The 2024 USA Cycling Cross-Country Mountain Bike National Championships opened Saturday with perfect weather and fast trails. Today was important for athletes and spectators with the Junior 17-18, Under-23, and Elite races.
The Junior Women 17-18 were the first to roll out with 55 starters. Vida Lopez de San Roman (Petaluma, Calif.; Bear National Team) and Alice Hoskins (Charlottesville, Va.; The Gravity Collective) gained an advantage on the rest of the field in the first lap. On the second lap, Hoskins fumbled on a technical section in the woods, allowing Roman to create distance between the two. Hoskins worked hard to keep Roman in her sights but would eventually lose time over the 3-lap race. Roman won in a time of 1:00:45, with Hoskins coming in 1:05 down for the silver medal. Ingrid McElroy (Danville, Pa.; Bear National Team) would overcome stomach issues and overexertion in the second lap to round out the podium and take bronze.
1. Vida Lopez de San Roman (Petaluma, Calif.; Bear National Team)
2. Alice Hoskins (Charlottesville, Va.; The Gravity Collective))
3. Ingrid McElroy (Danville, Pa.; Bear National Team)
The 120-rider Junior field powered up the start hill, each with the goal of winning a National Title. In the first lap of four, an elite group formed which included Erza Caudell (Acworth, Ga.; The Gravity Collective), River Valdez (Sedona, Ariz.; Bear National Team), Luke Mosteller (Tunnel Hill, Ga.; Bear National Team), and reigning Men’s 17-18 XCO National Champion Nicholas Konecny (Breckenridge, Colo.; Bear National Team). After the first lap, they had a gap of 29-seconds on the rest of the field. Mosteller dropped off the pace on lap two leaving three riders to battle it out. Even with a broken shoelace, Konency, riding for the late Magnus White, was feeling good enough to attack up the main climb on the third lap. He pulled away from the rest of his group and held it to the finish to defend his National Title. Caudell limited his losses to only 19-seconds to take second. Valdez rode in for third only 1:33 back.
1. Nicholas Konecny (Breckenridge, Colo.; Bear National Team)
2. Ezra Caudell (Acworth, Ga.; The Gravity Collective)
3. River Valdez (Sedona, Ariz.; Bear National Team)
Madigan Munro (Waterloo, Wis.; Trek Factory Racing-Pirelli) was one to watch today in the Under-23 Women’s race. The returning National Champion quickly distanced herself from the rest of the field just minutes after the start. When asked what her strategy was for the race, Munro replied, “With the technical features and the humidity, I kind of just wanted to get in my own space and be able to ride my own race. I just tried to go right from the start and take it from there to see how the others were feeling. I ended up getting a gap and holding it for the rest of the race.” Munro continued to put time into her competition each lap. She finished 1:23 up on second place and added another National Title to her collection.
Once Munro was out of sight, the battle for second was between Sofia Waite (Durango, Colo.; WE Development) and Makena Kellerman (Escondido, Calif.; Bear National Team). The pair worked together to keep a steady pace in the early laps. Those early efforts caused Kellerman to burn a few too many matches, giving Waite a chance to come around on lap three and ride to the silver medal. Waite, who was recovering from a serious illness, said “I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I rode my own race and that’s all I can say so I’m happy with it.”
1. Madigan Munro (Waterloo, Wis.; Trek Factory Racing-Pirelli)
2. Sofia Waite (Durango, Colo.; WE Development)
3. Makena Kellerman (Escondido, Calif.; Bear National Team)
A sea of pink is all one could see on the start line of the Under-23 Men’s race with the Bear National Team making up nearly a fifth of the starters. The pace was high going up the start hill and a group of nine formed before the first singletrack. Defending National Champion, Brayden Johnson (Littleton, Colo.; Santa Cruz Rockshox Pro Team) benefitted from a mistake by Carson Beard (Durango, Colo.; Team Durango Segment 28) in the woods on lap one and attacked hard into the downhill section. Johnson stayed away for the next two laps and averaged sub-16-minute laps. “I came in with a goal of nothing but to win again. You’ve done it before so you want to do it again, you know you can do it again,” said Johnson.
