Netcompany Ineos have continued their rebuild for the 2027 season with the announcement of their seventh new signing, US rider Riley Sheehan, who joins from NSN on a two-year deal.

Sheehan, 26, has three professional victories to his name, from Paris-Tours in 2023, and at the Circuit de Wallonie and a stage of the Czech Tour from this past season. He will bolster the British team as a versatile Classics rider.

"Joining Netcompany Ineos is a dream come true. It’s a team I’ve looked up to since I was young, and to now be part of such a successful and respected organisation is incredibly special," said Sheehan on the team's website.

"I believe I still have so much more to achieve in my career, and having the backing of this team is the perfect next step for me.

"I’m excited to get started, set ambitious goals and give everything I have to help the team win, while continuing to push myself to become the best rider I can be."

Sheehan joins Clément Champoussin, Harold Tejada, James Shaw, Joe Blackmore, Markel Beloki, and Benjamín Noval as new arrivals, as the once-dominant British WorldTour team looks to build a squad that can compete year-round.

"Riley is an exciting rider. He’s fast, technically very skilled and has the ability to perform across a range of terrain," Geraint Thomas, the team's Director of Racing said.

"We see him being a great addition to our Classics group, but he’s also a rider who can contribute right across the calendar. He brings plenty of versatility to the team, and we’re looking forward to helping him continue to develop."

Sheehan also made up part of the USA's winning team with Brandon McNulty at the World Championships, coming in as a replacement for Neilson Powless, having voiced his complaints about not being included in the lineup.

With his arrival, Netcompany Ineos' roster is now up to 20 confirmed riders for the coming season, with Filippo Ganna as the headline departure, but also with three of Sheehan's US compatriots on the way out: Artem Shmidt, Magnus Sheffield, and AJ August.

Dave Brailsford's team are expected to close out their maximum of 30 names with a mixture of yet-to-be-announced contract extensions and further new arrivals.

The road season might be at an end, but Cyclingnews isn't slowing down. Subscribe for unlimited access to our comprehensive news coverage, industry-leading CN Labs testing, expert columnists, and so much more. Plus, the Cyclingnews app means you can stay up-to-date wherever you go! Join today.

New under-23 road world champion Ashlin Barry didn't have a lot of time to celebrate a gold medal and a rainbow jersey as one of the most extraordinary rewards for a 19th birthday three weeks ago. After his solo conquest across the slopes of Mont Royal in the U23 road race at the UCI Road World Championships, he went straight to Los Angeles for a training camp on the track with Team USA and then headed to Shanghai for the UCI Track World Championships.

There's no time to rest on any laurels for Barry, as his sights are set on a version of California dreaming at the Los Angeles Olympic Games, now 639 days away.

"At the moment, I'm putting a lot of focus on the track in Team Pursuit, and then maybe qualifying for the Omnium, or something will come as a byproduct of that. If I could qualify for the road [at the Olympic Games], that would be pretty cool. But I think I have to take a step up physically from where I am now to make that selection," Barry told Cyclingnews in an exclusive one-on-one interview in Montréal.

"In terms of preparation, there's a lot going into our team pursuit now, and whether it's like a bunch event on the track or qualifying for the road, I think those will fall into place."

Barry has a huge balancing act to manage across multiple disciplines, global travel and a new commitment through 2029 to the Visma-Lease a Bike Development squad that could see him jump to the WorldTour team sooner rather than later.

Just two years before, he impressed with a silver medal in the Omnium at the Junior Track World Championships, sweeping US national titles in the road race and time trial, and winning junior and elite national titles in the Madison.

In 2025, after graduating from high school, he came second in the junior men's E3 Saxo Classic and Paris-Roubaix, earned a silver medal in the junior time trial at World Roads and the gold medal in the US Pro junior time trial national championships.

But his plan to make a statement on the track was derailed at the start of 2026, and he kept goals with his new Visma team modest.

"This was a tough year because I was supposed to do Pan Am Championships in February. I crashed on my knee in January, so I wasn't able to ride my bike. I could barely walk," he recalled.

"Things didn't go as planned. I was in Spain at training camp. Then I had to get some stitches in my knee, and I couldn't bend it. It could have been a lot worse, but it was a couple of weeks off the bike, and then I missed the track because of that."

While his track maturation was put on hold in the spring, he jumped into the fray in the Olympia's Tour at the end of March, earning two podiums. He then finished fifth in the U23 In Flanders Fields and then won the US Pro U23 road race and came in fourth in the US Pro elite men's road race the next day.

So when he finished one step off the podium in the U23 time trial at Montreal Road Worlds, he had modest expectations yet again. When asked two days before the U23 road race what he expected, the teen simply stated that he could be competitive on Friday but was "not going in thinking I have a super-high chance of getting a medal".

