MOUNTAIN BIKE
UCI MTB World Cup Downhill: Fort William, Scotland
(May 3-5) – Round one in the UCI downhill series saw American racers capture gold plus a slew of top-10 spots on the track in Fort William, Scotland. Dakotah Norton (Mondraker Factory Racing) placed 4th and Luca Shaw (Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team) was 5th in the elite men’s final. In the elite women’s final, Anna Newkirk (Beyond Racing) placed 8th.
Asa Vermette (Frameworks Racing) took gold in the junior men’s final, laying down the fastest splits in three out of four splits, just five weeks after suffering an injury. “I pictured my run,” he said afterwards. “I couldn’t have done it any better.”
Matilda Melton (Transition Factory Racing) was 4th and Kale Cushman (The Gravity Collective) was 8th for junior women.
Round 2 of World Cup downhill racing is June 7-9, in Leogang, Austria.
Complete results here
2024 Pan American MTB Championships: Midway, Utah
(May 8-12) – Team USA earned 9 golds, 4 silver, and 4 bronze medals at the Pan Am MTB Championships, held at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Utah. Athletes from more than 40 nations vied for titles, and it was the first time in two decades that the United States hosted the competition. More than 200 racers from the US competed across age-group categories, with USA Cycling sending a full squad of Elite, U23, and Junior athletes.
Haley Batten (Specialized Factory Racing) took first to lead a Team USA sweep of elite women’s XCC, with Kate Courtney (SCOTT-SRAM Factory Racing), Bailey Cioppa (Bear National Team) and Makena Kellerman (Bear National Team) placing 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Riley Amos (Trek Factory Racing) won the elite men’s XCC, followed by Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) in 2nd.
Amos made it two for two, placing 1st the next day in U23 men’s XCO. Brayden Johnson (Bear National Team) and Carson Beard (Team Segment 28) placed 2nd and 3rd. Madigan Munro (Trek Factory Racing) won the U23 women’s XCO, and Bailey Cioppa placed 3rd, her second bronze of the weekend.
Vida Lopez de San Roman (Bear National Team) won junior women’s XCO and Alice Hoskins(Gravity Collective MTB) placed 3rd. On the men’s side, Nicholas Konecny (Bear National Team) placed 1st, with Ezra Caudell (Gravity Collective MTB), Benjamin Bravman and Kai Lokey taking 4th-6th place.
Batten doubled up on wins, taking first by 2:49 on Sunday in the elite women’s XCO, with Courtney again placing 2nd. Christopher Blevins won the elite men’s XCO race, coming in a scorching 1:26 ahead of the 2nd place finisher.
Complete results here
ROAD
Giro d’Italia: Italy
(May 4-26) – Time trial specialist Magnus Sheffield (INEOS Grenadiers) placed 3rd at the Giro d’Italia’s Stage 7 Time Trial, coming in just behind his teammate, Italian national time trial champion Filippo Ganna, and Tour leader Tadej Pogacar.
Other Americans competing at this year’s Giro are Luke Lamperti (Soudal Quick-Step), Lawrence Warbasse (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Will Barta (Movistar) and Kevin Vermaerke (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL).
Complete results here
Vuelta España Feminina: Spain
(April 28-May 5) – Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Cannondale) podiumed twice and finished 12thoverall at this year’s women’s Tour of Spain. Over the course of 8 stages, Faulkner won Stage 4, took 2nd on Stage 7, and placed 5th in the opening Team Time Trial.
Lily Williams (Human Powered Health) and Veronica Ewers (EF Education-Cannondale) also raced, with Williams taking 5th on Stage 3.
Complete results here
Eschborn-Frankfurt: Germany
(May 1) – Riley Sheehan (Israel-Premier Tech) placed 3rd and Kevin Vermaerke (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) was 7th at the one-day, 203-kilometer race in Germany.
Complete results here
Tro-Bro Leon: France
(May 5) – Riley Sheehan (Israel-Premier Tech) placed 4th at another one-day, 203 kilometer race, this time in France. This is the 23-year-old’s first year racing as a UCI pro.
Complete results here
Collegiate Road National Championships: Albuquerque, New Mexico
(May 3-5) – Hundreds of collegiate athletes gathered in Albuquerque to compete for road racing national championship titles on a windy and challenging weekend.
In Team Omnium (Varsity), Colorado Mesa University took 1st, with Fort Lewis College and Marian University placing 2nd and 3rd.
Team Omnium (Club) was won by University of Colorado, Boulder, with Colorado State Universityand University of Arizona taking 2nd and 3rd.
Individual Omnium (Club) was won by Anthony Hilligoss (University of Colorado, Boulder) and Aria Mundy (University of Colorado, Boulder). Varsity titles were won by Jonas Walton (Belmont Abbey College) and Cassidy Hickey (Colorado Mesa University).
Race recap here
Complete results here