Teammates Carson Hampton (Boise, Idaho; Bear National Team) and Lasse Konecny (Breckenridge, Colo.; Bear National Team) traded pulls to bring back Johnson near the end of lap three. Johnson attacked again on the downhill going into lap four but would suffer a flat and lost time, which opened the door for Hampton to ride away to the gold medal. “It was two laps off the front by myself, which was a long time to be solo up there,” Hampton said. “I was getting scared seeing the time gaps, but ended up sticking it out to the end and couldn’t be happier”.
Konecny, finishing 12-seconds behind his teammate said, “I’m pretty stoked for Carson, he’s had a pretty rough year, so coming out on top was something really good for him.” Johnson would hold on to third place 49-seconds down.
1. Carson Hampton (Boise, Idaho; Bear National Team)
2. Lasse Konecny (Breckenridge, Colo.; Bear National Team)
3. Brayden Johnson (Littleton, Colo.; Santa Cruz Rockshox Pro Team)
The Elite Women’s race was expected to be a nailbiter with a roster of talented World Cup riders, including Kate Courtney (Portola Valley, Calif.; Scott-SRAM MTB Race Team), Gwendalyn Gibson (Waterloo, Wis.; Trek Factory Racing-Pirelli) and eventual winner, Kelsey Urban (Kentfield, Calif.; Team 31). By the end of the first lap, the gaps between the trio were close. Urban led Gibson by 2-seconds, and Courtney by 6-seconds. On the climb going into the second lap, Urban put in a big attack and dropped Gibson. As the laps counted down, Urban put more time into her competitors, with Courtney down 15-seconds going into the third lap.
Speaking with Urban about her strategy she said, “I just led into that first downhill and I was confident that if I rode it smooth, I would open up a little gap and just held it from there and tried to build on it the best I could.” Urban completed the 4-lap race in a time of 1:15:23, winning the National Title. Courtney, only 54-seconds down, took silver for another year. Gibson earned bronze.
1. Kelsey Urban (Kentfield, Calif.; Team 31)
2. Kate Courtney (Portola Valley, Calif.; Scott-SRAM MTB Race Team)
3. Gwendalyn Gibson (Waterloo, Wis.; Trek Factory Racing-Pirelli)
In the Elite Men’s race, all eyes were on Bjorn Riley (Boulder, Colo.; Trek Future Racing), who returned from the UCI MTB World Cup earlier this month, having swept the U23 Men’s XCC and XCO races. When Riley was asked about his race and the course he said, “I wanted to do the same as I did in Les Gets, where I get in front to where I can kind of pace myself. There are some sections where I feel I can push harder and others where I have to step off the gas. When I’m with people, it’s hard to do that. So, I just pushed harder on the first lap because I noticed my main competitor Robbie Day was a little further behind, so it was an opportunity to get a gap before he caught up.” Riley did what he set out to do. He charged up the start hill and established the front position early on, to finish the first lap with a 32-second gap. Riley continued to build his lead and won gold by a margin of over 3-minutes, in a time of 1:22:02. “I was just excited to come race, to be at a home crowd back in America. To come away with a win is pretty exciting but, at the end of the day, I’m just happy that I’m racing.” said Riley.
Robbie Day (Evergreen, Colo.; Bear National Team) and Devon Feehan (Windsor, N.Y.; Chenango Point Cycles) battled it out for silver. Day made an acceleration in lap three, managed to make a gap, and kept pushing it to the finish to take second place with a time of 1:25:19. Feehan earned bronze with a time of 1:25:46.
1. Bjorn Riley (Boulder, Colo.; Trek Future Racing)
2. Robbie Day (Evergreen, Colo.; Bear National Team)
3. Devon Feehan (Windsor, N.Y.; Chenango Point Cycles)
Full results for day four, and live timing for day five, can be found here.
Photo By: First Place Photo
Sunday is the fifth and final day of the 2024 USA Cycling Cross-Country Mountain Bike National Championships and will feature all categories of XCC.