A gold medal and rainbow jersey were the result of a solo ride on his biggest stage yet. Barry called the win in the men's U23 road race "a memory that will last a lifetime". It was a monumental final 30 kilometres of the 174km contest, as the teenager carried the colours of Team USA to the win, and enthralled family and friends from two countries as a dual citizen of the US and Canada.

Even as he held his pace at the front of the race for the 12th of 13 circuits across Mont Royal, he said he wasn't sure he was strong enough to maintain a 40-second advantage. However, once he crested the major climb the final time and added to his solo lead, he let himself believe he could win, encouraged by supporters around the course.

"Once I was away, I just committed. It really felt like a home race out there," he told the media, including Cyclingnews, in Montreal. "It was just unreal being out there, seeing so many friends, seeing my family. I could hear my dog barking on the side of the course."

He now registers an entry in the family's journal of success in Montreal, his mother and former US elite women's road race national champion Dede Demet-Barry having won a pro race in Montreal in 2002, five years before Barry was born. His father and two-time Canadian road race silver medallist Michael Barry competed on the Mont Royal course on two editions of Grand Prix du Cycliste Montreal, when his son was old enough to remember ringing a cowbell at his father's race.

Both parents competed at multiple road world championships for their respective countries; Michael's best effort was eighth in the U23 road race in 1996, while Dede won the junior road title in 1989. And Dede also competed frequently on the track, going fourth at the UCI Junior World Track Championships.

Demet-Barry later translated that speed to a silver medal on the road at the Athens Olympic Games in the individual time trial. An Olympic medal of any colour, and in road or track, has the attention of her son.

Team environment

Barry said one of the reasons he enjoys the track so much is the emphasis on teamwork, be it Team Pursuit and other events like Madison. In fact, his personal favourite moment from 2025 was not even a win, but a fourth-place finish.

"[Last year] at Track Worlds, we were just off the cusp of getting a medal. But seeing the way that programme's come together has been really cool, and I'm personally proud to be a part of it, proud of those guys and seeing the way they've improved," he said about the US Men's Team Pursuit squad.

"[Track] Worlds will be a really good opportunity for me, and then I'm hoping next year to do Track Worlds again, hoping to get some more racing experience on the track."

This year, the quest for a gold medal in Team Pursuit began on the first day of the 2026 UCI Track World Championships in Shanghai as Barry rejoined Grant Koontz and Anders Johnson with the new addition of Taylor Phinney. They made it through qualifying but not the first round, with France ending their dreams. Barry will race the individual pursuit and Elimination Race later this week.

On the road, before earning his world title, Barry said his top road highlight of the season also showed the teamwork he values.

"There's something special about achieving something with another person or with a group of people, and being able to share that moment. The Olympia story comes to mind. That was just a cool moment, I mean one-two is cool," Barry said about that March race with teammates on the podium.

"We had a great team there. It's a good atmosphere; I really liked that course. I feel proud about the way that I raced there and worked with my teammate Aldo.

"My teammate and I were in that front gro,up and probably we had a pretty equal chance of winning, either one of us. I mean, he was second in the end, but he helped me set up that winning attack. He could have gone to the finish and won. It just ended by luck that I was the one winning."

Barry has the talent, not just the luck. Those two top moments of the past two seasons, however, were probably pushed to runner-up positions after he won the U23 road world championship.

In fact, his personal victory was also one for his country, scoring the country's first-ever U23 world title for a US athlete. And who was the last U23 men's rider to take a medal of any colour? It was his track teammate Taylor Phinney in 2010, who tied Canadian Guillaume Boivin to give the USA a bronze.

The highly-anticipated return of 2010 pursuit world champion Taylor Phinney to international competition at the UCI Track World Championships as the starter for Team USA's men's team pursuit squad ended on day 1, the quartet missing the medal finals. It's a step backward for the team, who finished fourth in last year's championships in Santiago, Chile.

Phinney made a late decision to join the USA Cycling programme, announcing his return in April, more than six years after he quit professional cycling at age 29 in 2019. His aim was to make the team for the Los Angeles Olympic Games to emulate his parents Davis Phinney and Connie Carpenter-Phinney, who both earned medals at the last Olympics there in 1984.

"The track was where I first found love and success in this sport, it was even the first discipline to break my heart when my specialty event, the individual pursuit, was removed from the Olympic programme, which prompted me to swiftly abandon the track and go all in on the road," Phinney wrote in April.

"Recently, the USA boys have been making huge strides in the Team Pursuit, and I couldn't be more stoked to be joining them in the chase for the Olympic Dream."

Phinney joined Ashlin Barry, Grant Koontz and Anders Johnson for the Team Pursuit on Wednesday, stepping in for last year's team member Graeme Frislie, who will compete in the Omnium, Madison and Scratch Race.

Speaking to the UCI on Wednesday before racing started in the Shanghai Velodrome on Chongming Island, Phinney said being back at the highest level on the track "feels like coming home in a lot of ways".

"It's really fun to ride with the guys," he said. "The technology has changed quite a lot, especially in team pursuiting.

