Batten and Amos Claim Pan American Short Track Championship Gold
One short track race is not on its own going to confirm hyperbolic statements such as “there’s a changing of the guard at the top of U.S. cross-country mountain biking.” Still, last evening’s short track (XCC) Pan American Championship results, once entered into evidence—along with everything else we’ve already seen this season—certainly help make that case. However, I’m going to go a different route. These results confirm a bolstering more than a changing of the guard. U.S. mountain biking is having a moment.
The XCC course at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, is hard. Unrelentingly hard. It starts with a long paved road that narrows into a grassy loop. Under a minute into the lap, riders are faced with a long power climb with a bit of a flatter section at the top. But you can’t rest there because it leads into the most significant bottleneck on the track, a downhill tight left-hander leading into a short single-track section. Riders then dip down the seemingly only descent (and it’s really short) before entering the Salt Lake City Olympic biathlon venue, before making the turn for home and doing it all over again.
The bottom line is that unless the entire field decides to sit up, there is no recovery available on this course. You have to fight for every inch, and passing opportunities are taken, not given.
Women’s Elite XCC
In the women’s race, Haley Batten (Specialized Factory Racing) set the tone early, with a heater of an opening lap. Kate Courtney (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team) sat a few bike lengths back with Makena Kellerman (Bear National Team) in third.
On lap two, Karen Fernandes Olimpio (Brazil) went to the front to try and break up the U.S. dominance. In the short term, the move was a good one. Olimpio was in the right place on lap three when Batten and Courtney decided to separate themselves from the field. The two Americans traded pulls while Olimpio hung on the back, a satisfied customer on the express train leaving the station.
In lap four, Batten and Courtney hit the climb hard, and the race was now down to just two as Olimpio decoupled from the train. Once the duo established a comfortable margin over the field, they traded pulls and kept the matches dry, waiting for the bell lap.
Behind, no such détente emerged. The fight for the third step on the podium heated up with Olimpio, Mariá Carolina Flores García (Mexico), Sandra Walter (Liv Cycling Canada), Laurie Arseneault (Pittstop Racing), Bailey Cioppa (Bear National Team) and Makena Kellerman (Bear National Team) going all in for bronze, or to take advantage of any mishaps with Batten and Courtney out front.
With one lap to go, Batten and Courtney remained out front. The attacks would come this lap; you just didn’t know where. Conventional wisdom would have you believe the attack would come on the climb. Batten doesn’t seem to subscribe to conventional wisdom. At the end of the finish straight, still on the tarmac, Batten put in a vicious dig. Courtney was ready and was able to match the power and keep on Batten’s wheel.
At that point, it seemed like both riders may have decided to wait until the sprint and fight it out there. There was no separation as the pair crested the single-track portion and dipped back into the stadium. They made the turn side-by-side going full out. At 50 meters, Batten was able to move slightly ahead on the gentle uphill finish. At 25 meters, Batten, a Utah native, looked behind and saw she had a small gap but one big enough to allow her to celebrate her Pan American Championship in front of a home crowd.
Cioppa was the best of the chasing group, finishing third ahead of Kellerman for an all-U.S. podium.
Men’s Elite XCC
The men’s elite race started early in the day with two qualifying heats. With over 100 registered riders, the field needed to be culled to 60 before the evening’s race. The top 30 in each of two qualifying heats made it to the final. The qualifiers got a little spicy as I’m not sure all of the federations understood placement didn’t matter. You just needed to be in the top 30, call ups were by UCI points. But in the end, the favorites made it through safely in the pack, and we had our 60 slots filled.
In the final, Riley Amos (Trek Factory Racing-Pirelli) took the holeshot but had no plans to stay on the front so early in the race. Instead, that honor went to Brayden Johnson (Santa Cruz Rock Shox), who went to the front early and led most of the first two laps.
Team Canada settled in on Johnson’s wheel with Gunnar Holmgren (KMC Ridley MTB Racing Team), Leandre Bouchard (Foresco Holding Proco RL ProTeam) and Rafael Auclair (Pivot Cycles OTE) patrolling the front. Amos slotted in behind the Canadians. Owen Clark (Hockley Valley Resort Armada) was in sixth place, and Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) kept a watchful eye on the North American queue in seventh place.
The U.S.-Canada trade negotiations continued with Clark going to the front and Carson Beard (Team Durango Segment 28) joining the delegation in second. Beard moved to the front and hit the climb first on lap three. On lap four, Amos decided to return to the front and push the pace. Ulon Bastos Galinski moved into the top five, introducing Brazil into the mix.
By the time we got to lap five, you would have thought those with medal ambitions would have whittled down the field into a manageable lead group. You would be right only if you consider 30 to be manageable. Most would not. But that’s where we were. Half the field still had a shot at the win.
On lap six, we were right back where we started, with Johnson on the front. However, in second was Blevins, the first the former XCC world champ showed his face at the front. If there was ever a sign that things were about to ramp up, this was probably it.
It turns out, It wasn’t. One lap later, Blevins dropped back to seventh, and the group was still enormous. Are we going to have a field sprint for the win? It seemed like Canada thought that may be the case as they rotated in the fourth line1 with Bouchard leading the way.
Canada’s play paid off as Holmgren got to the front and led Blevins, Amos and Zabdiel Adair Gutierrez Prieto (Mexico) up the climb. It took a while, but the race was finally on. On the final lap, the top four shaved 22 seconds off the previous lap and distanced themselves from the field. Keep in mind the laps are only two minutes and change. That is a significant speed increase: 2:18 on lap nine and 1:56 on lap 10. By the time the group returned to the arena on that final lap, Blevins and Amos had a small gap over Holmgren and Gutierrez Prieto.
In what looked like a carbon copy of the women’s race, the two Americans were side-by-side with 50 meters to go. With 25 meters to go, Amos surged ahead by a half bike length, and Blevins’ head dropped. At 10 meters, Blevins looked behind to make sure Holmgren wouldn’t catch him, and Amos crossed the line, unleashing a primal scream that is quickly becoming his finish line signature.
With two World Cup U23 short track wins and now an elite Pan Am Championship, Amos is putting together a legendary streak of short track performances. Blevins continues to show his form is right there with Amos as the two continue their quest for a pair of Olympic starting spots. Holmgren sticking with the two Americans is a nice benchmark for the next World Cup round.
Full results for the Pan Am events are here.
Women’s Elite XCC Results
Men’s Elite XCC Results
Back in the days of the Bonelli US Cup, I used to refer to the Canadian short track contingent as the fourth line because they were an intimidating force that dared you to try and pass them. Bouchard was part of that contingent. The fourth line in hockey usually consists of the energy guys who aren’t afraid to get a little physical to spice things up.
What a report! I hope I can find some video in a few days. Congrats 🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