{"id":46255,"date":"2021-06-13T18:41:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-14T00:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/riley-amos-becomes-first-american-mens-mountain-biker-to-win-u23-world-cup-cross-country-race\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:30:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:30:23","slug":"riley-amos-becomes-first-american-mens-mountain-biker-to-win-u23-world-cup-cross-country-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/riley-amos-becomes-first-american-mens-mountain-biker-to-win-u23-world-cup-cross-country-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Riley Amos becomes first American men\u2019s mountain biker to win U23 World Cup cross-country race"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ross
Ross Bell\/Trek Factory RacingDurango's Riley Amos hoists his Trek mountain bike high above his head after winning the men's U23 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup race Sunday in Leogang, Austria.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Riley Amos took his historic debut season as a men\u2019s under-23 World Cup mountain biker to new heights Sunday.<\/p>\n

The 19-year-old from Durango won the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup race for men\u2019s U23 riders Sunday in Leogang, Austria. His victory in the third World Cup race of the 2021 season backed up his second-place finish at Nov\u00e9 M\u011bsto na Morav\u011b, Czech Republic, and a fifth place in his World Cup debut in Albstadt, Germany.<\/p>\n

Amos is believed to be the first American man to win a U23 World Cup in the cross-country discipline.<\/p>\n

The last time an American men\u2019s cross-country mountain biker stood on top of a World Cup podium was Durango\u2019s Howard Grotts in 2011 at a junior World Cup race in New York. No American man has won an elite level World Cup in the cross-country discipline since Durango\u2019s Ned Overend won two World Cup races in Italy and Switzerland in 1994. Tinker Juarez also won an elite men\u2019s World Cup in 1994 in British Columbia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am over the moon. I could not have done any better today,\u201d Amos said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald<\/em>. \u201cIt feels so special. Standing on top step and hearing our national anthem on a World Cup podium, it\u2019s something I\u2019ll remember forever. It was such a crazy feeling. To break this curse, in a sense, I know many more Americans are going to come follow these footsteps.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ross
Ross Bell\/Trek Factory Racing
\nDurango's Riley Amos earned the honor of popping bottles on the top step of the podium Sunday after the men's under-23 cross-country race at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Leogang, Austria.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Overend also was elated to see Amos\u2019 result Sunday, though he was not surprised.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty crazy to think it\u2019s been that long. We\u2019ve had a lot of great American racers,\u201d Overend said. \u201cGetting it done is never that easy, and it\u2019s always hard racing in Europe because of the travel and adapting to the courses, which tend to be a lot different there because of the weather. But in this sport, you can be the best rider and still not win that day. So much can go wrong, and it all really has to line up perfectly on the right day to get a win.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, Riley winning doesn\u2019t surprise me at all seeing how well he\u2019s been riding at the last World Cups. He\u2019s super consistent. That\u2019s a hard course over there, but Riley has great bike handling skills and is a great climber, and it\u2019s a hard course for climbing.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the long, sustained climb on the course that helped Amos get off the front and hold off the chasing field Sunday.<\/p>\n

His winning time of 1 hour, 8 minutes, 26 seconds was 12 seconds better than Chile\u2019s Martin Vidaurre Kossmann, who is the reigning Pan-American U23 champion.<\/p>\n

