USA Cycling announces rule changes

USA Cycling announced a collection of rule changes for mountain biking. The changes were voted upon and passed by the Board of Trustees. Many of the rule changes explain and expand how men can upgrade from expert to semi-pro and semi-pro to pro and how women can upgrade from expert to pro.

On the junior side, those under 14 and under will now race in age categories rather than ability categories. If the young racers chose to race with older juniors or seniors, they must stick to the beginner or sport categories.

Finally, the rules change some age and gender-based categories for national championships, clarify that riders warming up on the course cannot interfere with ongoing races, and address the issue of when riders are lapped and should yield to passing riders. For complete details on rule changes, see www.usacycling.org.