Furtado Pedals to Easy Victory

If Julie Furtado of Durango, Colo., continues her ascent in mountain bicycle racing, the women’s professional competition is going to get downright boring.

Furtado, 26, the defending world downhill champion, set a blistering pace Saturday to win the cross-country race at the season’s Jeep National Championship series opener at Snow Summit ski resort.

Furtado finished ahead of second-place Ruthie Matthes of Durango by 7 minutes 18 seconds. She completed the race in 2:07:07.

Inga Thompson of Reno, the United States’ leading road racer at last summer’s Olympics, finished third in her professional mountain bike debut.

David Weins of Gunnison, Colo., won the men’s cross-country event in 2:50:25 over the rolling 13-mile course. The men completed three laps, the women two.

Rishi Grewal of Carbondale, Colo., was second, four minutes behind Weins. David Juarez of Sugarloaf, Calif., was third, the only top-10 finisher from outside Colorado.

In her third year of racing, Furtado has dominated the circuit. She won three major events in Europe before Saturday’s runaway victory. Furtado took a 30-second lead after the start lap and kept pushing.

“Sometimes I like to see how far ahead I can get,” she said.