USA Cycling on Tuesday announced the 29 riders that will represent the country in Toscana, Italy, at the 2013 UCI Road World Championships from Sept. 22-29.
“I’m really excited about the teams we are sending to the world championships in Firenze,” said USA Cycling Vice President of Athletics Jim Miller. “Firenze is a special place, we had a team base near there for several years and it is an area we know well. The organizers of the world championships have developed a spectacular course, and I believe we have the teams capable of producing great results. I am very excited for our teams and athletes and am looking forward to these world championships”.
The elite men’s road team features three automatic nominations and four discretionary selections. The three automatic nominations areFreddie Rodriguez (Berkeley, Calif./Jelly Belly Cycling), Andrew Talansky (Napa, Calif./Garmin-Sharp) and Tejay van Garderen (Boulder, Colo./BMC Racing Team).
Talansky and van Garderen earned their automatic nominations by being within the top 50 of the UCI World Tour individual rankings and by placing in the top five of the general classification at the Paris-Nice World Tour event in March. Talansky, who is currently ranked 26th in the rankings, placed second while van Garderen, who topped the general classification at the 2013 USA Pro Challenge in Colorado in August, is currently ranked 40th and placed fourth at Paris-Nice. Rodriguez earned an automatic nomination to represent the United States after winning the road race in Chattanooga at the 2013 Volkswagen USA Cycling Professional Road & Time Trial National Championships on Memorial Day.
Joining that quartet are four discretionary selections — Chris Horner (San Diego, Calif./Team RadioShack Leopard Trek),Taylor Phinney (Boulder, Colo./BMC Racing Team), Alex Howes(Boulder, Colo./Garmin-Sharp) and Peter Stetina (Santa Rosa, Calif/Garmin-Sharp). Horner, who overcame a mid-season knee injury, is the current leader after 10 stages of the Vuelta España. Horner recorded strong results prior to his showing in Spain. He placed second in the general classification at the Tour of Utah and sixth overall at Tirreno-Adriatico in Italy. Phinney posted two top-five finishes at the 2013 Tour of Poland, including a win on stage 4, and three top-10 finishes at the 2013 Eneco Tour. He also placed third overall at the Giro Toscana and his all-around talent on the road will be a valuable asset to the squad. Howes is sure to display the same climbing prowess he displayed riding in support of Dan Martin in the spring Ardennes classics. Howes is also capable of recording impressive results as he placed 12th at the 2013 Tour L’Ain in France and 15th at the 2013 Tour of Poland. Stetina is another strong climber and boasts a fourth-place showing in the general classification at the 2013 Tour of Langkawi, as well as two top-10 finishes at the 2013 Volta Catalunya.
Phinney also earned a spot as an automatic selection representing the United States in the time trial after placing second in the event in 2012. He narrowly missed a medal in the time trial at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, placing fourth. Talansky will be doing double duty as well after being chosen as a discretionary selection to compete in the time trial. He has recorded standout results throughout the season. Talansky finished second in the time trials at Paris-Nice, prologue at the Tour of Romandie and the USA Pro Challenge in Colorado. He also added a fifth-place result in the Critérium International in France on March 23.
Tom Danielson (Boulder, Colo./Garmin-Sharp), who earned an automatic selection to the road team by finishing fourth at the Tour of Romandie in Switzerland, declined his spot on the squad.
The elite women’s contingent is led by five automatic selections and a pair of discretionary picks.
