Yorkshire, U.K.- With ground-breaking performances during the first six days of competition at the 2019 UCI World Championships in Yorkshire, U.K., USA Cycling will have at least their second highest medal count at a Road World Championships having earned six medals so far in the competition. The highest medal count for Team USA was in 2015 at the Road World Championships in Richmond, Va. with seven.
The U23 Men began the medal streak with Ian Garrison (Decatur, Ga.; Hagens Berman Axeon) and Brandon McNulty (Phoenix; Rally-UHC) taking second and third respectively in the Individual Time Trial. On the same day as the U23 Men, Chloe Dygert (Brownsburg, Ind.; Sho-Air TWENTY20) had a record-breaking ride, not only becoming the youngest cyclist to ever win the Elite World Title in the Individual Time Trial, but also winning by the largest margin in history. In the Men’s Elite Time Trial, Lawson Craddock (Houston; EF-Education First) was mere seconds off the podium with the best U.S. finish in recent years placing sixth and earning the U.S. a second slot in the Time Trial Olympic Games, Tokyo 2020.
During the Junior Men’s Race on Thursday, Quinn Simmons (Durango, Colo.; LUX Cycling) soloed away from the rest of the race to win the first Junior Men’s World title the U.S. had seen in 28 years. Teammate Magnus Sheffield (Pittford, N.Y.; HotTubes Cycling) won the four-up sprint to pick up the bronze medal. The following morning, Megan Jastrab (Apple Valley, Calif.) proved her strength by clinching another rainbow jersey after launching her not-so-secret weapon sprint.
“What we have witnessed our riders do so far in Yorkshire is proof that our development program is working,” said Jeff Pierce, Director of Elite Athletics, Road and Track, “It’s no coincidence that the U23 and Elite medalists we have seen so far this weekend were also standing on the podium as Juniors in Richmond as well as Doha. We’ve worked hard this year to ensure that our most promising Juniors were able to get experience in Europe racing against other countries at the Nations’ Cups and it paid off in a big way. Not only did we get three medals, but we also ended the season ranked second and third overall in the Nation’s Cup despite not attending every race.”
Racing continues tomorrow with the Elite Women’s Race which will be broadcast on the Olympic Channel and NBC Sports Gold starting at 7:30am MT.
To follow along with Team USA at the 2019 Road World Championships, follow @USACyclingLIVE on Twitter and @USACycling across all other platforms. For more about the 2019 UCI Road World Championships, please visit the event website at https://worlds.yorkshire.com.
