Category Upgrades
A Competitive Pathway for All
Category upgrades are the foundation of USA Cycling’s competitive pathway, providing athletes of all ages and skill-levels a nationwide structure for continual advancement.
What are Category Upgrades?
In order to race at the highest level and qualify for national and international competitions, athletes must meet certain benchmarks of success and earn the opportunity to race in more advanced fields. These benchmarks, known as category upgrades, are important milestones in a racer’s career and are indicative of a rider’s skill level, competitive accolades, and overall experience.
Nationwide Consistency
As the national governing body for the sport of bicycle racing, USA Cycling established racing categories to classify riders based on skill-level and experience. These categories help ensure fair competition by grouping riders of similar abilities together, and the process for upgrading recognizes athletes that progress through the ranks.
Category upgrades are awarded based on a consistent set of national standards that take field size, racing experience, and placement into consideration. This level of consistency is important, because it allows athletes from across the United States to systematically progress through a competitive structure without losing sight of safety, fairness, and fun.
National team athletes racing at the world championships and other international competitions earned their way into the elite fields one race at a time. If you want to vie for a national title or represent your country on the international stage, you need to earn your way there with category upgrades. Every race is a chance to add points to your arsenal and improve your skills!
Pathway to Progress
ROAD, TRACK, CYCLOCROSS
Everyone starts as a Novice and can work their way toward becoming a Category 1 racer.
Category Novice serves as the entry-level tier for newcomers to racing, offering shorter and less technical races aimed at ensuring enjoyment and skill development. As athletes progress through categories, races become longer and more challenging. USA Cycling offers various upgrade pathways tailored to different disciplines such as road, track, and cyclocross.
NOVICE | CATEGORY 4 | CATEGORY 3 | CATEGORY 2 | CATEGORY 1
MOUNTAIN BIKE
Everyone starts as a Novice and can work their way toward becoming a Pro racer.
Category Novice serves as the entry-level tier for newcomers to racing, offering shorter and less technical races aimed at ensuring enjoyment and skill development. As athletes progress through categories, races become longer and more challenging. USA Cycling offers one pathway for both endurance and gravity oriented mountain bike disciplines.
NOVICE | CATEGORY 2 | CATEGORY 1 | CATEGORY PRO
Quick Facts About Upgrading
USA Cycling staff review all upgrade requests internally.
Upgrades are earned by accumulating points in your current category.
View every race as an opportunity to build your fitness, fine-tune your skills, and learn from the racers around you. The upgrade points will naturally come about when you are ready to advance to the next level.
POLICY VIII
The Backbone to Category Upgrades
02USA Cycling Policy VIII
USA Cycling Policy VIII serves as the foundation for the upgrade program and is an essential resource for racers of any age that are looking to progress through the competitive pathway. Requirements for category advancement within each discipline, as well as policies surrounding junior and age-graded events, can be found within Policy VIII.
LEARN MORE
How does it all work?
Upgrades are earned by accumulating points in your current category. Once you have accumulated the required points for your next category upgrade, you will need to submit your request through your online USA Cycling account.
Example:
Date | Name of Race | Finishing place out of the total number of athletes in your category that started the race = Points Earned
How do I know when I'm eligible?
- Understand the Basics: Familiarizing yourself with Policy VIII will provide clarity on the criteria needed to progress in your discipline. Everyone begins in the Novice Category working their way to Cat 1, the lower the category the more challenging the competition.
- Accumulate Points: Earn points by participating in races within your current category.
- Check Eligibility: Once you've accumulated the required points for your next category upgrade, submit your upgrade request through your USA Cycling account.
- Submit Your Request: Log in to your USA Cycling account, navigate to the Licenses section, and click on Upgrade. Select the requested category and provide the necessary information, including race details and placings, to support your request.
- Focus on Learning and Fitness: Instead of solely aiming for a higher placing, focus on building fitness and learning from experienced racers in your current category. This approach will better prepare you for success as you progress.
- Value of Experience: Don't underestimate the importance of race experience. The knowledge gained from participating in events is invaluable and complements the points earned towards your category upgrade.
By following these steps and maintaining a focus on learning and improvement, you'll be well-prepared to advance through the USA Cycling categories effectively.
To calculate how many upgrade points you have earned towards your next category upgrade, you will want to open a couple of tabs in your browser.
- One tab will be the upgrade points chart found here.
- The other tab will be your overall results, found here.
Once both tabs are open you'll want to look up recent top 5 - 10 finishes and use the same discipline chart to look up how many upgrade points you've earned based on your finishing place and the number of starters in your field.
All rider upgrades are processed through your My USA Cycling account.
- Log in to your USA Cycling My Account.
- At the top right-hand side, click on Licenses.
- Scroll down to the Discipline Category section. Click on Upgrade.
- On the following screen, you can select the requested category and supply the following required information to support your request in the text box below the Category Selection fields.
- Upgrade requests are processed in 3-5 business days, so please approach the timing of your upgrade request in a manner that reflects the importance of your upgrade being processed on time.
The request will be sent to USA Cycling staff for review. Please provide the information about your race experience and placings in the following manner.
The information you must provide includes:
- Name of event
- Race/Event date
- Type of event (Road/Track/Mountain Bike)
- Category (or Categories of your field)
- Number of participants
- Placing (if applicable)
- Points for the placings you've achieved per Policy VIII
If the administrator approves the upgrade, your account will be changed to reflect your new category, and a confirmation email will be sent.
By visiting Policy VIII, you can access detailed guidelines outlining the specific requirements for upgrading within your cycling discipline. These requirements are tailored to ensure a fair and transparent process for advancing through the race categories. Familiarizing yourself with Policy VIII will provide clarity on the criteria needed to progress in your discipline.
Advancing Through the Ranks
Category Upgrade Recognition
Resources for upgrading
Upgrading your race category is a significant achievement, marking your progression and growth as a competitive cyclist. It demonstrates your dedication, skill, and commitment to the sport. For any inquiries regarding your race license or how to upgrade, please submit a request.