Highlights of the 2022 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships

Blunk and Swenson Crowned Cross-Country National Champions

Day six of the 2022 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships saw enduro, short-track, and cross-country national champions crowned. With the top racers in the country battling to the finish, today’s races captivated spectators both online and in person.

Cross-Country

The U23 Women were the first endurance riders to hit the course in the morning. Madigan Munro (Boulder, Colo.; Trek Factory Racing) went off from the gun and never looked back. She took home the national title with a 51-second gap on Sofia Waite (Littleton, Colo.; WE Development), who took silver.

The U23 Men took to the red cross-country course shortly after the women finished. After a hard-fought battle for the top spot, Bjorn Riley (Boulder, Colo.; Trek Vaude) took home the stars and stripes jersey. Finishing in second, racing for Bear National Team was Brayden Johnson (Denver, Colo.).

Elite cross-country racing kicked off late in the afternoon with the Elite Women. Eighteen racers toed the line eyeing the national title. With three laps on tap, racers settled into the pace after the first climb on the 5.2-mile course. Kate Courtney (Kentfield, Calif.; Scott-Sram MTB Race Team), Savilia Blunk (Inverness, Calif.; Orange Seal Off-Road Team), and Gwendalyn Gibson (Ramona, Calif.; Norco Factory Team) worked together to form a gap early on. Heading into the second lap, Blunk dug deep to put distance between herself and Courtney. Riding confidently heading into the last lap, Blunk completely separated herself from Gibson, who was 20-seconds ahead of Courtney midway through the final lap. Ending the day on top, Blunk managed to dig deep and win a national title. Courtney battled her way back to second, and Gibson rounded out the podium.

When asked about her incredible performance, Blunk said, “I can’t really believe it yet. I wanted to, of course, go for it, but it was my first year elite, and I didn’t know what to expect. I mean, we had a super competitive field. You never really know what to expect racing at 9,000 feet, it’s just different, but I felt good in an uncomfortable way, I guess. I just trusted my fitness and went for it.”

The elite men had 36 riders line up at the start of the cross-country race. Taking charge at the front early on was defending national champion Keegan Swenson (Park City, Utah; Santa Cruz Bicycles), followed by Christopher Blevins (Durango, Colo.; Specialized Factory Racing), Howard Grotts (Durango, Colo.; Specialized), and Elite Men Cyclocross national champion Eric Brunner (Boulder, Colo.; Blue Competition Cycles). Swenson eventually kicked things up a notch and rolled away from Blevins, Grotts, and Brunner. Sealing the deal and earning the national title, Swenson outpaced second-place finisher Blevins by over a minute. When asked about the confidence it took to make the move on lap number two, he said, “I knew with two to go, I had about 50-seconds on them. I was trying to keep an eye on the switchback up top to see what the gap was. Then on the last lap, I had a minute and a half to two minutes, so I tried to keep it safe and maintain just in case it got a little slick, but luckily it didn’t.”

Morrison and Rude claim gold in professional enduro events.

Enduro

Gravity racers kicked off the day with the enduro event. With five stages to complete, riders had to strategically battle each stage if they wanted to throw down the fastest time. The day’s quickest time came from Richie Rude (Golden, Colo.), who won the Pro Men’s race. On the women’s side, Amy Morrison (Carson City, Nev.) finished in a time of 21:33.4 and earned the national title.

In the amateur categories, Jake Green (Conifer, Colo.) rode to a first place medal in the Senior Men 19-29 race, and Eric Yoon (Arvada, Colo.) took the top step in the Master Men 30-39 category.  Amy Talbot (Gainesville, Fla.) took the win in the Master Women 30-39 race after finishing in a time of 21:16.8. Other gold medalists include Petr Hanak (Winter Park, Colo.) in the Master Men 40-49 race, Ashlee Weimar (Mead, Wash.) in the Master Women 40-49 race, Thorn Bickel (Salt Lake City) in the Master Men 50-59 race, and Lynn Childers (Staunton, Va.) in Master Women 50-59 race. The final masters’ titles were earned by Cary Smith (Salida, Colo.) and Ellen Guthrie (Salt Lake City), winning the Master Men and Women 60+ respectively.

On the junior’s side, endurance rider Jack Spranger (Sammamish, Wash.) claimed the victory in the Junior Men 17-18 race. Erin Bixler (Auburn, Calif.) earned gold in the Junior Women 17-18 race after finishing in a time of 23:46.4. And finally, Gunner Johnson (Fort Collins, Colo.) and Chloe Bear (North Bend, Wash.) earned the stars and stripes jersey in the Junior Men and Women 15-16 categories, respectively.

Blevins, Courtney, Skelton, and Norton Earn National Titles on the Final Day of Mountain Bike Nationals

The final day of the 2022 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships saw the crowning of two new elite short track cross-country national champions as well as two professional downhill champions. With afternoon showers enveloping the mountain, the Elite Men finished in a torrential downpour which ultimately caused a delay in racing for multiple downhill categories.