"The positions have changed a lot. If you look at my position in the individual pursuit from 2009 - it was like completely wide open, and now everything is super close. So I think the position is more extreme, but the power numbers, they are not like so much different.

"I'm also racing as the starter, so I take a lot of the first minute of the race, getting everybody up to speed. I mean, we have a really strong team. It's kind of a question mark coming into the race, trying to understand where the other teams are at."

Phinney was realistic about the team's chances, saying before the race: "If we could do a top five, I think we would be really happy with that. And if we go into the finals, then we are more than stoked. But we'll take it one every one round at a time."

While the team did enough in the qualifying round to move on to the next heat, which determined the teams for the medal finals, they were unable to advance, setting times two seconds slower than the team did in 2025 and missing the medal round by half a second.

Italy and Denmark will face off for the gold and silver medals on Thursday, while Great Britain and France will compete for the bronze medal.

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of the UCI Track, Road and Gravel World Championships. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

The second edition of the seven-day Gravel Burn gravel stage race in South Africa, October 25-31, introduces a teams classification with points to determine standings and prizes. It will be the first such classification recognition at a gravel stage race.

Trade teams of three to four riders, as well as alliances of independent riders, will be eligible for the new classification. The top three riders from each team will earn points that will contribute to the daily standings.

Organisers developed the format in collaboration with several individuals, including pro road and gravel veteran Peter Stetina of Canyon x DT Swiss ATR and Adam Hansen, president of the CPA (Cyclistes Professionnels Associés), both having participated in last year’s inaugural race.

"This innovation provides another dimension to the racing and also rewards the riders’ efforts and the teams’ investment," said race founder Kevin Vermaak.

"Independent ‘privateer’ racers formed the foundation of professional gravel racing, adding to the ‘freedom’ and charm of gravel. We recognise that the emergence of ‘superteams’ is a threat to that. That’s why we opened the Teams Classification to all to help level the playing field, where they may form ad-hoc teams to compete with the more formal outfits.”

Canyon x DT Swiss ATR will field a women's team led by former Unbound Gravel 200 winner Carolin Schiff. They will also start two men's teams, one led by former US gravel champion Bradyn Lange. Scott-SRAM will have one team in each division, the women's team including Life Time Grand Prix contender Alexis Skarda and the men's team with Filippo Colombo, who won the UCI Gravel World Series Ceder race in February. Toyota Specialized Imbuko will have two men's teams with all-South African rosters, while Mattia De Marchi will lead a three-rider men's team for The Grip.

The solo race remains the foundation of Nedbank Gravel Burn, with a $150,000 US prize purse split equally between the pro women and pro men categories, including daily payouts to the top 3 and overall top 10. Gravel Burn is a full-service stage race in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, covering 750 kilometres and 8,500 metres of elevation gain.

Among the debutants for individuals are two-time Marathon MTB world champion Henrique Avancini of Brazil, multi-time Japanese XCO mountain bike champion Kohei Yamamoto, as well as 18-year road pro and a former Cape Epic winner Jakob Fuglsang.

Last year's men's champion Matt Beers returns, as well as runner-up Simon Pellaud. Women's champion Axelle Dubau-Prevot will defend her title, lining up against third-placed Hayley Preen.

Belgian Waffle Ride series seeks sixth event in Colorado

Five events have been confirmed for the Belgian Waffle Ride schedule next year, with a new Colorado event taking shape. Registration opened October 13 for a quartet of US events spread from March to September, while Mexico takes place in late November.

The sequence of events remains the same, opening in Arizona in early March and then moving to Southern California on May 2, the 16th season for the signature event. The Utah event in Cedar City shifts from June to mid-May, and the Bozeman, Montana event then moves from June to mid-September.

Event organisers Monuments of Gravel are looking to fill the summer with a new event in Colorado, though the location has not been named and it is not known if this will be part of the series. The final ride in the BWR mixed-surface collection will again be held in Mexico on November 21, but is not part of the elite series.

"What began as one questionable idea in San Diego has now carried us through more than 42 events, with a remarkable collection of riders, partners and friends giving it far more life than we could have imagined," noted BWR founder Michael Marckx.

The Quad-Tripel Crown of Gravel series has been offered for several seasons across the US-based collection of events, and will return with the best three of four races determining elite winners. A usual suspect in the series has been Utah, but it may be a standalone race in 2027, according to organisers, and could become a UCI Gravel World Series qualifier.

The Quad-Tripel Crown was won this year by Hayden Christian (Trek-MAAP Pro.Fwd) and Cécile Lejeune (Trek Driftless).

Belgian Waffle Ride schedule 2027

• March 6 - BWR Arizona
• May 2 - BWR California
• May 15 - BWR Utah
• July - tbd
• September 18 - BWR Montana
• November 21 - BWR Mexico

30th season for Grasshopper Adventure Series

The race schedule for the 2027 Grasshopper Adventure Series, now in its 30th year, was released with five races in northern California. The opener takes place at Low Gap on January 31, a 59-mile gravel event with 95% dirt tracks in Ukiah, and culminates at Ukiah Mendo Epic on May 23, a 70-mile mixed-terrain adventure in the same area.

