{"id":26375,"date":"2024-07-29T13:48:29","date_gmt":"2024-07-29T19:48:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-mountain-bikers-place-7th-and-13th-in-paris-2024-olympics-mens-ride\/"},"modified":"2024-07-29T19:48:29","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T19:48:29","slug":"durango-mountain-bikers-place-7th-and-13th-in-paris-2024-olympics-mens-ride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-mountain-bikers-place-7th-and-13th-in-paris-2024-olympics-mens-ride\/","title":{"rendered":"Durango mountain bikers place 7th and 13th in Paris 2024 Olympics men\u2019s ride"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Riley
Riley Amos, of United States, competes in the men\u2019s mountain bike race, at the 2024 Summer Olympics on Monday in Elancourt, France. (Ricardo Mazalan\/Associated Press)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

ELANCOURT, France \u2013 As defending champion Thomas Pidcock of Great Britain churned up the Olympic men\u2019s mountain biking course at Elancourt Hill in France, riding like a madman to get back into the lead, he didn\u2019t have the devil behind him.<\/p>\n

It was Durango\u2019s Riley Amos.<\/p>\n

If Americans need reassurance that their first medal in the sport will be soon in coming, they need to look no further than the results of Amos and fellow Durangoan Christopher Blevins on Monday in the Paris 2024 men\u2019s Olympic mountain biking race.<\/p>\n

Blevins, 26, recovered from a flat tire in the early laps to finish 13th in the 36-man field. That was a one-spot improvement over his Tokyo Olympics performance where he didn\u2019t encounter such a setback.<\/p>\n

\"Christopher
Christopher Blevins, of the United States, competes in the men\u2019s mountain bike race, at the 2024 Summer Olympics on Monday in Elancourt, France. (Thibault Camus\/Associated Press)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Christopher
Christopher Blevins, of the United States, leads Luca Schwarzbauer, of Germany, during the men\u2019s mountain bike race at the 2024 Summer Olympics on Monday in Elancourt, France. (Ricardo Mazalan\/Associated Press)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Meanwhile Amos, making his Olympic debut at age 22, proved he could keep pace with athletes like Pidcock, who grabbed the gold medal. His seventh-place finish goes down as the best Olympic result ever for an American man. Todd Wells, Amos\u2019 first pro coach, previously set the standard with a 10th-place finish at the 2012 London Games.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always been history at the Olympics,\u201d Amos said, choking up over the enormity of his accomplishment. \u201cSo, to do that at 22 and have my absolute legends of the sport, Todd Wells and Chris (Blevins), be my mentors the past couple years and learn from them and move forward is a huge step for U.S. Mountain Biking. So, I\u2019m thrilled.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Riley
Riley Amos, of the United States, competes in the men\u2019s mountain bike race, at the 2024 Summer Olympics on Monday in Elancourt, France. (Thibault Camus\/Associated Press)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Riley
Riley Amos, of the United States, competes in the men\u2019s mountain bike race, at the 2024 Summer Olympics on Monday in Elancourt, France. (Thibault Camus\/Associated Press)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Amos may have been something of a mystery to many of the riders because he had not competed in a single UCI World Cup elite-level race. Instead, he has been ripping through the U23 circuit, winning all but one of eight World Cup races this season. He gained valuable UCI points along the way and his resulting spot on the front row of the Olympic race \u2013 reserved for the top eight riders \u2013 may have tipped off some of the other racers to his talents.<\/p>\n

If not, his ascension to the front of the pack for the first half lap or so of the race surely did.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got swarmed really hard in the first two laps. Like, so aggressive, a super intro to racing with the big guys,\u201d he said. \u201cBut at the same time, I definitely proved I\u2019m competitive and really anything can happen on race day, and I just tried to slowly tick forward, rider after rider.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just so thankful to be here,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a couple of laps early in the race, the Durango contingent raced if not with each other then just a few wheels away from each other toward the back of the lead group. The plan, Blevins said, was to conserve energy while staying within striking distance if an opportunity to move to the front presented itself.<\/p>\n

Feeling like he had more to give, though, Blevins moved in for a closer look at the leaders just before the start of the fourth lap of the eight-lap, roughly 21\u00bd-mile race. What he saw didn\u2019t let the air out of his tire, but a puncture did.<\/p>\n

Blevins rode about half the course on the soft tire before reaching the area where racers are allowed to get mechanical help. The damage, though, had been done.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn top of the flat, you use that anaerobic faster in trying to come back to the group,\u201d USA Cycling sports director Jim Miller said. \u201cAnd then you don\u2019t have the turbo button to press anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blevins kept pushing, though, and climbed at least three spots in the standings through attrition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a really tall order to get (back into contention),\u201d Blevins said. \u201cI would have had to have near-magic legs, and I didn\u2019t have those.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pidcock had a pair, though.<\/p>\n

He was probably hoping to save them for next weekend\u2019s men\u2019s road race, where he will also represent Team GB. But Monday, he needed to tap into them for the mountain bike win.<\/p>\n

\"Thomas
Thomas Pidcock, of Britain, celebrates winning the men\u2019s mountain bike race, at the 2024 Summer Olympics on Monday in Elancourt, France. (Thibault Camus\/Associated Press)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Pidcock punctured his front tire on the fourth lap, just like Blevins. One big difference, though, was that Pidcock\u2019s happened just as he was entering the assistance area. Even though it took his mechanics a moment to realize their rider needed a repair, they had him back on the course in seconds. He never even dropped out of the top eight.<\/p>\n

One of the first riders Pidcock, 25, came across as he rocketed back into medal contention was Amos. He said he had no illusions of being able to keep pace with the Renaissance cyclist who has won cyclocross titles and a stage of the 2022 Tour de France.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely wasn\u2019t trying to follow his wheel,\u201d Amos said. \u201cBut it\u2019s pretty cool to be in the mix with all those guys. I just had a smile on my face when I was on the wheel of a legend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pidcock returned to the lead pack with two laps to go. After battling with France\u2019s Victor Koretzky nearly to the end \u2013 including a controversial clashing of tires as Pidcock passed on the final rocky section \u2013 the Brit seized the victory. He became just the third mountain biker to win back-to-back gold medals since the sport was added to the Olympic program in 1996.<\/p>\n

Koretzky secured the silver to the delight of thousands of French fans lining the course. Just two seconds behind him, South Africa\u2019s Alan Hatherly became the first athlete from an African country to medal at an Olympic cycling event.<\/p>\n

They did it in 90-degree heat.<\/p>\n

Thrilled with his result, Amos said he sees a bright future for the USA men\u2019s mountain biking team. Frustrated with his, Blevins has the same outlook. Both said they plan to be in Los Angeles in 2028, but maybe this time they\u2019ll be the guy to bring home the country\u2019s first medal.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiving everything at the Olympics is the goal, and I think I accomplished that,\u201d Blevins said. \u201cObviously, I\u2019m a bit disappointed to not be able to fight for the front positions. But that\u2019s the sport. It\u2019s part of it, and everybody goes through it. And you\u2019ve just got to appreciate the opportunity. And I know I\u2019ll be back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Julie Jag is a former sports reporter for The Durango Herald and now works at the Salt Lake Tribune. She is covering the Summer Olympics from Paris<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

made his Olympic debut; Christopher Blevins overcame a flat tire<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,977,2505],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-26375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-mountain-biking","tag-summer-olympics"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26375"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=26375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}