Howard Grotts fights hard in unlucky Olympic MTB Race

  
  


August 21, 2016 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) – Cycling competition concluded at the Rio Olympics on Sunday with the men’s cross-country mountain bike race in which a series of unlucky events left Howard Grotts (Durango, Colo.) finishing one lap down for a final result of 38th place.

“I had a start loop crash which had me chasing from the back at the beginning, and then another crash on the second lap which bent my seat and caused a flat tire, so rode that for half the lap,” he explained. “Fixed it, chased back but then ended up riding the other half of the course with a rear flat.”
 
The course was wet from morning rains, and the rock gardens claimed many victims on Sunday, but a resilient Grotts kept getting back and fighting hard to make up for lost time.  
 
“I had some consistent laps, but then by that point I was absolutely chasing from behind. I tried to give it my best on the climbs where I could and really just focus on being as smooth as possible on the descent,” he said.

Grotts ended up being one lap down and finished in 38th place.

The gold medal went to Nino Schurter (SUI) who took the early lead and rode away from the other leaders in the final laps to claim the win ahead of silver and bronze medalists Jaroslave Kulhavy (CZE) and Carlos Coloma Nicolas (ESP).

That’s it for the Team USA cyclists at the Rio Olympics! In conclusion, American cyclists rode off with five medals, which is a tie for the most ever for a U.S. cycling team in a non-boycotted Games. To start things off, Kristin Armstrong won a third straight gold medal in the women’s road time trial. Then on the track, Chloe Dygert, Sarah Hammer, Kelly Catlin, and Jenn Valente grabbed a silver in the team pursuit before Hammer then earned another silver in the omnium. On the BMX track, Connor Fields won gold and Alise Post won silver.
 
Check out USA Cycling’s Olympic photo gallery here.


This Article Updated August 23, 2016 @ 09:36 PM For more information contact: