With the Olympics in sight, Durango’s Howard Grotts got a warmup to the big event by taking 30th in the UCI Cross-Country Mountain Bike World Cup at Mont-Sante-Anne, Quebec, Canada.
Grotts finished the 17.3-mile, seven lap course in 1 hour, 36 minutes, 22 seconds.
It was a good chance for Grotts to get a good measure on his Olympic competition before the Aug. 21 cross-country race in Rio de Janeiro. France’s Julien Absalon won the event in 1:29:37 as fellow Frenchman Victor Koretzky (who is a U23 rider) took second in 1:30:21. Switzerland’s Mathias Fluckiger took third with 1:30:29, and Matthias Stirnemann took fourth with 1:30:31.
Grotts was not the only American to race on Sunday, and in fact, wasn’t the top American either. Stephen Ettinger of Cashmere, Washington took 26th with a time of 1:35:40. Other Americans who raced were Russell Finsterwald of Colorado Springs took 41st with a time of 1:39:42. Keegan Swenson of Park City took 44th with a time of 1:40:18.
The average speed of each rider was 11.6 miles per hour.
Other Americans who finished the race were Nicholas Beechan, Thomas Sampson, Alex Wild, Ernie Watenpaugh, William Melone, Christopher Hamlin, Ian Gielar and Noah Tautfest.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
