Teams named for 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships
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Todd Wells (Specialized) leading Ettinger with one lap to go(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Lea Davison (Specialized Racing XC)(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
Keegan Swenson (Cannondale) near the end of lap one(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
USA Cycling announced the 25-member cross country and 16-member downhill teams to compete at the 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, which will run September 2-7 in Hafjell, Norway.
Cross country
Five elite men received invitations to compete at the 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships with automatic bids coming for Stephen Ettinger (BMC Mountainbike Racing Team) and Todd Wells (Specialized Factory Racing), and discretionary selections coming for Russell Finsterwald (SRAM-Troy Lee Designs Race Team), Spencer Paxson (Kona Factory Team) and Kerry Werner (BMC Project Dirt p/b KMC).
Ettinger’s 28th-place UCI World Ranking and 12th-place result at the World Cup #2 on April 27 in Cairns, Australia, were enough for an automatic bid, while Wells’ win at the 2014 cross country national championships and his top ranking in the US Pro XCT final standings clinched the guaranteed slot on the team.
Recipients of discretionary selections, Finsterwald’s second-place effort at the Sea Otter Classic, fourth-place finish at the Pro XCT’s Mellow Johnny’s Classic on March 1 and eighth-place finish at the cross country nationals earned a nod, while respective second- and fifth-place finishes at the national championships for Paxson and Werner were enough to make the roster.
Lea Davison (Specialized Factory Racing), Erin Huck (Tokyo Joes-VCGraphix.com) and Georgia Gould (Luna Pro Team) lead a strong group of elite women to the 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships with automatic bids thanks to international success, and Evelyn Dong (Backcountry.com), Mary McConneloug (Team Kenda-Stan’s NoTubes) and Chloe Woodruff (Backcountry.com) impressed in 2014, earning discretionary bids to compete at the event.
Davison rides her 2014 cross country national championships win, as well as her 29th-place UCI ranking, into Norway, where she will be joined by fellow automatic bid winners Huck, who finished second in the Pro XCT standings, and Gould, who is ranked 30th in the UCI standings.
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Dong took third at the nationals, McConneloug finished third at the 2014 Pan American Championships, March 27-30 in Londrina, Brazil, and fifth at nationals, and Woodruff placed third at the Mellow Johnny’s Classic and fourth at the Missoula XC to earn discretionary selections.
Howard Grotts (Specialized Racing XC) and Keegan Swenson (Cannondale Factory Racing) earned U23 men’s automatic bids, while Sepp Kuss (RMCF-Devo) and Casey Williams (Whole Athlete-Specialized Cycling Team) rounded out the group with discretionary selections.
Grotts’ nod came on the heels of his Missoula XC win and third-place result at World Cup #4 in Albstadt, Germany while Swenson punched his ticket with his national championships win and 10th-place effort at World Cup #1 in Pietermaritzburg, Russia.
Kuss placed third at the national championships and seventh at the WORS Cup, and Williams finished fourth at the national championships, sixth at the Specialized Catamount Classic, and 17th at the WORS Cup to earn discretionary roster spots.
On the women’s side, Kate Courtney (Specialized) earned the lone U23 automatic bid, and Kaylee Blevins (Bear Development Team) and Shayna Powless earned discretionary bids.
Courtney’s bid came after winning the national championship, recording a fourth-place finish at World Cup #2 in Cairns, Australia, a ninth-place result at World Cup #3 in Nove Mesto Na Morave, Czech Republic, and a 10th-place finish at World Cup #4 in Albstadt.
Taking similar routes to their discretionary selections, Blevins earned bronze at the 2014 national championships and finished 18th at the Missoula XC, while Powless picked up silver at the national championships and placed 10th at the WORS Cup.
Three juniors men picked up automatic bids to the 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, as Neilson Powless (Whole Athlete-Specialized), Sean Bennett (Whole Athlete-Specialized) and Landen Beckner used World Cup and UCI success to earn roster spots. The three automatic bids were joined by discretionary selections Carson Beckett (Wood-N-Wave) and Garrett Gerchar (Boulder Junior Cycling-Tokyo Joe’s Jr.).
Powless’ top-10 performances at World Cup #3 and World Cup #4 gave him the automatic pass, while Bennett’s National Championship and eighth-place effort at World Cup #3, and Beckner’s 54 UCI points collected from three North American Juniors UCI races met the auto bid criteria.
Beckett’s bronze at the 2014 national championships and seventh-place result at the US Cup Pro Series stop in Fontana were enough to leverage him into a discretionary selection, as were Gerchar’s national championships silver medal and three top-25 UCI race finishes.
Ksenia Lepikhina earned the lone juniors women’s automatic roster spot, and Shea Chavez took the division’s only discretionary spot.
