Christopher Blevins did something he’s never done before last weekend: Win two UCI Mountain Bike World Cup men’s elite races in one weekend.
The Durango Olympian showed he’s ready to fight at the top of the men’s elite field with strong legs and a strong mind for tactics in Araxá, Minas Gerais, Brazil, during the second round of the World Cup.
On Friday, Blevins won the cross-country short track race (XCC) in 21 minutes and two seconds, five seconds ahead of his Specialized Factory Racing teammate Victor Koretzky. Blevins did the double on Saturday by winning the cross-country Olympic race in 1:22:42, two seconds ahead of his Specialized teammate Martín Vidaurre.
“It was incredible,” Blevins said. “It takes a little while to process, but at the same time, the results really are what you see on the outside. I've had moments where I didn't really realize this was the most successful run I've had in my career. But that's a good thing, because I'm just excited to keep doing what I'm doing.”
After Blevins had a win and a second-place finish at the first round of the World Cup in Araxá, the course changed for the second round. Blevins said the second round course had a longer climb compared to the first round course, which had shorter, punchier climbs. He described the second round as more of an interval session with two or three minutes of all-out effort and then five minutes to recover.
Blevins has been working on that longer, sustained effort needed for those longer climbs and it paid off.
It was hot and humid in Araxá for both weekends but especially last weekend. Blevins said the riders had dump bottles twice a lap and a full bottle of ice to keep them cool.
On Friday in the XCC face, Blevins didn’t have the best start from the front row as the riders began eight laps around the 1.39-kilometer short track. Blevins said he slipped a pedal early on, but many riders wanted to get ahead of the Specialized guys after seeing the dominance the Specialized team had during the first round of the World Cup the weekend before in Araxá.
“It has an effect; it changes the way XC racing is perceived at the end of the day,” Blevins said about Specialized’s early dominance. “It is an individual sport, but having that mass swarm of red jerseys on the front is a little intimidating for the other riders and it's really cool. These are the people you live with for most of the year and it goes beyond us as racers.”
Blevins made a move during the second lap and made it up to fourth at the start of the third. The top group stretched out a little bit at the end of the third lap as Blevins took the lead as the top group started their fourth lap.
Luca Schwarzbauer did a lot of the work at the front in the middle of the race, as Blevins was happy to follow in second. Blevins made his move on the climb during the sixth lap and took the lead around the outside with a powerful attack.
He fell back to second on the seventh lap behind Carter Woods. A lead group of four started the final lap. Blevins took the lead on the climb and attacked again. He destroyed Nino Schurter and Koretzky on the climb, gapping those two and building a five-second lead.
The Durango star went through the jumps with ease and crossed the finish line sitting up, celebrating the victory.
“I definitely was surprised, but it felt good,” Blevins said. “Victor didn't feel as good as he did the first week. I went super deep, because I knew he's not someone you want on your wheel and always fights to the end.”
On Saturday, Blevins got a great start and led from the starting gun as the riders began the 10 laps around the 3.69 km XCO track. He led the first lap and Vidaurre took the lead as a lead group of 10 stared the second lap.
Blevins dropped back to sixth as the top group attacked a climb but he made a move and held the lead during the third lap.
Blevins and Koretzky had gap growing at the end of the fourth but decided not to go for a big attack to build a gap. The commentators for the race questioned the move not to build the gap.
“It sort of was like a slinky effect every time; it would spread out, people would lose five seconds, but then if they kept digging, they could get back on the wheels,” Blevins said. “We were just trying to recover more because we knew it was a long climb.”
The race really broke when Fabio Püntener skipped the tech zone and went for it at the start of the ninth lap, creating a five-second gap to Blevins and the chasing group. Blevins and Vidaurre caught Püntener before he skipped the tech zone again at the start of the final lap.
Blevins caught him on the climb on the final lap and took the lead. Fellow Specialized Factory rider Adrien Boichis led during the middle of the final lap as Blevins was close by in second.
As the riders went from the grass to the final stretch on the pavement, Blevins got out of the saddle and attacked. Boichis didn’t have a response as Blevins surged to the line for the win.
Blevins now leads the men’s elite standings after two rounds with 610 points. Koretzky is second with 510 points and Vidaurre is third with 420 points.
“Winning a World Cup can make a season,” Blevins said. “I don't want to just win one this year. But I've only done it three times in my career, and again, to go 1-2-3 with teammates, it's as good as it gets.”
After a podium at the first round in Araxá, Durango resident Savilia Blunk couldn’t replicate the same success in the second round in Araxá. She finished 11th in the XCC women’s elite race on Friday and 14th in the XCO women’s elite race on Saturday.
“I'm super stoked with how I'm feeling, because it's been a super different build into the season than last year, and actually, than ever before for me,” Blunk said. “I've really approached my process and my preparation with being more relaxed, calm and confident about it. Whereas last year, I was super rigid, stressed and hyper-focused on everything. That kind of comes with an Olympic year and the pressure, the stakes that are with it. But I really have tried to hone my process, to be more relaxed and just trusting that I'll be where I need to be when I'm there.”
Blunk liked both of the tracks in Araxá and thought round two had more natural and technical sections, whereas round one was like a pump track with a bunch of big hits with the jumps.
Evie Richards won the XCC women’s elite race in 21:24 while Blunk crossed the line in 21:40. Jenny Rissveds won the XCO women’s elite race in 1:26:59 and Blunk crossed the line in 1:28:42.
Blunk is excited for the rest of the World Cup, especially with how well her Decathlon Ford Racing team is doing; teammate Samara Maxwell finished on the podium last weekend. Blunk is intrigued with the possibility of doing team tactics with Maxwell if they’re both at the front in future races.
Next up for Blunk is the Whiskey Off-Road in Prescott, Arizona, from April 25-27.
Durango’s Riley Amos bounced back after a tough men’s elite debut in Araxá in round one. Amos finished 22nd in the men’s elite XCC race and 14th in the men’s elite XCO race.
Amos was in the top five in the short track race before finishing 23 seconds behind Blevins. He finished 1:17 behind Blevins in the XCO race.
“Beyond happy to be able to be in the top 15 in the second World Cup after not being able to finish last weekend,” Amos wrote on Instagram. “It was an absolute war for 1.5 hours but to be in the battle for it at the front was freaking cool. In 2 weeks I’ve learned so much already about how different these elite races are and how small race decisions and a bit of luck can take you from fighting for the podium to the 30’s in an instant.”
Durango’s Bailey Cioppa had a career day in the U-23 women’s XCO race on Saturday, earning her first U-23 top-10 finish with a ninth-place result.
Cioppa finished ninth in 1:12:48 after seven laps around the Araxá round two course. Isabella Holmgren won the race in 1:09:19.
On Friday, Cioppa finished 16th in the women’s U-23 short track race in 19:32. Holmgren won that race in 18:40.
“I'm super happy about it,” Cioppa said about her top 10. “I've been knocking on the door for a while and I'm super proud of that result.”
Cioppa said there was super tight racing and the second round track reminded her of riding in Durango. She had a lot of confidence and learned a lot the week before. She watched round one back and knew where she needed to be in the second round.
“The short tracks, I'm still trying to figure out a little bit,” Cioppa said. “They're very tactical and in the U.S., I'm really good at short tracks, because I understand them a lot more. In the World Cup, there are so many people who are good at good at them, have a tactical plan and you really have to be in the right place at the right time.”
Fellow Durangoan Lauren Aggeler finished 26th in the women’s U-23 XCC race and 27th in the women’s U-23 XCO race.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