The middle of the schedule includes the classic mixed-terrain Huffmaster on February 28, the road and climbing-heavy King Ridge on March 20 and the gravel-singletrack challenge of Jackson Forest on April 10.

Registration is open, and a series pass for all five events is $675, plus fees, with individual races at $155 each. Prices go up after November 30, two months before the opener.

Last year, Jen Tavé (SpeedBlock-Terún Pro Cycling) and Cassius Anderson (Marin Service Course) secured the overall titles for elite divisions in the five-race Grasshopper Series.

Grasshopper Adventure Series schedule 2027

• January 31 - Low Gap at Ukiah, California
• February 28 - Huffmaster at Maxwell, California
• March 20 - King Ridge at Guerneville, California
• April 10 - Jackson Forest at Casper, California
• May 23 - Ukiah Mendo Epic at Ukiah, California

Cole Paton (Giant-RCC) and Candace Lill (Thömus maxon – Sabi Sabi) earned solo victories in Bentonville, Arkansas, in the elite races at Little Sugar MTB on Sunday.

Paton was part of an early group of seven riders who set the pace in the men's race in the opening 15 miles of the 64-mile (100km) course. The US MTB marathon national champion then attacked on the final 24 miles, on the Back 40 trail, and let the others chase, crossing the line in 4:06:38. Compatriot Bradyn Lange (Canyon x DT Swiss All-Terrain Racing) finished 1:12 back for second, and Germany's Andreas Seewald, a two-time MTB Marathon World Champion, followed another 2:35 later for third place.

"There is so much room for a mechanical or puncture at Little Sugar MTB, so I wanted to ride smart, efficiently, and not take any unnecessary risks, as it’s not over until it’s over," Paton told organisers at the finish.

Australian Brendan Johnston (Giant) was 7:20 off the winning pace to go fourth, while fifth place was secured by Canadian Owen Clark (Pivot Cycles-ENVE), who returned to racing this year after spinal fusion surgery in the winter from being struck by a driver of a car.

The top four are all part of the Life Time Grand Prix and earned points with one race to go in the six-event series. Lange made the loudest statement and moved to within six points of leader Keegan Swenson (Specialized Off-road). Johnston was another four points back in third, and Seewald seventh. Race winner Paton moved to fifth place on the leaderboard.

"To get maximum Life Time Grand Prix points today is huge, and I knew I had to do as well as I possibly could in these two final races of the Series, so hopefully that helps me move up [the overall leaderboard], but the win transcends that. I’m proud that I pulled it together today.”

Last year's Little Sugar MTB winner Cameron Jones (Scott Sports USA - RCC) finished 18th this time and clung to a spot in the top 10 of the LTGP, tied with Cobe Freeburn (Trek Driftless) in ninth.

Reigning South African mountain bike XCO champion Lill put on a show in the elite women's race, riding solo for 55 miles. She had more than two minutes to her advantage with 30 miles to go, then Melisa Rollins (Liv Racing Collective) amped up the chase and got within eight seconds, battling with fellow US rider Madigan Munro and Hannah Otto (Scott Sport USA) trailing.

Lill then powered away from all challengers on the 'Ledges' technical section of the course and won in a time of 4:54:47. The next five riders across the line earned the LTGP points, Rollins grabbing the top haul of points with second place, 2:20 back. Otto was another 4:15 down for third.

Alexis Skarda (Q36.5 Off Road Racing), Hayley Preen (Factor Racing) and Samara Sheppard of New Zealand followed, fourth through sixth, respectively, shifting to the series top 12.

"Little Sugar MTB is nothing like what I’ve raced before; with about 90% singletrack, it was really fun, but the terrain is tough, rolling, and you have to keep a lot of focus, so anyone who crosses the finish line has done a really good job. That was a really big day out; I was just waiting for the finish line during the last 10 miles," Lill, who won the Cape Epic title with Alessandra Keller in March, said after her win.

"I lost a lot of air in my tyre [after hitting something], so there I was doing damage control until I could swap my wheel. It was great to race Melisa [Rollins], and it’s a great addition to my MTB World Series racing this year."

Sofia Gomez Villafañe (Specialized Off-road) was not present in Bentonville to defend her race win from last year, instead competing at the UCI Gravel World Championships in Australia. She used Little Sugar as her drop race in the LTGP and remained at the top of the leaderboard, now 13 points ahead of Cecily Decker (PAS Racing), who finished eighth at Sunday's race.

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of all mountain bike and gravel races in the Life Time Grand Prix. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Results

Lachlan Morton passed the midway point Thursday on his latest long-distance challenge, the Pony Express route, camping for a few hours in Wyoming with rugged terrain populated by sagebrush and occasional cattle. Before his reprieve ahead on day four, riding through Utah's Emigration Canyon into Salt Lake City, the Australian gave an update to Cyclingnews.

