ROAD
Vuelta a Burgos: Spain
(August 5-9) – Sepp Kuss (Team Visma/Lease-a-Bike) staged a triumphant return to racing at Vuelta a Burgos, finishing 1st overall after a two-month break to recover from injury and illness.
The five-day race through northern Spain had a rough start for Kuss, who crashed on stages 1 and 2. But he came back to win the mountainous (Queen) stage 3 and take the victory overall.
“This win means a lot to me,” Kuss said afterward. “I've had quite some setbacks this past year. Last Wednesday was already a very nice day for me with the stage win. Winning the overall classification of a multi-day stage race makes me very happy.”
Complete results here
Vuelta a España: Spain
(August 17-September 8) – Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) won the Tour of Spain’s Stage 1 time trial by two seconds to earn the red leader’s jersey on opening day. McNulty, the US Time Trial national champion, averaged 57.2kph over the 12 kilometer course, finishing in 12:35.
Through Tuesday’s Stage 4, McNulty is in 7th place overall. Three other Americans are competing at this year’s Tour: Defending champion Sepp Kuss (Team Visma/Lease a Bike), Matthew Riccitello(Israel-Premier Tech), and Riley Sheehan (Israel-Premier Tech). The race ends on September 8th in Madrid.
Complete results here
Tour de France Femmes: France
(August 12-18) – Fresh off earning Olympic golds medals in road race and Team Pursuit, Kristen Faulkner (EF-Oatly-Cannondale) placed top-five on two stages of this year’s women’s Tour de France, eventually finishing 38th overall at the 8-stage race. Time Trial world champion Chloe Dygert (Canyon/SRAM Racing), who earned Olympic Bronze in time trial and Team Pursuit gold, placed 2ndon the Stage 2 time trial, but dropped out of the Tour before the final stage.
Complete results here
Arctic Race of Norway: Norway
(August 4-7) – Kevin Vermaerke (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) placed 3rd overall and earned the white jersey for best young rider at Arctic Race of Norway, a four-stage race traversing northern Norway. He had the same results last year, placing 3rd overall and 1st in the youth category.
This was 23-year-old’s second top-5 stage race finish in the past week. He placed 4th overall at the Czech Tour, which ended July 28.
Complete results here
Clásica de San Sebastián: Spain
(August 10) – American men swept three of the top-10 spots at Clásica de San Sebastián, the hilly, 236 kilometer one-day race through the Basque region of Spain. Kevin Vermaerke (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) placed 4th to continue his streak of top-5 World Tour placings. Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) was 6th and Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) was 10th.
Complete results here
Tour de Pologne: Poland
(August 12-18) – Magnus Sheffield (INEOS Grenadiers) placed 5th overall at the week-long Tour of Poland, his second top-5 stage race placing this season. Sheffield, 22, placed 3rd at the Tour of Austria in July.
Will Barta (Movistar) rode a consistent race to place 12th overall.
Complete results here
MOUNTAIN BIKE / GRAVEL
USA Cycling Downhill National Series, Snow Summit: Big Bear Lake, CA
(August 16-18) –Stop number three of the USA Downhill National Series brought pros and amateurs to Snow Summit Bike Park in Big Bear Lake, CA, for a weekend of downhill MTB action.
Austin Dooley (Commencal Schwalbe, Monster Army, Ryno Power, Better Bolts) took 1st in the elite men’s final, followed by Kenneth Pinkerton (Mondraker Factory Racing) and Nathan Kitchen (The Gravity Academy).
On the elite women’s side, Erice Van Leuven (Commencal Les Orres, Monster Army) placed 1st in the final, followed by Aletha Ostgaard (SRAM/Fasttrack Racing/GoPro/V&R/Schwalbe) and Isabella Naughton (KHS Pro MTB Team).
Drake Parker (Outlaw Tribe/Commencal) won the junior men’s final, followed by Jack Zenoni(ZFR Team) and Braedyn Davis. Pella Ward took the junior women’s victory, followed by Teagan Heap (Pivot Factory Racing/Monster Army) and Addison Buckenberger (T3 Race Team/Monster Army).
The final race of this season’s series is September 26-29, at Killington Resort, Vermont.
Complete results here
Leadville Trail 100 MTB: Leadville, CO
(August 10) – Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz Bicycles/SRAM) won the elite men’s race at Leadville Trail 100 MTB for the fourth time in a row, while Melisa Rollins (Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24) earned the elite women’s title.
Swenson crossed the line at 5:49:08, more than 15 minutes ahead of second-place finisher John Gaston (STRAFE-Specialized). Cole Paton (Giant Bicycles) was 3rd.
Last year’s women’s winner Sofia Gomez Villafañe (Specialized) was just over 7 minutes behind Rollins in 2nd, and Michaela Thompson (Orange Seal/Specialized/Shimano) was 3rd.
The race starts at 10,000 feet above sea level and climbs to 12,424 feet. It’s the third race in the six-race Life Time Grand Prix. Swenson leads the series overall for the men, while Gomez Villafañe sits atop the women’s leaderboard. Next up is the Chequamegon MTB Festival, September 14, in Cable, Wisconsin.
Leaderboard here
Complete results here
SBT GRVL: Steamboat Springs, CO
(August 18) – Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz Bicycles/SRAM) and Lauren Stephens (Cynicsa Cycling) earned the elite men’s and women’s titles at SBT GRVL, giving Swenson his second major win in a week and third SBT GRVL win in a row.
Swenson and Stephens are the reigning US gravel national champions and both sported their Stars and Stripes jerseys at the 125-mile race, which boasts nearly 10,900 feet of elevation gain. Swenson finished the race in 5:41:10, while first-time winner and two-time runner-up Stephens finished in 6:17:17.
Torbjorn Roed (Trek Driftless) placed 2nd behind Swenson, coming in at 5:49:46, while Alexey Vermeulen (ENVE/Factor) came in a second later to place 3rd. Last year’s women’s winner Sofia Gomez Villafañe (Specialized) placed 2nd, nearly 13 minutes behind Stephens, while Cecily Deckerwas 20 minutes back and placed 3rd.
Complete results here
TRACK
Masters Track National Championships: Rock Hill, SC
(August 6-11) –More than 200 Masters cyclists vied for national championship titles over four days of racing at Rock Hill Velodrome in South Carolina. Despite a rain delay/cancellations due to Tropical Storm Debby, events were rescheduled and the meet concluded with 98 athletes earning Stars and Stripes jerseys.
Race recap
Complete results here