Mara Abbott (Boulder, Colo./Exergy TWENTY16), Shelley Olds (Gilroy, Calif./Team TIBCO-To the Top), Carmen Small (Durango, Colo./Specialized-lululemon), Evelyn Stevens (Dennis, Mass./Specialized-lululemon) and Jade Wilcoxson (Talent, Ore./Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) each earned automatic nominations. Stevens, Olds and Small are each ranked within the top 25 of the UCI Individual ranking. Stevens is ranked fifth, Olds is eighth and Small is 25th. Abbott earned her automatic nomination by topping the general classification at the 2013 Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile in July. Like Rodriguez, Wilcoxson earned her automatic nomination by winning the elite women’s road race in Chattanooga on Memorial Day. Megan Guarnier (Mountain View, Calif./Rabobank-Liv-Giant) and Kristin McGrath (Boise, Idaho/Exergy TWENTY16) were selected to join that quintet as discretionary selections. Guarnier, who has ridden in support of Marianne Vos (NED) throughout the majority of the season, placed second at the 2013 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad-vrouwen elite in Belgium and won the elite women’s road race in Augusta, Ga., at the 2012 USA Cycling Elite, U23, Juniors and Paralympic Road National Championships. McGrath, a stalwart rider in the USA Cycling National Development Program (NDP) has supported Stevens and Abbott at different races throughout the season. McGrath has also recorded stellar results of her own, topping the general classification at the 2013 Bend Memorial Cascade Cycling Classic in Oregon and placing fourth in the road race in Chattanooga.
Stevens and Small each earned automatic selections to represent the United States in the elite women’s time trial in Italy. Stevens finished second in the time trial at the 2012 UCI Road World Championships and Small is the reigning national champion after topping the field in the time trial in Chattanooga.
The five-man under-23 contingent includes four automatic nominations. Nathan Wilson (Elk Grove, Calif./Bontrager Cycling Team) andLawson Craddock (Austin, Texas/Bontrager Cycling Team) earned their nominations to the squad by recording top-five finishes at certain European events. Wilson placed fifth at Ronde de I’sard while Craddock’s second-place result at Triptyque des Monts Chateaux in Belgium earned his automatic nomination. Nathan Brown (Covington, Tenn./Bontrager Cycling Team) earned his nomination by being the top-ranked American rider in the UCI U23 America Tour rankings with 54 points. Tanner Putt (Park City, Utah/Bontrager Cycling Team) secured a nomination by winning the U23 road race at the 2013 USA Cycling Amateur & Para-cycling Road National Championships in Madison, Wis., in July. Gavin Mannion (Dedham, Mass/Bontrager Cycling Team) was selected as a discretionary pick after placing eighth at the Tour de l’Avenir in France last week.
Brown was also an automatic selection for the U23 individual time trial after winning the bronze medal in that event in Chattanooga. He will be joined in the time trial by Craddock, a discretionary selection who finished just behind Brown in fourth place at Chattanooga.
The seven-man juniors men’s squad includes five automatic nominations and a pair of discretionary selections. Miguel Bryon (Miami, Fla./DCM Cycling Team), Geofferey Curran (Tustin, Calif./Get Crackin’-VRC), Michael Dessau (Boulder, Colo./Slipstream-Craddock Junior Development), Zeke Mostov (San Francisco, Calif./ Slipstream-Craddock Junior Development) and Logan Owen (Bremerton, Wash./California Giant Cycling) each earned automatic nominations. Curran and Owen earned theirs by placing in the top five of the general classification in a 2013 UCI European Juniors Men’s Nation’s Cup race (2.NC). Owen, who won the juniors men’s road race in Wisconsin, finished second at Course de la Paix in the Czech Republic in May and Curran was the runner-up at Trofeo Karlsberg in Germany in June. Bryon and Mostov placed in the top three of a 2013 European Juniors event ranked 2.1 (general classification) or 1.1. Bryon finished second at Ronde van Vlaadaaren in Belgium in July and Mostov placed second at 3-Etappen-Rundfahrt in Germany in May. Seventeen-year-oldWilliam Barta (Boise, Idaho/BYRDS (Boise Young Rider Dev Squad)) earned the Best Young Rider recognition at the Tour de l’Abitibi in Canada in July to earn a discretionary selection. Justin Oien (Escondido, Calif./MRI Endurance Elite Juniors) finished 10th in Paris-Roubaix to boost his resume in earning a discretionary selection.
