Vail – The famous and possibly soon-to-be infamous Floyd Landis, despite saying his new hip was performing at 100 percent, finished in the middle of the pack in the Teva Mountain Games’ mountain-bike championship Saturday on Vail Mountain.
It was a Colorado sweep of the podium, with Vail Valley local Jay Henry dominating the race, stealing the lead early in the second 7-mile lap and holding it through the third and final lap. Grand Junction pro racer Ross Schnell finished second, followed closely by Vail Valley rider Jimmy Mortenson. Landis was 49th heading into the final lap.
The previous night, as Landis bestowed the Everest Award on mountain-biking champion Chris Eatough, he told the crowd he was nervous, even “scared,” about the next day’s mountain-biking race, noting a lifelong competition with Durango cycling legend Ned Overend. But Landis predicted he would do better in today’s Hill Climb road race up Vail Pass.
“I have a little more experience with that,” he said.
Durango’s Shonny Vanlandingham aced the women’s race, even reportedly lapping Landis on the final lap.
Kayak
Seattle-area paddler Tao Berman won his second kayaking contest of this year’s Teva Games with a strong performance in the new downriver sprint race from East Vail to Vail Village. Berman finished in 20:48, followed closely by Jason Beakes of Washington, D.C., at 20:58 and Carbondale slalom paddling coach Jules Campbell at 21:02.
The racers left East Vail in one-minute increments, with Berman chasing Pat Keller, 20, of Asheville, N.C.
“I was fortunate to go after Pat,” Berman said. “He is so fast, so strong. I knew if I could keep him in my sights, I would do well. He definitely pushed me hard.”
Keller, who wound up fifth, raced in his custom-made Green Boat, a lengthy vessel that harkens back to the days of old-school boats.
Nikki Kelly dominated the women’s race with a time of 21:30. The next racers were more than a minute behind. In the most amazing finish, Breckenridge’s Danelle Ballengee finished fourth, a little more than nine months after shattering her pelvis in a near-deadly fall outside Moab. Ballengee is solo racing the Teva Games Ultimate Mountain Challenge, which includes the downriver sprint, the mountain-bike race, the Hill Climb up Vail Pass and a 10K trail run.
Bouldering
Longmont climber Daniel Woods defended his Teva Mountain Games Pro Bouldering title on the impressive climbing wall atop Vail’s parking structure. Just like last year, Paul Robinson of New Jersey was right on Woods’ heels in a competition that circles the overhanging mushroom of tiny crimps and jugs with climbers trying to reach the top of successively more difficult routes. Rob D’Anastasio of Philadelphia took third.
Alex Puccio of Texas defended her title with grace and impressive strength. Paige Claassen of Estes Park took second and Angela Payne of Cincinnati third.
On Gore Creek, Eric Jackson and daughter Emily Jackson led a Jackson Kayak sweep in the freestyle contest. Fresh off his fourth consecutive world freestyle victory, the 42-year-old Jackson showed his acrobatic kayaking skills apply in both the biggest and smallest features on the river.
The Gore Creek hole is small, a ghost of the Ottawa River’s Buseater Wave where he won the world competition two months ago. But Jackson’s mighty loops and spins eked him past Stephen Wright, whose above-the-water tricks left him four points behind Jackson’s score of 127. Last year in the same hole, Wright and Jackson battled into their final 60-second sessions to the same results. Dane Jackson, the 13-year-old powerhouse scion to the Jackson kayaking empire, took full advantage of his small stature in a small hole and took third.
Emily Jackson, the 17-year- old daughter of the world’s best, took her third consecutive title at the Teva Games. Ruth Gordon was second and Devon Barker third.
Staff writer Jason Blevins can be reached at 303-954-1374 or jblevins@denverpost.com.
