USA Cycling announced the 31 athletes that will represent the United States at the 2016 UCI Cyclo-Cross World Championships which are slated for Jan. 30-31 in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium.
Fifteen of the 31 spots were filled through automatic selection criteria, including the five spots earned by 2015 continental champions.
The Team USA roster is as follows:
Elite Men
James Driscoll (Park City, Utah/Raleigh Clement)*
Stephen Hyde (Easthampton, Mass./Cannondale Cyclocrossworld) *
Allen Krughoff (Boulder, Colo./Noosa Pro Cyclocross)
Travis Livermon (Winston Salem, NC)
Jonathan Page (Ogden, Utah/Page Fuji)
Jeremy Powers (Easthampton, Mass./Aspire Racing) * ^
Ryan Trebon (Bend, Ore./Cannondale Cyclocrossworld)*
Elite Women
Elle Anderson (San Francisco, Calif./SRAM Strava)
Crystal Anthony (Beverly, Mass./Boulder Cycle Sport-YogaGlo)*
Kaitie Antonneau (Racine, Wis./Cannondale Cyclocrossworld) *
Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo./Trek Factory Racing)* ^
Amanda Miller (Colorado Springs, Colo./Boulder Cycle Sport-YogaGlo)*
Meredith Miller (Boulder, Colo./Noosa Pro Cyclocross)*
U23 Men
Andrew Dillman (Fairdale, Ky./Cyclocross Network Racing)*^
Grant Ellwood (Boulder, Colo./Boulder Cycle Sport-YogaGlo)
Tobin Ortenblad (Santa Cruz, Calif./California Giant Cycling)*
Logan Owen (Bremerton, Wash./Cal Giant-Specialized) *
Scott Smith (Feeding Hills, Mass./JAM Fund / NCC / JAM / NCC / Vittoria)
Curtis White (Delanson, N.Y./Cannondale Cyclocrossworld)*
U23 Women
Allison Arensman (Rutherford College, N.C./TWENTY16 Pro Cycling)
Hanna Arensman (Rutherford College, N.C./TWENTY16 Pro Cycling)
Ellen Noble (Kennebunkport, Maine/JAM Fund-NCC-Vittoria) * ^
Emma Swartz (Madison, Wis./Trek Cyclocross Collective)
Sofia Gomez Villafane (Durango, Colo./Summit -Competitive Cyclist)
Emma White (Delanson, N.Y./Cannondale Cyclocrossworld Devo)
Junior Men
Cameron Beard (Bend, Ore./Cyclocrossworld)*
Eric Brunner (Boulder, Colo./Boulder Junior Cycling)
Gage Hecht (Parker, Colo./Alpha Bicycle Co.-Vista Subaru) *
Michael Owens (Richmond, Vt./Cyclocrossworld.com)
Spencer Petrov (Mason, Ohio/Cyclocross Network Racing p/b Medical Remarketing)*^
Denzel Stephenson (Boulder, Colo./ Boulder Junior Cycling)
* automatic bid
^ continental champion
What happened to Lance Haidet (Under 23). Did he get hurt this past year or maybe just a bad year? He and Carl Decker Flatted where I was shooting some video footage at the 2015 Whiskey Off-Road (posted on YouTube at https://youtu.be/D4k8P229fYU ). The youngster showed composure beyond his years while I shot footage so I kept an eye out for him in 2015. Hope to see him back in 2016.
USA Cycling fouled this up terribly. Embarrasing moves.
To get selected to Worlds, riders must apply. Not many applied. USAC made selections and told the world! But.
USAC did not confirm that selected riders would actually attend Worlds before publishing the list. Ivy league-mistake.
Question: Why wouldn’t a rider attend if they were selected?!
Answer: Riders selected to Worlds must pay their own travel and expenses. USAC does not pay.
Discretionary selections by USAC are ponderous and inconsistent, confusing criteria. For example, Yannick Eckmann was just selected after The Truly First Selected declined, making USAC look incompetent. Hmmm. Why Yannick Eckmann? Oh wait. Yannick’s daddy was pearl Izumi owner and CEO. Yannick raced a few times this year in case you noticed.
Go USAC!