MOUNTAIN BIKE
UCI Mountain Bike World Championships: Les Gets, France
(August 24-28) — Team USA wrapped up their trip to the French Alps with two individual bronze medals plus a team bronze, along with numerous top-10 placings at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships.
Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing), Riley Amos (Trek Factory Racing), Cayden Parker (Bear National Team), Haley Batten (Specialized Factory Racing), Madigan Munro (Trek Factory Racing), and Bailey Cioppa (Bear National Team) kicked off day one by taking bronze in the Team Relay, each doing one lap of the XCO course.
Two days later, Gwendalyn Gibson (Norco Factory Team) earned her first World Championship medal, taking bronze in Women’s Short Track and coming in just 3 seconds behind 2nd place. It was a fantastic finish for Gibson, who broke her kneecap less than 3 months ago. Kate Courtney (Scott-SRAM) and Savilia Blunk (Orange Seal Off-Road Team) finished 8th and 10th. Defending World Champion Christopher Blevins missed out on the podium in the men’s race after crashing while entering the finishing straight.
The team’s third medal came on the final day of racing, when Haley Batten, took bronze in the Women’s XCO, four days after helping the U.S. to a bronze in the XCO Team Relay. U23 National Champion Madigan Munro was 9th in the women’s U23 XCO race, while National Champion Bjorn Riley (Team Trek VAUDE) took 5th in the Men’s U23 XCO race, and Riley Amos was 8th.
In the Men’s Elite Downhill final, National Champion Dakotah Norton (Intense Factory Racing) placed 7th and Aaron Gwin (Intense Factory Racing) placed 8th;. On the women’s side, Anna Newkirk (Beyond Racing) was 14th. For the Junior Men’s Downhill Finals, National Champion Ryan Pinkerton (GT Factory Racing) barely missed the podium, taking 4th, while Andrew Driscoll (Defiant Racing) placed 10th.
Bailey Cioppa placed 7th in the Women’s Junior Cross-Country race, while Daniel English(Bear National Team) placed 9th on the Men’s Junior side.
Complete results here
TRACK
UCI Junior Track World Championships: Tel Aviv, Israel
(August 23-27) – Chloe Patrick (Serious Cycling) scored a pair of silver medals at the 2022 UCI Junior Track World Championships, taking 2nd in the Women’s Scratch and 2nd in Women’s Points races. The 18-year-old also placed 5th in the Women’s Elimination.
Four national champions represented the US in Tel Aviv: Jonah Hover (EDGE Cycling), Chloe Patrick (Serious Cycling), Finn Koller (EDGE Cycling), and Divya Verma (EDGE Cycling).
Other top-10 results at the 5-day competition included 4th place for Hover in Men’s Scratch, and 8th place for Verma in Women’s Sprint.
Complete results here
ROAD
UCI WorldTour: Tour of Denmark
(August 16-20) – Magnus Sheffield (INEOS Grenadiers) won the Individual Time Trial and took 2nd on the hilly final stage at the Tour of Denmark, locking in 2nd place overall at the 5-day stage race. It was the 20-year-old’s first pro time trial victory and the third win in his debut season. He also won the Best Young Rider classification. Sheffield wore the leader’s jersey for three days until the final stage, losing by just 4 seconds overall to Christophe LaPorte.
UCI WorldTour: Tour de l’Avenir: France
(August 18-28) – Six Americans lined up to race for the U.S. at the Under-23 classic Tour de l’Avenir. Luke Lamperti (Trinity Racing), Jared Scott (Aevolo), Cooper Johnson (Aevolo), Gabriel Shipley (Aevolo), Finn Gullickson (CR4C Roanne)
and Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech) took on the 9-stage “Tour of the Future,” which features many of the best young road riders in the world.
Lamperti, the 2021 US National Criterium Champion, notched two top-10 finishes, placing 7th and 5th on stages 1 and 2, then 12th on stage 4. He placed 43rd overall on GC and 8thin the points competition. Crashes decimated the field, however, with just 75 out of 163 riders completing the race. Lamperti was the sole survivor of the American team.
UCI WorldTour: La Vuelta: Spain
(August 19-September 11) – 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, the third Grand Tour of the men’s pro season. The 21-stage race started in the Netherlands then moved on to the mountains of Spain. Kuss, who rode in support of team leader Primož Roglič, was in the GC’s top-10 through stage 5, but left due to illness before the start of stage 8.
Craddock’s top result was 5th on Stage 5 and with 12 days left of racing, he sits 59th overall, while McNulty is 77th on GC.
Momentum Indy Criterium: Indianapolis
(August 27) – The ninth stop on the 10-race American Criterium Cup brought cyclists to downtown Indianapolis for a night of racing.
Elite Men: Bryan Gomez (Best Buddies Racing), Hugo Scala (Project Echelon Racing), Tyler Williams (L39ion of Los Angeles)
Elite Women: Paola Munoz (CWA Racing P/B Goldman Sachs ET), Sofia Arreola (Virginia’s Blue Ridge/Twenty24), Maggie Coles-Lyster (DNA Pro Cycling)
