Val di Sole 2021, a feat of the American Blevins!

Surprise victory for the American Blevins! 2nd place for Henrique Avancini and 3rd for the German Maximilian Brandl.

Source: press release

Those who frequent the mountain bike environment know Christopher Blevins as a nice 23-year-old American boy from Durango, Colorado, with a good character and a great passion in addition to mountain biking. His music, in fact, is not limited to cheer the retreats of the Trinity Racing Team, but is available on Spotify for anyone who wants to listen to it.

His masterpiece, however, Blevins pulled out in Val di Sole, finding the perfect rhythm on the last lap and slipping into the space of a guitar string in the last corner to launch into the sprint that gave him the World Championship, the first for the United States in the MTB in the Elite category since the success of John Tomac in 1991, 20 years ago, also in Italy, at Il Ciocco.

“I'm a little surprised but it was an incredible ride, said Blevins. - “I grew up competing in short competitions. I had no idea how many chances I had, but I stayed calm and waited for the finale. We have wanted this medal for a long time. I arrived at this World Cup with the desire to make it unique and fun ”.

Blevins left behind Henrique Avancini (Brazil), silver, the surprising German Maximilian Brandl, bronze, and all the predictions of the eve, which also left room for the most diverse outcomes.

One of the possible candidates was the Brazilian Avancini, on paper very suitable for short distance events, but coming from a period of lacklustre on a sporting and personal level. The silver in Daolasa cannot satisfy him, but the demonstration of strength in the short track has given us a probable protagonist also for the Cross Country on Saturday.

After the first three laps in almost compact ranks, the Czech Ondrej Cink made the first real change of pace on the fourth day, disintegrating the leading platoon and leaving six athletes fighting for the title: Cink himself, Avancini, Hatherly (South Africa ), Brandl, Blevins and the Latvian Blums.
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On the penultimate lap, an attack by Brandl in the hardest part of the course seemed to have resolved the dispute: it was difficult to mend the seven-second advantage over the pursuers on the penultimate pass over the finish line.

It was Avancini's pride, however, that brought the Brazilian and Blevins back to the German, reopening the games between overtaking and counter-overtaking until the last meters. Where Blevins, the only one of the first to have chosen a hard-tail bike, found that little bit more right on the final line. Fourth place for Cink, ninth and tenth the first two blues, Gioele Bertolini and Daniele Braidot. 14th Nadir Colledani, 18th Gerhard Kerschbaumer.

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