(September 2-4) — The 2022 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup season wrapped up in Val di Sole, Italy, and American racers took 3 podium spots, along with a slew of top-10 placings overall for the World Cup season.
Dakotah Norton (Intense Factory Racing) took 3rd and Aaron Gwin (Intense Factory Racing) 4th in the Men’s Downhill final, with Gwin placing 8th overall in the season’s individual standings. In the men’s junior race, Ryan Pinkerton (GT Factory Racing) placed 2nd and was 8th overall for the season. Anna Newkirk (Beyond Racing) took 10th in the Women’s Downhill and 10th overall in World Cup standings.
In XCO, Haley Batten (Specialized Factory Racing) took 4th on the women’s side and Bjorn Riley captured 9th in the U23 Men’s race. Madigan Munro (Trek Factory Racing) was 9thoverall in the U23 XCO standings.
The U.S. women packed the top-10 in the Friday night Short Track race, led by Kate Courtney (Scott-SRAM) in 5th, Haley Batten in 7th, Gwendalyn Gibson (Norco Factory Team) in 8th, and Savilia Blunk (Orange Seal Off-Road Team) taking 10th. Gibson was 6th and Courtney was 10th overall for the season.
(August 19-September 11) – The third Grand Tour of the men’s pro season wrapped up after 21 grueling stages. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), Lawson Craddock (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) and Brandon McNulty (UAE-Team Emirates) took on the 77th edition of the Tour of Spain, which started in Utrecht and ended 3,280 kilometers later in Madrid.
Along with taking 5th on Stage 5, Craddock placed 6th on Stage 10, an individual time trial, and 10th on Stage 17. He finished the race in 55th overall and 14th on King of the Mountains. McNulty was 18th among the Best Young Riders. Kuss was in the GC’s top-10 through stage 5 but left due to illness before the start of stage 8.
(September 7-11) – Megan Jastrab (Team DSM), Kristen Faulkner (Team BikeExchange-Jayco), Veronica Ewers (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB), and Krista Doebel-Hickok (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) lined up for the 5-stage, 478 kilometer race, which started in Marina de Cudeyo and ended in Madrid. Ewers placed 14th overall on GC, while 20-year-oldJastrab nearly made the podium on the Stage 5 sprint finish, placing 4th.
Two of the U.S. squad’s most successful riders this year didn’t complete the race. Doebel-Hickok, who won the CIC Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées in August, saw her season end with a crash and broken collarbone on stage 2, while Faulkner, who wore the pink leader’s jersey at Giro d’Italia Donne, abandoned due to exhaustion on stage 4.
(September 4) – Pro men from around the globe took on this inaugural, UCI-sanctioned one-day road race, which covered 121.7 miles in and around Baltimore. American Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) placed 3rd, while Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) placed 8th and won the King of the Mountains jersey. “It was an amazing crowd out there and we really wanted to put on a show,” said Simmons. “It’s great to be racing in the States again and hearing your name.” Powless, the top-placing American at the Tour de France, added: “It’s been a little over three years since I raced in the States so it’s pretty awesome to be back.”
(September 9 & 11) – The world’s top cyclists descended on Canada for two days of grueling circuit racing, first in Québec and then in Montréal. Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Joe Dombrowski (Astana Qazaqstan), Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) and Will Barta (Movistar) lined up for both races, which equaled more than 425 kilometers over two days. Powless was the top-placing American (23rd ) on Friday in Québec.
(September 10) – Criterium specialists from around the country lined up for the 9th annual cycling classic, with Winston-Salem native Will Hardin placing 3rd in the elite men’s race.
Elite Men: Alfredo Rodriquez (Best Buddies Racing), Ty Magner (L39ion of Los Angeles), William Hardin (Project Echelon Racing)
Elite Women: Samantha Schneider (L39ion of Los Angeles), Gillian Bennett (ButcherBox Cycling p/b LOOK), Erica Zaveta (Colavita Factor)
(September 2-5) – Four days of crit racing, including the 10th and final stop of the American Criterium Cup, took place over Labor Day weekend in St. Louis.
Elite Men: Alfredo Rodriquez (Best Buddies Racing), Clever Martinez (Miami Blazers), Jaime Castaneda (Emanuel Ibarry/2ndBikeTeam)
Elite Women: Kaia Schmid (Human Powered Health), Marlies Mejias Garcia (Virginia Blue Ridge/Twenty24), Danielle Morshead (LA Sweat)
Elite Men: Cesar Marte (Emanuel Ibarry/2ndBikeTeam), Dusan Kalaba (Space City Development Team/Chapeau Labs), Alfredo Rodriquez (Best Buddies Racing)
Elite Women: Marlies Mejias Garcia (Virginia Blue Ridge/Twenty24), Kaia Schmid (Human Powered Health), Danielle Morshead (LA Sweat)
(Final race in the American Criterium Cup series)
Elite Men: Danny Summerhill (Best Buddies Racing), Clever Martinez (Miami Blazers), Alfredo Rodriquez (Best Buddies Racing)
Elite Women: Marlies Mejias Garcia (Virginia Blue Ridge/Twenty24), Danielle Morshead (LA Sweat), Kaia Schmid (Human Powered Health)
Elite Men: Clever Martinez (Miami Blazers), Alfredo Rodriquez (Best Buddies Racing), Daniel Estevez (Best Buddies Racing)
Elite Women: Marlies Mejias Garcia (Virginia Blue Ridge/Twenty24), Danielle Morshead (LA Sweat), Kaia Schmid (Human Powered Health),
(September 8-11) – Hundreds of collegiate cyclists from across the country vied for national championship titles over three days of events at Major Taylor Velodrome in Indianapolis. Colorado Mesa University won the Team Omnium over Marian University for the first time in several years.
Read the recap, here
