On a course that turned into a skating rink as rain fell near the finish, mountain biker Todd Wells of Durango continued his winning ways Saturday in Wisconsin.
The 38-year-old Wells captured the Pro XCT series race in Portage, Wisconsin, marking the fourth consecutive weekend he has won a national series event. The Specialized rider finished the five-lap race in 1 hour, 46 minutes, 12 seconds. Stephen Ettinger of Bozeman, Montana captured second, 27 seconds behind Wells.
Four other Durango-based riders placed in the men’s top 12: Rotem Ishtay of Team Jamis was fourth, 4:20 behind Wells; Sepp Kuss of BMC Project Dirt was seventh; Howard Grotts of Specialized was 10th; and Payson McElveen of Richard’s Rainwater was 12th. Of the 39 pro men’s finishers, 10 were Durangoans.
The pro women’s winner was Evelyn Dong of Park City, Utah. No Durango women were listed in the pro women’s results.
In an email recap, Wells said the race on a ski hill not far from Madison, Wisconsin started out dry and fast. Wells went to the front with Ettinger, Grotts and Kuss.
“For the first three laps, the traction was perfect, and it felt like I was riding a dirt bike the way I could throw it into a corner, and the tires would just hook up,” the three-time Olympian said.
But those conditions changed abruptly with the rain.
“The course turned into an ice skating rink once the rain started to fall,” Wells said. “We were skateboarding it around some of the corners with one foot out just trying to keep it upright.”
Wells managed to extend his lead on Ettinger, stay upright and slide to the finish in first place. With the win, Wells clinched the Pro XCT series.
Wells won the U.S. marathon mountain bike race July 5 in Sun Valley, Idaho. The week before that, he won the cross country event in Colorado Springs, and prior to that he won the short track event June 20 in Missoula, Montana.
Next up on the calendar is the U.S. national mountain bike cross country championships Thursday through Sunday in Bear Creek Resort, Pennsylvania. Pro men and women cross country races are Saturday, and short track races are Sunday.
johnp@durangoherald.com
