Riley Amos is back on top of a World Cup podium, and he's not going anywhere without a fight
In 2021, Riley Amos stunned the mountain biking world when he won the U23 World Cup event in Leogang. He was making just his third ever World Cup start.
Two-and-a-half years later, Amos finally got to taste victory once again. On Sunday, he dueled with France’s Adrien Boichis for five laps, eventually pulling away after nearly an hour of racing to take the win in muddy conditions. Since the last time he stood on top of the podium, Amos had come close to winning but fallen just short for a variety of reasons: injuries, illness, bad luck or just not quite having the legs. On Sunday, everything fell into place for the 21-year-old.
Riley Amos celebrating his second World Cup win across the line.
“Yesterday was a really close race, and I can’t believe I managed to get the win,” Amos said. “I’ve had a couple races this year that have been really close, and I just barely missed the 1 percent needed to get the win, whether it be legs or tactics. Yesterday felt like I had the legs and the conditions to make the race my own, and I was able to really keep repeated pressure on Adrien so that when it came down to the final lap, he was missing that 1 percent this time.”
Amos and Boichis also had a tight battle on Friday during the men’s U23 short track race. Boichis barely got the better of Amos that day, pipping the American for the win by just two seconds in a similarly gripping last lap dog fight. The win was Boichis’ fourth World Cup short track or Olympic-distance win this year.
All the emotion.
But on Sunday, Amos flipped the script, and realized his immense potential.
“I don’t think I’m necessarily taking anything new away from this race, I just know that keeping at it is paying off,” Amos said. “And that I have the best team and people around me to keep chasing amazing days like that.”
Amos’ win highlighted yet another strong team effort by Trek Factory Racing XC. Evie Richards took fifth in the elite women’s XCO race to complete a double-podium weekend after she took second in short track Friday. Jolanda Neff finished 13th and Gwendalyn Gibson finished 15th to help them maintain their lead on the Best Women’s Team standings. Vlad Dascalu (9th, men’s elite) and Maddie Munro (7th, women’s U23) also gave top 10 performances on Sunday to extend what has been a remarkably consistent season for the squad.
Now that Amos has broken the seal and given TFR XC its first World Cup win of the season, his teammates will be anxious to do the same. They certainly have the talent and ambition. And with three more World Cup races to come, there will be plenty more opportunities to snag even more glory for the squad.
