The USA Cycling Cross-Country Mountain Bike National Series offers cross-country Olympic-style (XCO) and short-track cross-country (STXC) racing. Most of the events on this calendar are UCI-sanctioned, allowing elite riders the opportunity to earn valuable UCI ranking points. Junior riders will have the chance to qualify for the 2024 USA Cycling Cross-Country National Championships in July.
Juniors Nationals Qualification
All Junior events included in the USA Cycling Cross Country Mountain Bike National Series offer participants the opportunity to secure an automatic berth in their respective age-group final at the 2024 USA Cycling Cross-Country National Championships.
Qualifying for Junior Cross-Country National Championships (15-16 & 17-18)
In the past, all Junior Men (15-16 & 17-18) at the USA Cycling Cross-Country National Championships had to participate in qualifier races. This year, a new system is being introduced to streamline the process:
- Automatic Qualification: Riders can qualify directly for the National Championship finals by meeting specific criteria (details below).
- Last-Chance Qualifier (LCQ): An on-site LCQ race will be available for those who do not qualify automatically, giving remaining riders a chance to compete for a spot in the finals.
*The qualification system applies to both Junior Men and Women. Qualifier races are required only if the number of registered riders in the respective age/gender group reaches 120+ for XCO or 75+ for XCC. If registration is below these thresholds, all riders in that event automatically qualify for the finals without the need for qualifier races.
**All riders who qualified for an automatic spot and plan to race Nationals, MUST pre-register for the event on BikeReg no later than July 10, 2024, at 11:59 pm ET. Any rider who registers after this point, including on-site registration, will be automatically entered into the LCQ, regardless of any results/ranking previously earned.
***The final qualified rider list (100 riders/field) will be released on Tuesday, July 16th, by 12:00 PM ET. All other registered riders will be automatically entered into the Last Chance Qualifier.
Category Notes
XCO: Only UCI events count for qualification in the 17-18 category. For the 15-16 category, only events with Category 1 riders will count. If multiple Cat 1 15-16 events are held on the same weekend, each will count towards qualification. If no stand-alone Cat 1 15-16 event exists, a combined category including 15-16 Cat 1 riders will be used. The top 5 eligible 15-16s (regardless of category) will qualify.
XCC: Only events with Category 1 riders will count for both 15-16 and 17-18 categories. If multiple Cat 1 events for these age groups are held on the same weekend, each will count towards qualification. If no stand-alone Cat 1 15-16/17-18 event exists, a combined category including these riders will be used. The top 5 eligible 15-16s and 17-18s (regardless of category) will qualify.
Cross-Country Qualifications
For both the 15-16 and 17-18 age categories, there are 120 spots available for the Cross-Country (XC) National Championship final in each respective category. Call-up procedures for the on-site qualifier and championship final will be posted by May 10th, 2024.
The first 100 spots are earned through podium placings at the 2023 USA Cycling Cross-Country National Championship, performance in the Cross-Country National Series, as well as UCI rankings (for the 17-18 category only) and USA Cycling XC rankings.
The allocation of these spots works as follows:
- The defending & aged-up 2023 National Champions for XCO.
- The 2023 remaining podium places in the specific age group:
- Junior 17-18 (2nd – 3rd places)
- Junior 15-16 (2nd – 5th places)
- In each age group, the top five junior riders from every Cross-Country event in the National Series secure an automatic spot in the Nationals finals. For events with over 100 participants, this extends to the top 10 riders.
- If spots remain, the remaining positions are filled based on UCI rankings (for the 17-18 category), followed by USA Cycling XC rankings points.
- Lastly, the final 20 spots are determined through an on-site qualifier.
Short Track Qualification
For both the 15-16 and 17-18 age categories, there are 75 spots available for the Short Track Cross-Country (STXC) National Championship final in each respective category. Call-up procedures for the on-site qualifier and championship final will be posted by May 10th, 2024.
The first 55 spots are earned through podium placings at the 2023 USA Cycling Cross-Country National Championship, performance in the Cross-Country National Series, as well as UCI rankings (for the 17-18 category only), USA Cycling STXC rankings, and USA Cycling XC ranking.
The allocation of these spots works as follows:
- The defending & aged-up 2023 National Champions for XCO.
- The 2023 remaining podium places in the specific age group:
- Junior 17-18 (2nd – 3rd places
- Junior 15-16 (2nd – 5th places)
- In each age group, the top five junior riders from every Cross-Country Short Track event in the National Series secure an automatic spot in the Nationals finals. For events with over 100 participants, this extends to the top 10 riders.
- In the event an event runs qualifiers due to field limits, the number of riders on the combined start list will be used to determine the number of riders allocated automatic qualifying berths.
- If spots remain, the remaining positions are filled based on UCI rankings (for the 17-18 category), followed by USA Cycling STXC rankings, and then by USA Cycling XC rankings.
- Lastly, the final 20 spots are determined through an on-site qualifier.
NOTE: Qualifications do not have an implication on the actual call-up positions for the finals.
*UCI rankings are based on the last published rankings as of July 16th, 2024, and USA Cycling rankings are pulled as of July 16th, 2024, at 8 am ET.
**All riders who are interested in being eligible for an automatic qualification spot MUST pre-register for the event. Registration closes on July 10th, 2024, at 11:59 pm ET. Any rider who registers after this point, to include onsite registration, will be automatically entered into the LCQ, regardless of any results/ranking previously earned.
***The final qualified rider list (100 riders/field) will be released on Tuesday, July 16th, by 12:00 pm ET. All other registered riders will be automatically entered into the LCQ.
Current rankings can be found using the following links:
Junior Men 17-18 and Junior Women 17-18
Junior Men 15-16 and Junior Women 15-16
Distribution of Points
The following is a breakdown of points for each day of racing in the series. Individual rankings for all UCI categories will be updated after each stop.
Place | Points |
|---|---|
1 | 80 |
2 | 60 |
3 | 40 |
4 | 30 |
5 | 25 |
6 | 20 |
7 | 18 |
8 | 16 |
9 | 14 |
10 | 12 |
11 | 10 |
12 | 9 |
13 | 8 |
14 | 7 |
15 | 6 |
16 | 5 |
17 | 4 |
18 | 3 |
19 | 2 |
20 | 1 |