The ride so far, he said, was living up to expectations of "remote and harsh". He started on Monday in St. Joseph, Missouri, for the 3,164-kilometre (1,966-mile) ride across eight US western states into Sacramento, California. The route was made famous in the early 1860s by mail carriers racing on horseback. Morton is retracing the almost-exact path, using pedal power.

"I mean, there's just very desolate landscapes. They're all very different and challenging in their own way, but they're all very remote and harsh," he said in recorded answers to questions sent by Cyclingnews of his first impressions of the route through Kansas, Nebraska, a touch into Colorado, and into Wyoming.

"I'm familiar with these landscapes, but then piecing them all together in this way, it's pretty mind-blowing."

At this point Morton was on the rough, almost-forgotten double-track leading from Wyoming to Salt Lake City. He had already encountered herds of cattle passing precariously close across his path and had a re-route through deep sand and leg-scratching brush under dark Wyoming skies when the almost-forgotten path seemed to vanish.

The original pioneers who raced across the open prairies and treacherous mountains switched their mounts several times to deliver papers and messages in eight days or less. The record on horseback was set in 1861 at seven days, 17 hours. Morton looks to beat that record, meeting up with support to switch bikes. It is a proper way for him to make his final ride in EF Education-EasyPost colours and equipment, where he has raced in multiple disciplines for 12 of the last 16 seasons.

"It's using all the different bikes I've ridden, and it's also very much a team effort. This is not something I could do by myself. It's relying on a group of people that I've come to know through my time with EF, and it's very much requiring a big effort by all of us, which I think has kind of been the story of my time with the team," he said.

The team posted to social media on Thursday that he was ahead of schedule, with a "400-kilometre lead over the Pony Express' fastest time" in Utah. However, the toughest terrain approached, and he admitted the opening days gave him a better understanding of the difficulty of the journey 160 years ago.

"I think it's a super interesting story for Pony Express, and the fact that it was around such a short time and is still, somehow, very celebrated and well known today," he said, referring to the two-year span of the Pony Express before the telegraph replaced the physical delivery of important messages.

"Seeing these landscapes and even trying to imagine doing it on horseback at all times in a year, night and day, it's pretty mind-blowing. I'm realising, I think, the power of the route."

On the weekend he'll cross Nevada, heading south of Lake Tahoe when he crosses the Sierra Nevada mountains that mark entry into California. In the true spirit of the route, Morton will deliver letters. It's all a flashback into history made real.

"It wasn't that there was heaps of people suddenly delivering mail. Ultimately, it didn't really work, it was never profitable. But the power of it was exciting. You know, it was something for people to be excited about at a time when the country was going through crazy change, and a lot of conflict. This was just a human-powered effort in a way that could get people excited about the country.

"That's kind of why I like to do these things. It's fun to do, but it's also nice to see people have something to follow for the sake of following and be excited about."

The names of the adventurous riders who blazed the first trails west are forever remembered on a Pony Express National Museum website. Perhaps Morton can make the list, with an asterisk. Follow Morton's progress online.

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

For a third year, the American Criterium Cup will include six stops across the central and western US to determine overall individual and team champions among well-established criterium events. Races will take place from June 11 to September 5, with Saint Francis Tulsa Tough establishing the first leaderboards in Oklahoma and the finale at the Bommarito Audi West County Gateway Cup in Missouri.

The Tour of America's Dairyland will host the second race in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 26, with the third race, the Bailey & Glasser LLP Twilight Criterium in Boise, Idaho on July 10. After the August 1 Fulton Market race with Chicago GRIT, the series swings back to the west for the Salt Lake Criterium in Utah on August 7, and then a month later, the winners will be decided in St. Louis.

The 2027 season marks the seventh for the ACC. Last year each event offered a $16,000 prize purse for pro women and pro men, with the series paying out an additional $44,000 to series winners across several classifications. Plans for any live streaming broadcasts have not been confirmed.

Skylar Schneider dominated the women's competition this year, holding the red leader's jersey from start to finish, while Justin Williams made it a L39ION of Los Angeles sweep in the individual rankings taking the men's top spot. L39ION also won the team titles, the men's team title decided on a tiebreaker against Team Cadence Cyclery p/b Waldo Racing at the final event in St. Louis.

Claudia Marcks (Pedla Racing Division) took the sprint classification across the six races by a single point over Holly Breck (L39ION of Los Angeles), while the men's green jersey as best sprinter went to Owen Gillott (Chaney Windows and Doors Big Shark p/b Pastaria).

USA CRITS with eight races in April and May 2027

USA CRITS, the spring block of one-day races in the southeastern region of the US, will return for an 18th edition in 2027, anchored by the Athens Orthopedic Clinic Twilight in Georgia on Saturday, April 17.

