This weekend members of the Orbea-TUFF SHED Pro Mountain Bike Team competed in round three of the USA Cycling Pro XCT series at Ute Valley Park in Colorado Springs.

While the riders experienced some less than ideal weather on Saturday, two members of the Orbea-TUFF SHED team were still able to put on impressive performances. Macky Franklin finished 8th with a time of 1 hour and 18 minutes, while Kalan Beisel finished 16th with a time of 1 hour and 19 minutes.

This was the first time the USA Cycling Pro series visited the Ute Valley venue and the Orbea-TUFF SHED team was amongst some tough competition, riding against likely Olympian Sam Schultz (Subaru-Trek) and former Olympians Todd Wells (Specialized) and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru-Trek).

Unlike the during the women’s competition, the men competitors, including the riders of the Orbea-TUFF SHED team, lucked out, as the downpour that caused trouble for many of the women’s riders let up in time for the men’s pro race.

According to the race organizer, the Ute Valley course is “filled with tight, twisty singletrack, short steep ascents, and rocky descents. There’s also plenty of doubletrack and fire roads for passing.” The entire Ute Valley Park is 338 acres and the laps for the race were 4.5 miles in length with 344 feet of climbing per lap and spectators were able to enjoy the start and the finish of the race from Eagleview Middle School track. More than 100 other riders competed in the race.

The Orbea-TUFF SHED team will compete in the Missoula Montana XC on July 14th next.