaxed as you can in those muddy conditions, the more gripped and tense you are, you're going to crash,” Blunk said. “So just like trying to flow and float through the slippery conditions, not being too married to one line, but kind of being flexible and to follow your bike where it goes and keep your handlebars straight.”
Blunk continued to fall and was in 12th early in the third lap, about 1:50 behind Pieterse. She was in 15th about 3:30 back from Pieterse near the end of the fifth lap.
Durango’s Riley Amos had a decent start to his weekend and finished 16th in the men’s elite XCC race, 37 seconds behind Blevins. But the weekend ended on a sour note as Amos retired from the men’s elite XCO race.
Fellow Durango resident Sofia Waite returned to the World Cup scene after dealing with some health issues. She finished 14th in the women’s U-23 XCC race and 25th in the women’s U-23 XCO race.
The Durango-based Team Segment 28 was represented by Dane Grey and Ivan Sippy in the men’s U-23 field.
Grey finished 31st in the men’s U-23 XCC and 33rd in the XCO while Sippy finished 36th in the XCC and 33rd in the XCO.
Durango’s Lauren Aggeler finished 48th in the women’s U-23 XCO race.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
