Christopher Blevins Explained

Christopher Blevins
Birth Date:14 March 1998
Birth Place:Durango, Colorado, United States
Currentteam:Specialized Factory Racing
Role:Rider
Proyears1:2017–2018
Proyears2:2017–2020
Proteam2:Specialized Racing
Proyears3:2021
Proteam3:[1]
Proteam4:Specialized Factory Racing
Proyears4:2022–
Majorwins:

World Short Track Championships (2021)

XC World Cup

2 individual wins (2021, 2024)

Cape Epic (2023)

Christopher Blevins (born March 14, 1998) is an American cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Mountain Bike Team Specialized Factory Racing. Specializing in cross-country mountain biking, Blevins has also previously competed in road cycling (for) and cyclo-cross,[2] [3] before choosing to solely focus on mountain biking in preparation for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[4]

Biography

Early life

Blevins was born on March 14, 1998, in Durango, Colorado, son of Field and Priscilla[5] His father is an orthopedic surgeon with a specialty in sports medicine[6] and his older sister Kaylee was also a member of the U.S. National mountain bike team. He went to college in San Luis Obispo, CA graduating from Cal Poly in 2021 with a degree in business administration with a concentration in entrepreneurship.[7] Additionally, he teaches voluntarily spoken-word poetry in a local juvenile hall and is a lyricist of rap music.

Career

Blevins began participating in the sport of cycling at the age of five by competing in BMX races. He managed to win eight national championships in the age divisions between elementary and high school. His BMX career ended at the age of sixteen however, and by the age of twelve he had already begun to compete in both mountain bike and road cycling. He had great success from the ages of thirteen to nineteen where he won the national Cross Country championship in his age group. At sixteen he was able to win the road cycling national championship as well.[8]

When Blevins turned eighteen he won one of the most important races of the junior category in road cycling, the famous Course de la Paix. This race provided him the opportunity to join the team . In the same year, he signed another contract with the Specialized Racing team to participate in the U23 World Cross-Country Championship. In 2018 he managed to win the U23 national cyclo-cross championship. In the same age group, he finished 2nd in the World Cross-Country Championship and also won a stage of the Tour of the Gila. In 2019, aiming for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, he decided to dedicate himself to mountain biking. At the 2020 U23 World Cross-Country Championship he finished 2nd and after the postponing of the Olympic Games due to COVID-19, he signed a 2021 contract with Trinity Racing.[9]

In August 2021, he became the inaugural men's cross-country short track world champion, taking the title at the 2021 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Val di Sole, Italy.[10] He also won his first UCI XCO World Cup round, in Snowshoe, West Virginia, that year.

He won the 2023 Cape Epic alongside Matthew Beers. He opened up his 2024 season with a win in the Low Gap Hopper gravel race in California.[11] In April, he won the first round of the UCI XCO World Cup in Mairiporã, Brazil.[12]

Major results

Mountain bike

2015
  • 2nd Team relay, Pan American Championships
    2016
  • 1st Cross-country, National Junior Championships
    2017
  • 1st Cross-country, National Under-23 Championships
    2018
  • 2nd Cross-country, UCI World Under-23 Championships
  • 3rd Cross-country, National Championships
    2019
  • Pan American Championships
  • 1st Under-23 Cross-country
  • 2nd Team relay
  • 2nd Team relay, UCI World Championships
    2020
  • 2nd Cross-country, UCI World Under-23 Championships
  • 3rd Overall UCI Under-23 XCO World Cup
  • 2nd Nové Město II
    2021
  • UCI World Championships
  • 1st Short track
  • 2nd Team relay
  • UCI XCO World Cup
  • 1st Snowshoe
  • 3rd Cross-country, UCI World E-MTB Championships
    2022
  • UCI XCC World Cup
  • 1st Snowshoe
  • 2nd Cross-country, National Championships
  • 3rd Team relay, UCI World Championships
  • 3rd Overall Cape Epic (with Matthew Beers)
    2023
  • 1st Overall Cape Epic (with Matthew Beers)
  • 1st Prologue & Stages 2, 3, 4 & 6
  • UCI XCC World Cup
  • 3rd Mont-Sainte-Anne
    2024
  • Pan American Championships
  • 1st Cross-country
  • 2nd Short track
  • UCI XCO World Cup
  • 1st Mairiporã
  • UCI XCC World Cup
  • 2nd Araxá
  • 2nd Nové Město

    Road

    2015
  • 1st Stage 4 Tour de l'Abitibi
  • 6th Overall Trofeo Karlsberg
  • 1st Mountains classification
    2016
  • 1st Overall Course de la Paix Juniors
    2018
  • 4th Overall San Dimas Stage Race
  • 1st Stage 2
  • 9th Overall Tour of the Gila
  • 1st Points classification
  • 1st Stage 2

    Cyclo-cross

    2014–2015
  • 3rd Pan American Junior Championships
    2017–2018
  • 1st National Under-23 Championships
  • Under-23 CXLA Weekend
  • 1st Day 1 & 2
    2021–2022
  • USCX Series
  • 3rd Baltimore II

    Gravel

    2023
  • 2nd Low Gap Hopper
  • 2nd Belgian Waffle Ride Arizona
  • 3rd Sea Otter Classic Fuego XL
    2024
  • 1st Low Gap Hopper

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: Trinity Racing MTB. UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. March 1, 2021. https://archive.today/20210301223322/https://www.uci.org/mountain-bike/teams/TeamDetail/15773/2003571/282. March 1, 2021.
    2. Web site: Christopher Blevins . ProCyclingStats . February 21, 2021.
    3. Web site: Christopher Blevins . FirstCycling.com . February 21, 2021.
    4. Web site: Blevins leaves road behind to focus on Olympic MTB dream . VeloNews.com . November 16, 2018 . February 21, 2021 . Cash. Dane.
    5. Web site: Κaylee Βlevins. 30 April 2021. USA CYCLING.
    6. Web site: Malach. Pat. Christopher Blevins: Cycling's slam poet. live. 30 April 2021. cyclingnews. November 26, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181206040148/http://www.cyclingnews.com:80/features/christopher-blevins-cyclings-slam-poet/ . December 6, 2018 .
    7. Web site: 'I've Been Dreaming of This Every Day.' Recent Grad Heads to Tokyo to Cycle for Team USA | Cal Poly. July 23, 2021 .
    8. Web site: CHRISTOPHER BLEVINS. live. 30 April 2021. USA CYCLING. https://web.archive.org/web/20200921154826/https://usacycling.org/athlete/christopher-blevins . September 21, 2020 .
    9. Web site: 21 December 2020. Trinity Racing launches mountain bike program around Americans Christopher Blevins and Haley Batten. live. 30 April 2021. VeloNews. https://web.archive.org/web/20201221153135/https://www.velonews.com/news/mountain/trinity-racing-launches-mountain-bike-program-around-americans-christopher-blevins-and-haley-batten/ . December 21, 2020 .
    10. Web site: MTB Worlds: Blevins, Frei win short track titles. Rob. Jones. CyclingNews. 26 August 2021. 27 August 2021.
    11. Web site: Low Gap Hopper: Christopher Blevins and Kate Courtney take wins to open the US gravel season . . 29 January 2024 . 26 April 2024 . Jones-Wilkins, Logan.
    12. Web site: MTB World Cup Mairiporã – Christopher Blevins captures XCO win in opening round . . 14 April 2024 . 26 April 2024 . Giuliani, Simone.