Races in Greenville, Spartanburg, Suwanee and Winston Salem were expected to return following Athens, with additional events still "being nailed down" to bring the series to eight total, according to Gene Dixon, founder of USA CRITS and owner of series producer Swagger LLC.

The bulk of the calendar will focus on races across Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, the final calendar set in the coming weeks.

Dixon said the emphasis was to provide a compact 30-day window to simplify travel for riders and teams, especially those traveling from outside the US. A similar prize purse to this year is expected, totalling $200,000 for individual races and overall series classifications with equal payouts among the men's and women's elite riders. All USA CRITS races will provide live streaming, produced by Swagger.

Liza Ray (Kingdom Elite Racing) and Leonel Rodriguez (MC Cycling Team) won the individual titles in 2026.

Women's races at Capital Cup, Clarendon Cup remain fixtures for Amazon Armed Forces Cycling Classic

Next year's Amazon Armed Forces Cycling Classic, June 5-6, will introduce a UCI 1.2-level road race as part of two days of elite men's racing and continue with back-to-back criteriums for elite women. Organisers confirmed that the equal prize purse of more than $30,000 would remain in place.

Last week Cyclingnews reported that the UCI calendar had added two new men's races to the 2027 America Tour, Battenkill in New York on May 22 and the Amazon Armed Forces cycling Classic Capitol Cup in Washington, D.C. The long-running AFCC weekend will continue with a full schedule of USA Cycling-sanctioned criteriums, Capitol Cup on Saturday and Clarendon Cup on Sunday.

"This change reflects the vision we share with our partner Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O.) for the event's future," said Robert Laybourn, president of Arlington Sports, Inc, and the event race director.

"Every major decision we make is guided by documented metrics and data. The event will continue to evolve and be refined as our budget and other constraints allow, pursuing changes that offer proven value to its growth, success and long-term sustainability."

Organisers at Arlington Sports have not published a schedule yet, however, they have indicated to Cyclingnews that the men's course will take place on a 20km (12.5-mile) circuit, the exact distance is yet to be determined. The race is expected follow directly after the early Saturday start of the Challenge Ride, where non-competitive riders have a three-hour window to complete up to five laps of the same circuit.

Then the event will showcase the elite women as the final action of the day, held on the same 1.4km course as last year situated in front of the US Capitol building and the National Mall.

Clarendon Cup events, now in a 29th year, will return to nearby Arlington, Virginia on Sunday. Last year omnium titles for the two days of racing were won by Marlies Mejías (Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28/Deloitte) and Brody McDonald (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling).

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

US rider Ezra Caudell has been discharged from the hospital, 31 days after a crash at the Philadelphia Cycling Classic on August 30 left him in critical condition, Modern Adventure Pro Cycling confirmed this week.

In a press release from the team, they detailed how Caudell had "already made tremendous strides – both literally and figuratively – toward recovery" during his time in the hospital, and will begin the next steps back at home.

"Ezra Caudell was officially discharged from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital late last week, 31 days after his traumatic accident at the Philadelphia Cycling Classic," read the statement from the US ProTeam.

"He will now begin an intensive phase of inpatient rehabilitation at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital, followed by planned outpatient rehabilitation in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.

​"While a long road still lies ahead, Ezra has already made tremendous strides—both literally and figuratively—toward recovery. Prior to discharge, he was walking the halls of the hospital, and his medical team expects both his lung contusions and his fractures to continue healing without the need for further intervention."

Caudell was reportedly left unconscious by the crash, which also involved Lotto-Intermarché's Milan Menten, who recalled that the American collided with a lamppost. The 20-year-old was then transferred to the hospital and placed in an induced coma, having "sustained significant injuries in the crash, including a concussion and severe chest trauma."

27 days after his team had said there was "Genuine reason for hope," they were now able to detail how Caudell's neurologic recovery had also been encouraging, with moving on to rehabilitation representing a serious milestone in his long road to recovery.

"Just as encouraging has been his neurologic recovery. Ezra continues to show significant improvement from the injury to his brain, with progress in his strength, cognition, communication, and independence each day," said the team.

"His recovery will take time, but his progress over the past month has been remarkable, and to see him now walking, interacting with those around him, and moving on to rehabilitation represents an enormous milestone. The drive, work ethic, resilience, and attitude that propelled him to the highest levels of his sport will undoubtedly serve him well on the road ahead.

​"Ezra’s family and the Modern Adventure Pro Cycling team have every confidence in him and remain deeply grateful for the continued support he has received."

Caudell's friends also established a GoFundMe to help support his family, who moved to Germany to support his cycling ambitions and are facing housing and travel expenses in addition to medical expenses for his care. The fund has raised $90,657 of the $100,000 goal as of October 7.

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of the UCI Gravel World Championships, alongside the final Monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Sofia Gomez Villafañe's proverbial ladder of success has led to more than 20 major off-road victories on three continents so far, over the past five-and-a-half seasons. This year she put a bullseye on Nannup for the UCI Gravel World Championships.