Lepikhina won the 2014 national championship and compiled 94 UCI points from three North American Juniors UCI races to take her guaranteed spot, while Chavez earned her discretionary slot thanks to a bronze-medal performance at the National Championships and a 16th-place finish at UCI race #1.
Seven men were selected in the elite division with automatic bids coming for Aaron Gwin (Factory Specialized), Neko Mulally (Trek World Cycling) and Kevin Aiello (KHS Bicycles), while Logan Binggeli (KHS Bicycles), Eliot Jackson, Kiran MacKinnon and Max Morgan earned discretionary selections.
Gwin received the automatic nod after winning the 2014 downhill nationals, taking top-five finishes at the first three World Cups of the season and for being ranked second in the UCI World Cup overall rankings as of Aug. 1. Mulally’s automatic selection came after placing third at World Cup #2 in Cairns, Australia, April 25, and for being ranked ninth overall in the UCI World Cup rankings as of Aug. 1. Aiello earned his automatic selection because he leads the men’s Pro GRT rankings as of Aug. 1 with 153 points.
Receiving discretionary selections, Binggeli placed fourth at the 2014 downhill nationals, while Jackson took 25th at World Cup #2 in Cairns, 35th at World Cup #3 in Fort William and 45th at World Cup #4 in Leogang, Austria. McKinnon took top-10 results at the 2014 nationals, the Sea Otter Classic and the Pro GRT Plattekill Gravity Open.
Also receiving automatic bids are Jill Kintner (Team Norco Intl.) and Alison Zimmer (Gravity Racing-Xprezo), who are the lone American elite women’s selections for the 2014 mountain bike Worlds Championships.
Kintner nabbed her automatic bid after taking the win at the 2014 downhill nationals, placing third at World Cup #1 in Pietermaritzburg, taking fifth at World Cup #3 and being ranked sixth in the UCI World Cup Rankings as of Aug. 1. Zimmer’s automatic bid came from being ranked first in Pro GRT rankings as of Aug. 1.
Three juniors men took automatic bids to the 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, as Luca Shaw (SRAM-Troy Lee Designs), Shane Leslie and Chase Nelson (Trek Southridge Racing) accomplished enough in 2014 to get the nod, while Charlie Harrison and Matt Branney were granted discretionary selections.
Shaw took the win at World Cup #1 and placed third at World Cup #4 to punch his ticket, while Leslie recorded the fastest junior time at the 2014 downhill nationals to earn the automatic bid. Nelson recorded the fastest junior time among the Pro GRT rider pool at the event.
Earning discretionary selections, Harrison took second at the 2014 nationals as well as at the fifth Pro GRT competition, the Bikes, Brews and Views, while Branney recorded top-five finishes at the Pro GRT’s NW Cup, the Plattekill Gravity Open and at Bikes, Brews and Views, as well as a seventh-place result at the gravity nationals.
Michelle Pederson (Bike n Sport Racing) notched the lone juniors women’s automatic bid after winning the junior national championship, while Taylor Allison got the discretionary nod for taking third at the Plattekill Gravity Open.
US Team for the 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships
Elite men cross country Stephen Ettinger (BMC Mountainbike Racing Team) Todd Wells (Specialized Factory Racing) Russell Finsterwald (SRAM-Troy Lee Designs Race Team) Spencer Paxson (Kona Factory Team) Kerry Werner (BMC Project Dirt p/b KMC)
Elite women cross country Lea Davison (Specialized Factory Racing) Erin Huck (Tokyo Joes-VCGraphix.com) Georgia Gould (Luna Pro Team) Evelyn Dong (Backcountry.com) Mary McConneloug (Team Kenda-Stan’s NoTubes) Chloe Woodruff (Backcountry.com)
U23 men cross country Howard Grotts (Specialized Racing XC) Keegan Swenson (Cannondale Factory Racing) Sepp Kuss (RMCF-Devo) Casey Williams (Whole Athlete-Specialized Cycling Team)
U23 women cross country Kate Courtney Kaylee Blevins (Bear Development Team) Shayna Powless
Juniors men cross country Neilson Powless (Whole Athlete-Specialized) Sean Bennett (Whole Athlete-Specialized) Landen Beckner Carson Beckett (Wood-N-Wave) Garrett Gerchar (Boulder Junior Cycling-Tokyo Joe’s Jr.)
Juniors women cross country Ksenia Lepikhina Shea Chavez
Elite men downhill Aaron Gwin (Wildomar, Calif./Factory Specialized) Neko Mulally (Pisgah Forest, N.C./Trek World Cycling) Kevin Aiello (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif./KHS Bicycles) Logan Binggeli (Saint George, Utah/KHS Bicycles) Eliot Jackson (Westlake Village, Calif.) Kiran MacKinnon (Santa Cruz, Calif.) Max Morgan (Duluth, Ga.)