Switzerland\u2019s Joel Roth was third, 49 seconds behind Amos. Canada\u2019s Carter Woods, the overall series leader after he won the first two races of the season, was fifth in 1:09:24.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a great start and went to the front on the start loop,\u201d Amos said. \u201cThere was a new climb that was 90 seconds straight up in a straight line. I went to the front there and hit it hard with everything I had. The last downhill is the trickiest on the course, and I knew I wanted to lead into that downhill because I knew I could ride it good and was super confident on it. I thought if I could lead into that downhill that the race would split up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got off the front 15 seconds. After that, Martin and I were both going so hard on our limit with him trying to catch me and me trying not to get caught. He\u2019d bring back a couple seconds on the climb, and I\u2019d get a few seconds back on the descent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ross
Ross Bell\/Trek Factory Racing
\nDurango's Riley Amos knew he wanted to be alone in front going into the downhill portions of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup course in Leogang, Austria. That's how he was able to maintain a 10- to 15-second lead all race.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Chilean was able to get within 10 seconds of Amos on the final lap, and Amos knew any kind of crash or bobble would see him lose his lead. But he was able to stay smooth on the final descent to the finish, where he crossed the line and triumphantly raised his Trek bike over his head in celebration. Amos has been riding with the suppot of the Trek Factory Racing team while in Europe this season in a bridge program to the top team from his Bear National Team.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s huge. To be a first-year U23, not a lot of 19-year-olds have come into the category and been able to perform this well and win a World Cup,\u201d Amos said. \u201cThe confidence that comes with it is so incredible. I am trying to take it all in, be humble and enjoy it while it\u2019s here. It\u2019s never easy, and it won\u2019t always be this simple. There will be hard days, crashes and injuries to come back from that will be harder. It\u2019s important to take this in while I have it and remember what this feeling is like for the years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was California\u2019s Kate Courtney who ended the American drought of World Cup victories in 2019 in Albstadt, where she became the first American on the top step of a World Cup podium since Alison Dunlap in 1999. Amos\u2019 victory Sunday ended an even longer men\u2019s drought.<\/p>\n

Durango\u2019s Christopher Blevins found himself on numerous U23 podiums, including two silver medals in the world championships, but never the top step. Durango\u2019s Grotts earned a bronze at the U23 world championships in 2014 and had won the UCI junior series World Cup event in 2011 in New York. But he, too, never quite reached that top step at the U23 or elite level.<\/p>\n

\"Ross
Ross Bell\/Trek Factory Racing
\nWhile the course was still a bit muddy, it held up better than anyone expected Sunday for the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup races in Leogang, Austria. Durango's Riley Amos was able to ride his own race on the front on his way to a U23 victory.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWe have so much talent here. You look at guys like Howard and Chris, and I think they\u2019ve contributed to Riley\u2019s success,\u201d Overend said. \u201cEverything from NICA racing to Durango Devo to the history of the pros that live here in Durango, I like to think that it all contributes to Riley\u2019s success. I think we\u2019re going to see a lot more. We saw it with Kate Courtney, and I think the junior development in our country right now is the best it has been. When the competition is high, then the cream rises to the top.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amos will race in the elite men\u2019s field next week at the Swiss Cup. After that, he had planned to return home to prepare for the national championships in July, but now he said he may consider staying in Europe for the next World Cup scheduled for July 3-4 in France. He is now the 55th ranked rider in the world, regardless of age.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter today, I am now super close to the overall lead, so I will have to reconsider my plans to come home maybe,\u201d Amos said. \u201cComing into this year, I wanted to be a top-three guy among the first year U23s and maybe a top 10 overall. That was the goal for World Cups. Now, the goal is going to be to try to win the world championships.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elite Men\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n

Blevins, fresh off being selected for the USA Cycling team for the 2021 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, turned in a 21st-place finish Sunday in the elite men\u2019s race in Austria.<\/p>\n

The first-year elite rider turned in a steady performance to finish in 1:20:04. The victory went to Switzerland\u2019s Mathias Flueckiger in 1:15:50. Ond\u0159ej Cink of the Czech Republic was second in 1:16:04, while New Zealand\u2019s Anton Cooper raced to third in 1:16:35.<\/p>\n

Still only 23, Blevins savored another opportunity to race against the world\u2019s best before the Olympic race July 26.<\/p>\n

Flueckiger also had won the short-track race Friday that goes to determine start position for the cross-country race Sunday. Cink was second in that race, too. Blevins would place 36th.<\/p>\n

Blevins is now ranked 28th in the world and remained the highest-ranked rider age 23 or younger.<\/p>\n

\u201cA solid weekend of racing with quite the backdrop for it,\u201d Blevins said in a post to Instagram.<\/p>\n

jlivingston@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Ross
Ross Bell\/Trek Factory Racing
\nDurango's Riley Amos earned the first gold medal for U.S. men's cross-country mountain biking in a UCI World Cup race since Durango's Howard Grotts won a junior level race in 2011. Before that, it was back to 1994 with Durango's Ned Overend in an elite men's World Cup.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U23 gold Sunday in Austria<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[657,28,977,346],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-46255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cycling","tag-headlines","tag-mountain-biking","tag-sports"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46255","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=46255"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86808,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46255\/revisions\/86808"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46255"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=46255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}