After winning a third-straight short track event, Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) went on to also claim the elite men's cross-country race at the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike Series XCO World Cup in Nové Město na Moravě on Sunday.
The US rider soloed to the victory by seven seconds ahead of runner-up from France, Mathis Azzaro (AVC Aix-en-Provence) and third-placed from Switzerland, Lars Forster (Thömus Maxon), while Frenchman Victor Koretzky (Specialized Factory Racing) finished in fourth place.
"I have to say Nové Mĕsto means so much to me, means so much to the sport. I’ve been here 11 years now, cried in the woods after bad races at Junior, cried after bad races at U23. I felt all the emotions after winning my first European World Cup in this iconic stadium. It is a beautiful day, and I am really grateful," Blevins said.
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin–Deceuninck), who returned to mountain biking for the first time in nearly two years, was forced to abandon the elite men's race after he crashed twice in the opening laps.
Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV XCO) led at the end of the start loop, followed by Koretzky and Blevins, and Alan Hatherly (Giant Factory Off-Road Team-XC). They were later joined by Mathis Azzaro (Origine Racing Division), Filippo Colombo (SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing Team), Mathias Flückiger and Vital Albin (Thömus Maxon), and Fabio Puntener.
A small error caused Blevins to unclip on the fifth lap, nearly crashing. "That hurt in a spot you don’t want to hurt. I looked at Victor, and he kind of shook his head at me as he saw the sketchy moment," Blevins said.
"These roots are pretty slick even when they are dry, and when I am on the limit, I sometimes make mistakes. I am working on that. Thankfully, I kept it up today, but had to just regroup and be as perfect as I can be every lap."
Blevins maneuvered himself among the front of the race and made his winning move on the penultimate circuit, pushing his lead out to seven seconds as he crossed the line to keep the momentum rolling in his impressive start to the season.
Results
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