She has won multiple national titles for the two countries she represents with dual citizenship - as a collegiate racer in mountain bike and cyclo-cross for the US and MTB cross-country for Argentina. In 2021, she made history for Argentina as the first female to compete in XCO mountain bike at the Olympic Games since 2004, finishing top 25. With bigger stakes this season, she trained and raced for the ultimate rainbow reward.

"We've actually had it targeted as an event for almost a year. It's not a last-minute decision. It's not something that we sprinkled in," Villafañe told Cyclingnews.

Since moving from the one-hour power outputs of the World Cup MTB scene to long-distance off-road challenges in 2021, the 32-year-old has signature victories at Unbound Gravel 200, The Traka 200 and Cape Epic - winning each event twice. In North America, she has a crowded trophy case with seven Belgian Waffle Ride wins, a sweep of all three editions of Valley of Tears, a win at Leadville Trail 100 and many others.

The most significant mark of being 'the best' is to be a world champion, and a rainbow jersey remains elusive, in any discipline, for one of the world's most dominant off-road cyclists.

Twice before, Villafañe has competed at the UCI Gravel World Championships for Argentina, her best finish 12th on Italian races that did not compare to the high-elevation, long-distance courses to which she was accustomed in North America. So when the UCI Gravel Worlds announced the courses a year ago for Western Australia, Villafañe locked in.

"So the decision to target this year's World Championship actually got solidified in October, November of last year with my coach. We have been really needing to set some big goals behind the season," Villafañe told Cyclingnews before she left the US for Australia.

"I've been really committed to the Life Time Grand Prix. Knowing the past two years the [Worlds] courses really didn't suit me, we thought the courses in Australia might."

It's hard to realise that her first outing in an off-road endurance race was Crusher in the Tushar in Utah, where she didn't even have a gravel bike. With some tyre adjustments and a larger chainring, she won solo in the 69-mile event with more than 10,000 feet of climbing. A month later, she won solo again, this time at the mixed-surface Belgian Waffle Ride North Carolina using a Specialized Diverge borrowed from Katerina Nash.

Once she had all equipment set with Specialized Off-road and made the cut as part of the inaugural, invitation-only Life Time Grand Prix series for 2022, the upward trajectory began. She's won the Grand Prix three times and sits at the top of the leaderboard for 2026.

The trip to Australia means that Villafañe will have to miss Little Sugar MTB in Arkansas, as that round of the Life Time Grand Prix takes place on the same weekend as Worlds. It will be the one 'drop race' of the series for the three-time winner, leaving the 100-mile Big Sugar Classic on October 17 to determine final standings.

"We're getting to Australia early, so we're flying the 29th, getting there October 1st. So really giving the body time to adjust," she told Cyclingnews about travelling with her husband Keegan Swenson, also part of the Grand Prix and will represent Team USA at Worlds.

"And then the plan is to fly out Sunday evening because all the flights from Australia are at like 11 p.m. at night. Basically everything's packed as Keegan [Swenson] finishes, and we go straight to the airport, so we could arrive Monday late afternoon in Bentonville and have a few days to get the body recovered ahead of Big Sugar."

Elite women will again have a dedicated start on October 10 with 78 miles (125.6km). The race is the shortest distance for the women's race in the five-year history of UCI Gravel Worlds, the longest in 2023 at 141km in Veneto, but it has heavy climbing, 3,179 metres (10,429 feet) worth, and 84% on wide, dirt roads.

"It's being dubbed as the first real gravel World Championships in terms of a course. I think it's exciting for it to be somewhere new. The fact that it's outside of Europe adds a new element.

"I think you are gonna have hills and wide-open gravel, which is a little bit more like the American gravel that I'm used to. Yeah, I think it's gonna be a really good course."

Even an Unbound winner has to qualify for Worlds

The squeeze play for a week of October races, separated by 10,743 miles (17,289 kilometers), was set in motion in February in Spain, where Villafañe stayed to race a UCI Gravel World Series qualifier.

"When I went to Spain in February to race Santa Val, we added a UCI gravel race so I can make sure I could qualify and not have to go through the federation and all those things. It's definitely been a targeted race," she explained.

She swept both stages and the overall at Santa Vall. Then she took off after the first 16km of the 97km Castellón Gravel Race and won solo, giving her automatic qualification to Worlds.

"I'm pretty sure Argentina would have given me a spot, like they always have for whatever world championships I've had to do. But it was nice to earn it, have my ticket, and have some UCI points," she said, though she'll have work to do from the start grid.

"I mean, I think I'll be pretty far back because I've only done one [UCI gravel world series event]. We have riders that race almost the entire calendar, so it's better than zero, so I'll take it."

A second trip to Santa Vall this year was the barometre for her off-season training. She said workouts don't always "translate to good races".