Short Track

On the endurance side, short track racing was the day’s primary focus. With multiple age groups taking to the 1.1-kilometer course, all categories raced for 20 minutes plus three laps. Bailey Cioppa (Durango, Colo.; Bear National Team) earned the first title of the day, winning the Junior Women 17-18 category. Finishing in a close second was fellow Durango- native Lauren Aggeler (Durango, Colo.; Team Segment 28). Racing continued with the Women 19+. Taking gold after finishing at a time of 31:22 was Lia Westermann (Salt Lake City, Utah; Pivot Cycles/ Stan’s NoTubes). Westermann put 40-seconds between herself and second place. The Junior Men 15-16 race was hot from the start.  Rolling an average lap of 2:30 and pulling away with two to go, Nicholas Konecny (Breckenridge, Colo.; Bear National Team) took the podium’s top step. In the Junior Men 17-18 race, the Bear National Team took control. The Bear National Team riders put in a massive effort on the climb each lap, ultimately separating them from the rest. In a one-two-three sweep, Cayden Parker (Hot Springs, Ariz.; Bear National Team), Dan English (San Ramon, Calif.; Bear National Team), and Raulito Guttierrez (Temecula, Calif.; Bear National Team) finished out their day together on the podium.

The Men’s U23 riders were next on course. It was a place switch after Saturday’s cross-country event for the group, with Brayden Johnson (Littleton, Colo.; Bear National Team), who took silver in the longer distanced event, crowned national champion in the short track, and Saturday’s champion, Bjorn Riley (Boulder, Colo.; Trek Vaude), took home silver today.

As the clouds began to move in, the Elite Women took to the short track course. After settling in during the first couple of laps, a group of four riders, including Kate Courtney (Kentfield, Calif.; Scott-SRAM MTB Race Team), Savilia Blunk (Inverness, Calif.; Orange Seal Off-Road Team), Kelsey Urban (Kentfield, Calif.; Team 31), and Gwendalyn Gibson (Ramona, Calif.; Norco Factory Team), eventually pulled away from the pack and created a significant gap. After an attack on the uphill, Courtney was focused and hungry for the win. In a massive push at the end, she solidified her lead on the final gravel section and pedaled into the finish as the national champion.

The Elite Men were the final racers to take on the short track course. Similar to the women’s race, a large group of riders stuck together for the first couple of laps until Eric Brunner (Boulder, Colo.; Blue Competition Cycles) decided to take a solo flyer. Several riders, including Christopher Blevins (Durango, Colo.; Specialized Factory Racing), Stephen Davoust (Durango, Colo.; Giant Factory Off-Road Team), Howard Grotts (Durango, Colo.; Specialized), and Keegan Swenson (Park City, Utah; Santa Cruz Bicycles), reeled him back. Swenson realized he had a slow leak in his tire and began scrambling to find a solution to fix it. Russell Finsterwald (Colorado Springs, Colo.; Specialized Off-Road) offered a cartridge, but the leak would be race-altering. Ending the day on the top step was Blevins after he pulled away from Davoust, Finsterwald, and Grotts.

Downhill

The morning kicked off with the amateur and master downhill riders taking to the track. Earning gold in the Women 19-29 was Celia Ferguson (Evergreen, Colo.), who finished her run in a time of 4:50.99. Taking the win in the Men 19-29 category was Jake Green (Conifer, Colo.). He completed his run in a time of 3:44.64; that time would have also placed him in the top 20 for the Pro Men.

After a rain delay, the Pro Men and Women would eventually head to the top of Trestle Bike Park to start their race runs. Earning the stars and stripes for the second year in a row, Kailey Skelton (San Marcos, Calif.; KHS Factory Racing) barreled down the hill to finish in a time of 4:15.34. When asked about her run, she said, “It was pretty surprising. It was a little more slippery and wet than I had thought it was going to be. Throughout the middle of the run, it definitely got pretty slippery in some of the rocky sections. I had a pretty good mess up at the top but tried to circle back, got my focus back, and just got my head back in the game.”

On the Pro Men’s side, returning national champion Dakotah Norton (Clinton, Tenn.; Intense Factory Racing) was focused going into the race. Knowing the pressure was on after seeding first in yesterday’s racing, he would have to stay on the gas if he wanted to beat Aaron Gwin (Hendersonville, Tenn.; Intense Factory Racing) in the final run. Norton ended his day on top with another gold medal. He rode an immaculate race. His final time was 3:28.81. When asked about what’s ahead this season, Norton said, “I have a new bike and a new team behind me, so I am stepping back into the world cup with Aaron [Gwin] this year, and I think the energy will be super high. I’m excited to take the confidence that I built this week and try to roll that into next week in Snowshoe.”