Christopher Blevins competes in an April mountain bike race in Brazil. Photo: Piotr Staron/Getty Images
Durango's Christopher Blevins returns for his second Olympics and leads a handful of cyclists from Colorado into the Paris Games.
Blevins, 26, started racing at age 12 and shifted to mountain biking ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Games. He finished 14th in the cross-country mountain bike race.
Dig in: His pre-race ritual includes eating pancakes and drinking coffee three hours before the start and then meditating.
Riley Amos, 22, is making his Olympic debut. He is the under-23 gold medalist in this year's UCI Mountain Bike World Cup and won four USA Cycling national titles as a junior in high school.
He lists Denver as his hometown but rides in Durango with Blevins, his training partner.
Fun fact: He first started mountain biking at age 2.
Olivia Cummins, 20, will compete in the women's team pursuit track cycling race for Team USA. She is from Fort Collins and attends Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction.
She races road bikes and track — a sport she began at age 5. "I wouldn't be who I am today without cycling. It has taught me everything I know about compassion, integrity, teamwork, relationships, and so much more," she says on her Team USA page.
Grant Koontz, a 30-year-old track cyclist, calls Nederland home and stands out with his mullet haircut.
Instead of a car at age 16, he received a bike for his birthday. He went on to win a national championship in college and dozens of other medals for USA Cycling on the track and road.