Michael Dessau (Boulder, Colo./Slipstream-Craddock Junior Development) earned an automatic nomination to contest the juniors men’s time trial world championship after winning his age group’s time trial national championship in Wisconsin. Mostov is slated to join him as a discretionary selection after finishing second to Dessau at the national championships, placing second in the time trial at the 2013 3-Etappen-Rundfahrt and sixth in the time trial at the 2013 Course de la Paix Juniors.
Kelly Catlin (Arden Hills, Minn./Gopher Wheelmen), Hanna Swan (Alpine, Calif./Strive Racing) and Sara Youmans (Ketchum, Idaho/ Stranamanti Cycling – Keller Rohrback Cycling) comprise the juniors women’s squad as discretionary selections. The 17-year-old Swan recently finished second overall among senior women 18-99 in the Everest Challenge Stage race, becoming the first juniors woman to finish the race. Catlin placed second to Cole in the road race and has registered top-10 results at the Canton Cycling Classic, Hutchinson Road Race and the Silver Island Road Race. Youmans posted three first-place finishes on the road in the month of August, taking wins at the Gig Harbor Circuit Race, Boston Harbor Circuit Race, and Northwest Juniors Classic Stage Race.
Swan and Catlin will also compete in the juniors women’s time trial. Swan was an automatic selection for the time trial after winning her age group’s time trial national championship in Wisconsin. Janelle Cole (Rockford, Mich./West Michigan Coast Riders), an automatic selection to the juniors women’s team, declined her spot due to injury.
2013 UCI Road World Championships
Toscana, Italy
Sept. 22-29
Elite Men
Chris Horner (San Diego, Calif./Team RadioShack Leopard Trek)
Alex Howes (Boulder, Colo./Garmin-Sharp)
*Taylor Phinney (Boulder, Colo./BMC Racing Team) – competing road race and time trial
*Freddie Rodriguez (Berkeley, Calif./Jelly Belly Cycling)
Peter Stetina (Santa Rosa, Calif/Garmin-Sharp)
*Andrew Talansky (Napa, Calif./Garmin-Sharp) – competing in road race and time trial
*Tejay van Garderen (Boulder, Colo./BMC Racing Team)
Elite Women
*Mara Abbott (Boulder, Colo./Exergy TWENTY16)
Megan Gaurnier (Mountain View, Calif./Rabobank-Liv-Giant)
Kristin McGrath (Boise, Idaho/Exergy TWENTY16)
*Shelley Olds (Gilroy, Calif./Team TIBCO-To the Top)
*Carmen Small (Durango, Colo./Specialized-lululemon) – competing in road race and time trial
*Evelyn Stevens (Dennis, Mass./Specialized-lululemon) – competing in road race and time trial
*Jade Wilcoxson (Talent, Ore./Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)
U23 Men
*Nathan Brown (Covington, Tenn./Bontrager Cycling Team) – competing in road race and time trial
*Lawson Craddock (Austin, Texas/Bontrager Cycling Team) – competing in road race and time trial
*Tanner Putt (Park City, Utah/Bontrager Cycling Team)
*Nathan Wilson (Elk Grove, Calif./Bontrager Cycling Team)
Gavin Mannion (Dedham, Mass/Bontrager Cycling Team)
Juniors Men
William Barta (Boise, Idaho/BYRDS (Boise Young Rider Dev Squad))
*Miguel Bryon (Miami, Fla./DCM Cycling Team)
*Geofferey Curran (Tustin, Calif./Get Crackin’-VRC)
*Michael Dessau (Boulder, Colo./Slipstream-Craddock Junior Development) – competing in time trial only
*Zeke Mostov (San Francisco, Calif./ Slipstream-Craddock Junior Development) – competing in road race and time trial
Justin Oien (Escondido, Calif./MRI Endurance Elite Juniors)
*Logan Owen (Bremerton, Wash./California Giant Cycling)
Juniors Women
Kelly Catlin (Arden Hills, Minn./Gopher Wheelmen) – competing in road race and time trial
*Hanna Swan (Alpine, Calif./Strive Racing) – competing in road race and time trial
Sara Youmans (Ketchum, Idaho/Stranamanti Cycling – Keller Rohrback Cycling)
* – Automatic nomination
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