An epic battle kicked off the 2018 Epic Rides mountain bike series.
Durango’s Howard Grotts and Utah’s Keegan Swenson squared off twice in three days at the Whiskey Off-Road events in Prescott, Arizona. In Friday night’s fat tire criterium race in downtown Prescott, it was Grotts who had the final kick to finish ahead of Swenson. But in Sunday’s main event – the 50-mile backcountry race – it was Swenson who had the watts in the final stretch to the finish line to hold off Grotts to take the win.
Swenson and Grotts both completed the 50 miles in 2 hours, 59 minutes, 16 seconds, with Swenson finishing one bike length ahead for the win. Switzerland’s Nicola Rohrbach was third in 2:59:37, and Canada’s Geoff Kabush placed fourth in 3:00:56.
Grotts took the lead on the course’s big climb, but Swenson made up ground in the technical descent and hit the pavement heading back into Prescott in first place.
“Second for me at the Whiskey Off-Road,” Grotts said in a post to Instagram. “I tried to build a big enough gap on Skull Valley, but (Swenson) caught me on the descent just before the pavement into Prescott – the new singletrack at the end ended up being the nail in my coffin, as fun as it was! It was super exciting to be sprinting to the line in a marathon race though, even if the legs hated it.”
Sunday was Grotts’ second consecutive runner-up finish at the Whiskey 50 after he finished behind New Zealand’s Sam Gaze last year. Grotts won the race in 2016 and 2015.
It was Swenson’s first Whiskey 50 win.
“Boy have I always wanted to win this one,” he said in a post to Instagram. “Was an awesome battle with (Grotts) to the final few meters.”
Russell Finsterwald of Colorado Springs placed fifth in 3:01:53, while Fort Lewis College’s Richard Cypress Gorry placed sixth in 3:02:31. Former FLC rider Ryan Standish was seventh in 3:02:55. Durango’s Payson McElveen was ninth in 3:03:48.
“Incremental improvement is one of the things that hooked me on this sport,” McElveen said in an Instagram post. “It was so satisfying to finally make that lead group at (Whiskey Off-Road). Somewhat uncharacteristically didn’t have to depth late in the game, but ended up in an exciting four-up sprint for eighth.
“(Fernando Riveros) tried to pull off an impressive inside pass on me on the final corner, and ended up in the barriers. ...I barely avoided him, but that opened the door for (Jerry Dufour) in the last few meters. Speaking of this race coming down to inches, big congratulations to (Swenson) on a superb ride.”
Grotts is the defending Epic Rides series champion, and McElveen was third last year despite a tough showing at the Whiskey 50.
“One of the biggest victories for me is leaving this opening round of the four-round series in touch with all the podium players,” McElveen said. “In years past, I’ve always left this one in a hole and clawed back time over the ensuing rounds. It’s shaping up to be a knock-down, drag-out battle all the way to the final round in October.”
Also at the Whiskey 50, Durango’s Benjamin Sonntag finished 16th in 3:06:49, Durango’s Stephan Davoust, an FLC rider, was 28th in 3:12:38, and Durango’s Levi Kurlander was 39th in 3:16:26. FLC riders Matthew Turner and Nash Dory finished 40th and 41st, respectively. FLC’s Henry Nadell was 45th, Durango’s Nick Gould was 50th, Keiran Eagen of FLC and Durango was 51st, FLC’s Thomas Gauthier was 59th and FLC rider Jason Rowton was 65th.
The women’s race was won by Annika Langvad, as the Specialized Racing rider continued her strong run. The Danish woman finished in 3:27:25. Chloe Woodruff of Arizona was second in 3:29:03 and Boulder’s Erin Huck was third in 3:31:53. California’s Kate Courtney was fourth in 3:35:51. Former FLC rider Sofia Gomez-Villafañe was sixth in 3:42:54.
McElveen, the defending marathon national champion, will join Grotts on Sunday in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, for the USA Cycling Marathon Mountain Bike National Championships. Grotts was second to McElveen last year.
jlivingston@ durangoherald.com
