For the first time in over 20 years, the Pan-American Mountain Bike Championships were back in the U.S. this past weekend in Midway, Utah. Durango’s Riley Amos and Christopher Blevins took advantage of riding on home soil and pushed even closer to securing a second Olympic mountain bike spot.
Amos took care of business in the Men's U23 XCO race on Saturday, winning with a time of 1 hour, 33 minutes and seven seconds which was 15 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher American Brayden Johnson. Carson Beard finished third with a time of 1:34.12 and Ivan Sippy finished seventh with a 1:34.30.
The Men’s Elite XCC race on Friday was also won by Amos with a time of 22:08 with Blevins in second with the same time. Sippy finished ninth with a 22:15.
Blevins then dominated the Men’s Elite XCO race on Sunday, finishing in first with a time of 1:19.35 which was 1:26 faster than the second-place finisher.
“Pan Am champs in Utah -I normally have to skip continentals with it being a big trip to South America each year, so it was a great to have it in the U.S. and close enough to Colorado for the whole fam to come watch,” Blevins wrote on Instagram. “USA Cycling won in every category, and I had a solid one in the XC at altitude.”
In the Women's U23 race on Saturday, Durango’s Bailey Cioppa finished third out of 36 racers with a time of 1:25:49, which was 4:32 behind winner Madigan Munro. In the same race, Lauren Aggeler finished 9th with a time of 1:29:13.
“Another bronze for me in yesterday’s XCO,” Cioppa wrote on Instagram. “Felt like I only had one speed for most of the race but I can be proud of the weekend and leaving with far more confidence than I came with!”
Cioppa also finished third in the Elite Women XCC race on Friday with a time of 22:55, 17 seconds behind winner Haley Batten.
Durango’s Emmett McManus won the Junior Men 17-18-year-old XCO race on Sunday with a time of 1:08.59. Fellow Durangoan Kai Lokey finished second with a time of 1:10.08.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
