Race Report: 2026 US Pro Cup Race #2 - MTB XCO

Race: 2026 US Pro Cup MTB Race #2 XCO - Men’s 19+ Open Pro / Cat 1

Date: April 12, 2026

AVRT racers: Michael Matthews

Top Result: 4th

Course: Back at Vailocity for the XCO. Final race of the weekend. Traditional XCO format. Three laps of a 6.4 mi (~600 ft ele.) course. Rain forecast for later in the race. The course was dry and dusty to start and got nice and sticky with a bit of rain. The real downpour hit after the race was over! The course was mostly rolling/spikey single track with a few flat road sections that gave passing opportunities. Longer climbs would have suited me better. One spicy rock garden just to make it really feel like a Pro XC course :)

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/18084182052‍ ‍

Nutrition: Normal breakfast, banana, and ~100g of carbs in a bottle for race nutrition.

Event Recap: It was a bit frantic getting to the start line. I couldn’t hear the commissaire calling out groups. I ended up starting at the back of the wave that was a combination of 19+ and 19 to 29. This proved costly. I couldn’t recover enough positions to make it close to the front before the single track started.That was a debt I was unable to pay back for the rest of the race. I had some fun battles throughout the race and really enjoyed playing bikes on this course! This was my first XCO race down in SoCal and I gained a lot of valuable experience on this more traditional course style. Despite the early mistake I raced hard, left it all out there and still ended up in fourth. Heading back to NorCal for some road/crit racing and XC summer fun!