USA Names 45 Rider Squad for Les Gets World Champs

Aug 4, 2022 at 3:29
by Ed Spratt  
Aaron Gwin was the highest place America man in 14th.

The USA has named the 45 athletes it will be sending to the World Championships at Les Gets later this month. The squad features 22 XC and 18 Downhill riders.

The XC squad will be pinning its hopes on a stacked lineup of riders with the likes of Haley Batten and Kate Courtney in the Elite Women's racing. Riley Amos will be a rider to watch in the U23 Men's racing and is a strong contender for a top result.

In the Downhill, there is a stacked list of riders with Aaron Gwin once gain again chasing after the elusive Rainbow Stripes. In addition to Aaron, there is a super-strong team of Elite Male riders with Dakotah Norton, Neko Mulally, Austin Dooley, Luca Shaw, Chris Grice and Dante Silva competing for top honors. In the Elite Women's racing, there is Abigail Hogie, Kailey Skelton, Ella Erickson and Anna Newkirk.

Jesse Anthony, USA Cycling’s Director of Cyclocross and Mountain Bike, said: “The USA Cycling National Team showed what we’re capable of at Snowshoe, and the athletes are well-prepared for this World Championships. The U.S. mountain bike athletes have had a relatively quiet season on the World Cup circuit, and we have been slowly building momentum toward the end of the season. We are in an excellent position going into the World Championships, and U.S. fans have a lot to be excited about as the team heads to Les Gets.”

The Team USA roster is as follows:

Cross-Country

Elite Men
Christopher Blevins (Durango, Colo.; Specialized Factory Racing)

Elite Women
Haley Batten (Park City, Utah; Specialized Factory Racing)
Savilia Blunk (Inverness, Calif.; Orange Seal Off-Road Team)
Kate Courtney (Kentfield, Calif.; SCOTT-SRAM Factory Racing)
Gwendalyn Gibson (Ramona, Calif.; Norco Bicycles)
Hannah Otto (Salt Lake City; Pivot Cycles/ DT Swiss)
Kelsey Urban (Kentfield, Calif.; Team 31: Outride)

U23 Men:
Riley Amos (Durango, Colo.; Trek Factory Racing)
Robbie Day (Evergreen, Colo.; Bear National Team)
Brayden Johnson (Jordan, Utah; Bear National Team)
Bjorn Riley (Boulder, Colo.; Team Trek VAUDE)
Austin Beard (Middlesex, Vt.; Bicycle Express Racing)

U23 Women:
Sofia Waite (Littleton, Colo.; WE Development)
Ruth Holcomb (Durango, Colo.; Bear National Team)
Lauren Lackman (Wausau, Wisc.; Rib Mountain Cycles)
Madigan Munro (Boulder, Colo.; Trek Factory Racing)

Junior Men:
Jack Spranger (Sammamish, Wash.; Bear National Team)
Cayden Parker (Hot Springs, Ark.; Bear National Team)
Daniel English (San Ramon, Calif.; Voler/Easton/HRS/Rock Lobster)

Junior Women:
Lauren Aggeler (Durango, Colo.; Bear National Team)
Bailey Cioppa (Durango, Colo.; Bear National Team)
Chloe Fraser (Boulder, Colo.; Boulder Junior Cycling)
Downhill

Elite Men:
Austin Dooley (Yucaipa, Calif.; Commencal USA)
Christopher Grice (Brevard, N.C.; Specialized Factory Racing)
Aaron Gwin (Morongo Valley, Calif.; Intense Factory Racing)
Neko Mulally (Pisgah Forest, N.C.; Frameworks Racing)
Dakotah Norton (Clinton, Tenn.; Intense Factory Racing)
Luca Shaw (Hendersonville, N.C.; Canyon Cllctv)
Dante Silva (Chula Vista, Calif.; Canyon Cllctv Pirelli)

Elite Women:
Ella Erickson (Hayden, Idaho; NW Gravity Collective)
Abby Hogie (Heidelberg, Germany; Beyond Racing)
Anna Newkirk (Riehen, Switzerland; Beyond Racing)
Kailey Skelton (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.; KHS Factory Racing)

Junior Men:
Andrew Driscoll (Bow, N.H.; Defiant Racing)
Colin McElyea (Scottsdale, Ariz.; Evolve Racing)
Evan Medcalf (Albuquerque, N.M.; Evolve Racing)
Alden Pate (Snohomish, Wash.; Transition)
Ryan Pinkerton (Aliso Viejo, Calif.; GT Factory Racing)
Tyler Zenoni (Short Hills, N.J.)

