Samantha Bosco Wins Sixth Career World Title at the 2026 UCI Paracycling Road World Championships

The  2026 UCI Para-Cycling Road World Championships  came to a close in Huntsville, Alabama, on Labor Day, with Team USA collecting 17 medals in one of the team’s strongest-ever World Championship performances. From Samantha Bosco’s dominant road race victory and Clara Brown’s silver-medal photo finish to the Handcycle Team Relay’s thrilling fight for silver in the final event, it was a championship to remember on home soil. 

WC1-5 

Team USA fielded three riders in the women’s C4 race: Samantha Bosco (Claremont, Calif.), Grace Norman (Jamestown, Ohio) and Shawn Morelli (Leavenworth, Kan.). The riders took on 69 kilometers alongside the C5 field. Bosco made her move early, going off the front with Australia’s Tara Neyland, while Norman and Morelli remained in the peloton just behind. As the race progressed, Bosco and Neyland bridged up to three C5 riders to form a five-rider lead group. On the final lap, Bosco put the pressure on, launching attack after attack and forcing the pace at the front. Bosco found herself and Neyland heading into the finish. In the final sprint, Bosco proved strongest, powering across the line to claim the World Title in a photo finish. The victory marks Bosco’s second World Title of the championships after winning the time trial on Saturday and the sixth Paracycling Road World Title of her career. 

In the C3 race just behind, Clara Brown (Falmouth, Maine) and Jamie Whitmore (Somerset, Calif.) helped drive the pace in the peloton as they worked to close the gap to the group ahead. As they began to catch the riders in front, the race was neutralized, shifting the dynamics heading into the finish. The race ultimately came down to a field sprint, with Xiaomei Wang (CHN) taking the win after the 55 kilometer. Brown and Japan’s Keiko Sugiura battled all the way to the line, with Brown edging Sugiura in a photo finish to claim the silver medal. 

Allison Jones (Colorado Springs, Colo.) lined up in the C2 race, where the field remained together for much of the 55 kilometer course. The race ultimately came down to a sprint, with Jones staying in the mix through the finish to take seventh place. 

WC4 Results: 

1. Samantha Bosco (USA) 

2. Tara Neyland (AUS) 

3. Xiaohui Li (CHN 

5. Grace Norman (USA) 

6. Shawn Morelli (USA) 

WC3 Results: 

1. Xiaomei Wang (CHN) 

2. Clara Brown (USA)  

3. Keiko Sugiura (JPN) 

8. Jamie Whitmore (USA) 

WC2 Results: 

1. Flurina Rigling (SUI)  

2. Heather Jameson (IRE) 

3. Amelia Cass (GBR)  

7. Allison Jones (USA) 

MC4-5 

The Men’s C4s and C5s raced six laps totaling 83 kilometers. 2026 MC5 Time Trial World Champion Elouan Gardon (Acme, Wash.) and Grant Simonds (Salt Lake City, Utah) took on the road race this afternoon for Team USA. The race was strung out from the opening laps as riders pushed the pace from the start. The dynamic race saw several riders try their hand at attacks, with Simonds and Gardon covering the moves and keeping Team USA represented at the front. Big attacks came throughout the race, with riders spread across the road as the pace continued to rise. By the final lap, two riders from Brazil and the Netherlands had managed to get off the front, but the peloton was less than 10 seconds behind, with both Simonds and Gardon in the chase. The American teammates worked together to close the gap and bring the group back together heading into the finish. The race ultimately came down to a field sprint, with Simonds taking fifth in his first World Championships, supported by a strong ride from Gardon. 

The MC4 started in the following wave with Americans Ryan Jastrab (Apple Valley, Calif.) and CJ Howard (Sacramento, Calif.). The field remained together for the opening laps. On the fifth lap, the pace picked up at the front, splitting the field into two groups. Jastrab made the front selection, while Howard found himself in the group just behind. Jastrab positioned himself for the field sprint and finished sixth, while Howard continued to fight in the chase group for 15th. 

MC5 Results: 

1. Eliott Pierre (FRA) 

2. Carlos Andres Vargas Villanueva (COL) 

3. Dorian Foulon (FRA) 

5. Grant Simonds (USA) 

12. Elouan Gardon (USA) 

MC4 Results: 

1. Andrea Biancalani (ITA) 

2. Kevin Le Cunff (FRA) 

3. Archie Atkinson (GBR) 

6. Ryan Jastrab (USA) 

15. CJ Howard (USA) 

MB 

Making their World Championship debut, Owen Cravens (Cave Creek, Ariz.) and his pilot, William Seitz (Huntsville, Ala.), took on seven grueling laps totaling nearly 100 kilometers in the Alabama heat. The Spanish tandem made an early move off the front, building a 40-second advantage over the peloton. The American duo remained in the main group for the majority of the race as the peloton worked to bring the gap back. Heading into the sixth lap, the pace increased at the front and the peloton began to split, with Cravens and Seitz struggling to maintain contact.T he duo continued to push all the way to the finish, securing 11th place in a stacked field in their first World Championship appearance. 

Results: 

1. Imanol Arriortua Zorrilla (ESP) 

2. Joan Sanso Riera (ESP) 

3. Tristan Bangma (NED) 

11. Owen Cravens / William Seitz (USA) 

MC1-3 

The men’s C3 peloton took on five laps totaling 69 kilometers. Attacks came throughout the race, but none were able to stick for long as the field repeatedly came back together. Justin Mathers (Fayetteville, N.C.) stayed active in the peloton, making several moves of his own before the group regrouped. With one lap to go, the race began to break apart as riders fought to follow the moves at the front. Mathers stayed in the mix and ultimately secured a top-10 finish in his first World Championships road race. 

The C2 race was dynamic from the start, with the field splintering early on in the opening lap and never forming a traditional peloton. Broden Ala (Vail, Ariz.), at just 15 years old and the youngest rider at the World Championships, spent most of the race in a three-rider chase group before finishing 17th. 

The C1 field took a more conservative approach, remaining together through all five laps. The race came down to the final kilometers, with Aaron Keith (Woodinville, Wash.) sprinting to ninth place in the bunch finish. 

MC3 Results: 

1. Thomas Peyroton Dartet (FRA) 

2. Juan Alberto Jimenez Gutierrez (ESP) 

3. Eduardo Santas Asensio (ESP) 

10. Justin Mathers (USA) 

MC2 Results: 

1. Alexandre Leaute (FRA) 

2. Arthur Bauchet (FRA) 

3. Hidde Buur (NED) 

17. Broden Ala (USA) 

MC1 Results: 

1. Weicong Liang (CHN) 

2. Thomas Tarou (FRA) 

3. Pierre Senska (GER) 

9. Aaron Keith (USA) 

Handcycle Team Relay 

In the mixed relay, three riders took on the 2-kilometer course, completing nine laps total. Each rider raced three laps, with the team making an exchange after every lap. Team USA’s squad featured Tom Davis (Fremont, Ind.), Kate Brim (Lowell, Mich.), and Matt Tingley (Colorado Springs, Colo.) rotating in that order throughout the race. 

Davis started for Team USA, handing off to Brim, then passing to Tingley before the rotation started again. After the first rotation, the Americans were firmly in the medal hunt. Lap after lap, each rider gave everything they had as the team battled for position. Heading into the final lap, Team USA sat in third place. Tingley put it all on the line in the final lap, powering through the finish and making the decisive pass to move Team USA into silver-medal position. It was a huge effort from the entire team to bring home the silver in the last event of the weekend.  

Results: 

1. France 

2. USA 

3. Australia 

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