Junior Women:
Riley Miller (East Burke, Vt.; Commencal USA)

eMTB

Men:

Dave Harrison (Sun Valley, Idaho)
Nat Ross (Golden, Colo.; Tough Guy Productions)
Gerald White (Tampa, Fla.)

Women:

Shane Ferro (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Ashley Hendershot (Mansfield, Ohio)



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49 Comments

  • 22 1
 Can't believe no one from the Pinkbike comment section recognizes my name from my mediocre cat 1 podium places in regional mid-atlantic XC races or my career-best 29th place at the Northampton UCI C2 CX race last year.
  • 3 0
 everyone on here is capable of winning a podium at a world cup event so excuse us for not knowing someone with such modest accomplishments Wink
/s (hopefully that was obvious)

best of luck!
  • 2 0
 I see in your profile that you've been lurking here since 2019, and that your first comments are on this very post. Since only the pantheon of the MTB scene entertains the privilege of just commenting on articles about themselves, this bodes very well for your nascent Pro career. Congrats!
  • 20 1
 Sad for the USA we have only 1 XC racer for men.
  • 9 1
 why is that? surely if they found 5 emtb racers (who I've literally never heard of and could only find 1 on social media) they have space for some men's XC racers. do we not have a single other qualified men's XC racer in America?
  • 19 5
 There's also only 1 gold medal.
  • 11 0
 Interesting also that half the elite DH female racers don't live in the USA.
  • 8 0
 @andydmorris: Not that surprising, racing bikes for a living necessitates being in Europe a lot. Being a womens DH racer doesn't pay great, probably easier to live where your races are. Also, living in CZ for the last few months has opened my eyes to the much lower cost of living over yonder, it has me thinking about a more permanent move too
  • 2 0
 @ryanandrewrogers: You probably don't know the emtb racers because they come out of the dirt bike scene. Just read these profiles of the two female entrants: gnccracing.com/2020/01/07/tuesday-toolbox-ashley-hendershot; www.tobedetermined.cc/journal/grand-national-cross-country-ebike-mountain-bike-racing. They don't exactly sound like threats for the win, but what do I know. (Ferro sound kind of like a fun person, tbh: medium.com/reclaim-magazine/profile-of-a-bike-commuter-a01675930a3e - she's apparently a journalist so maybe a career at Pinkbike after worlds?)
  • 1 0
 @mi-bike: Thanks for that, Ferro seems to have a lot of neat interests between racing helicopters (on a bike through NYC), journalism, and "digital forensics" (-her twitter). It's funny how this very new discipline in our sport has quite a few outsiders (at least to the "scene") competing now at the highest level
  • 2 0
 Hopefully the the deeper pool of U23 riders will boost the elite ranks in a couple of years.
  • 3 1
 Well Kegan would be an obvious choice but he wouldnt care to go I bet due to this Lifetime Fitness racing commitment. Then there is Stephen and Luke but maybe they feel it is better to stay home to try and win some UCI points and $. Not much chance for UCI points for the Elite Men at Worlds.
  • 2 0
 @mrkkbb: agreed. The U23 guys have some promising options for the next few years with Bjorn, Riley and Braden. Will see how it progresses over the next 2 years. Racing in the Elite category is a different story though.
  • 4 0
 Well our XCO national champion has given UCI world cup racing the bird and moved on to other endeavors. He's focused his racing on series in the USA like the Lifetime Fitness and Epic Rides. It's kind of cool to see the best men's rider actually doing races in the USA (other than one world cup on the opposite side of the country from where all these XC racers live - CA, CO, UT)
  • 13 0
 @mi-bike: Thank you! I do think I'm a fun person!! I am actually a lawyer now, journalist was a past life, but can confirm I am not actually a pro cyclist and not a threat for the win. I have been having a great time doing a really new discipline and hope to get more people interested so maybe in a few years we will have a team that's a real threat.
  • 4 0
 Luckily the dh team is really strong this year. And thats the one that matters most Razz
  • 6 10
flag RedBurn (Aug 4, 2022 at 7:12) (Below Threshold)
 MAGA
  • 2 0
 @shaneferro: With no precedent, the jury is still out on whether e-bikes should be included in World's, but regardless, congrats on passing the bar for the national team.
  • 6 0
 It baffles me that Keegan Swenson won't race XCO outside of Nationals.
  • 3 2
 @Bikesbecauserunningsucks: I kinda get it, "screw this, I'm just going to race the fun events I want to do and get to stay in the states." But, with him winning just about everything he enters it's getting to look more like a big fish in a small pond situation.
  • 2 0
 @gbyrne: To be fair, he beat CB at Nationals a couple of weeks ago... Though Keegan specializes at high-altitude suffer-fests where he can just gas up a climb at 400+ watts regardless of the altitude or duration. He also raced XCM worlds last year and did incredibly well, beating out Nino(Or at least lasting longer than him?) and other high-profile names.

I think he makes better $$ racing the big USA races, and gets to spend more time at home than if he did the full worlds circuit. I don't blame him. The dude is an absolute animal and it would be fun to see him do a full world cup circuit someday while he's still in top shape, though.
  • 1 0
 XC deader than the Dodo in the USA?
  • 19 3
 Good luck to the 40 mountain bikers. Hope your drive and determination prevail
  • 2 0
 Subtle dig. I love it.
  • 1 0
 Spot on Smile
  • 4 0
 "stacked lineup of riders with the likes of Haley Batten and Kate Courtney"... I get name recognition, but maybe highlight the actual fastest rider?
  • 3 0
 Exactly. Gwen just won a world cup and Savilia just won nationals...
  • 9 7
 TIL there’s a eMTB category at the world champs. What a pathetic idea. I don’t have anything against e-bikes per se, but „racing“ them just seems completely ridiculous.
  • 1 0
 Why isn’t Keegan Swenson going to worlds in mens elite XCO? He beat Christopher Blevins by over a minute at Nationals two weeks ago. Is it his choice? Some conspiracy against him at USAC? Does his team forbid him going? I really want to know
  • 1 0
 His choice. Focused on the Lifetime Grand Prix this year. And if you follow him you'll get the sense he just prefers the longer marathon and stage race format to XCO world cups. Though I don't think he has shut the door to ever returning to the WC.
  • 2 0
 usa looking stronger than they have in a few years going into world champs for dh biking, they are going to be a threat this year at MXON too
  • 3 0
 So many rad ladies making the list, way to go!!
  • 4 3
 will anyone watch the eMTB?

im struggling to see an elite name in there that has an actual chance of winning?
  • 1 1
 I didn’t watch people race mopeds in the 90’s. Making an electric version hasn’t made me want to watch them now.

So no, the viewership will be low.
  • 2 0
 EMtB event but no Enduro…Why UCI?
  • 2 0
 1,500 people live in Inverness, CA and 2 of em are going to the Worlds.
  • 2 0
 The low pop might be something to do with how the average home value is $1mil+ out there, lol.
  • 1 0
 @cgreaseman: Nowadays, yes, but there are still a few scrappy artists and farmers out there, too. I visit the area often. One of the few places you can legally have a bonfire on the beach!
  • 2 0
 I would have picked the team based solely on their BMX background....
  • 6 6
 There you go, mechanical doping world champs!!!!! A real health breakthrough. No more epo through your veins boys.
  • 1 0
 Left off again Frown
  • 1 0
 les go
  • 1 0
 delete
  • 1 2
 The eMTB races are gonna be lit!
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