"I mean opening up the season in Santa Val like I did, I knew we had, with my coach, done a lot of hard work in the base season. So to really be able to climb and attack the way that I did at Santa Val was very rewarding. I mean, Spain just treats me really well."

It may be easier to list what she didn't win rather than what she conquered, but we'll start with the Life Time Grand Prix. She won Sea Otter Classic Gravel and a second Unbound 200, then after seventh place at Leadville 100, she won Chequamegon MTB. Her spring in the US included wins at The Mid South and Valley of Tears and plus a second SBT GRVL in between summer Grand Prix races.

"I had a phenomenal start to the first half of the year, and then in the summer we kind of had to take a little bit slower. Then in the past like two weeks, I've been firing again. So I'm really hopeful that I'm showing up really well prepared," she said.

"For me, it's more a personal battle [at Worlds]. I just have never been able to put it together at a world championship level race."

It will be her first trip to Australia, and she said the biggest appeal was the hilly course. The competition includes Life Time Grand Prix rival Karolina Migoń (Poland), who is fourth in the overall standings. Rosa Klöser (Germany) has withdrawn from the Grand Prix but will be in Nannup as a formidable opponent, finishing second to Villafañe at Santa Vall but then better at Lauf Gravel Worlds with second, two spots better than Villafañe. And then there's a stacked Dutch team with her Specialized Off-road teammate Geerike Schreurs and former gravel World Champion and last year's silver medallist Marianne Vos confirmed to start.

That firing on all engines was evident yet again at the fourth round of the Life Time Grand Prix in Wisconsin on September 19, where Villafañe overcame a crash in the mud and fought back to win the elite women's race at Chequamegon MTB. This was her third win in four series starts to give her a firm 18-point lead in the Grand Prix overall standings, now just Big Sugar remaining on her calendar.

"Now I just need to stay healthy and hopefully have smooth travel down there, smooth adaptation. And really just have a stress-free environment come pre-race day because that's really what affects me the most. If there's stress around me, then I get stressed. But if it's chilled, then I'm chilled."

It's only been five years since she started racing gravel and didn't even have a gravel bike. She's proven with consistent performances, versatility across disciplines and competitive drive to be the leading off-road rider for these Worlds.

So far across her dominant season, Villafañe said wins at The Traka and Unbound Gravel 200 have been her highlights of the year, and "each race had its little moment to celebrate". When asked if there was a third so far, she just left that open, hoping to complete the answer to that question later with a rainbow jersey.

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of the UCI Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Manon Bakker (Alpe d'Huzes) and Tofik Beshir (CXD Trek Bikes) conquered the mud and won the C2 elite races at Charm City Cross, sweeping both days of UCI races in Baltimore, Maryland. The pair also secured overall titles in the six-race US Cyclocross Series (USCX).

Even with overnight rain and continued drizzle on Sunday on the twisting Druid Hill Park course, Bakker did not make a switch to mud tyres to start the race and used the speed to gain an early advantage. Sidney McGill (Materiaal-Lastig) matched her pace on the first pass of Mansion Hill, but then put a foot down and disconnected from the Dutch rider for the rest of the race. Bakker would solo the rest of the way, despite slipping several times and having to make pit stops, and score her fifth victory in the series.

"These 3 weeks have shown me why I love 'cross so much. The competition during the games and the fun outside. Feels good to be back on track," Bakker posted on Instagram a day later.

McGill, who won the C2 race at Virginia's Blue Ridge Go Cross a week ago, rolled across the muddy finish line in second place, 34 seconds back. Mia Aseltine (Competitive Edge Racing) took third, another 14 seconds later. With fifth place, Aseltine's teammate Kaya Musgrave locked in third overall in the USCX.

Bakker finished second in the series each of the last two seasons, but was nothing but dominant this year, saying "Finally, I got it".

She announced on social media last month that she did not have a team for her cyclo-cross season, so would compete in a blue kit to promote a cancer foundation. "Alpe d'Huzes is a charity that is very close to me, the mountain I've been climbing since I was young. The slogan 'Giving up is not an option' fits me perfectly now," she wrote on Instagram.

In the men's race, it was a showdown between Beshir and Pan American champion Andrew Strohmeyer. Now with Competitive Edge Racing, Strohmeyer took the hole shot and then rode in tandem with his Comp Edge teammate Ryan Drummond. However, on the second lap, Strohmeyer was on his own against the CXD Trek Bikes duo of Beshir and Miles Mattern.

Beshir and Strohmeyer then locked horns for the back half of the race, each trying to find any grip on the slippery course. They tangled with three laps to go in the pits, Strohmeyer hitting the deck, and then again on an off-camber section on the final lap, Beshir taking an outside line that interrupted the momentum of Strohmeyer, who again went down.

“I was trying to hold back a little bit and save energy for the later part of the race,” Strohmeyer said. “The separation came naturally. No one really accelerated. People just make mistakes and the people who stay consistent start riding away.”

The 19-year-old Ethiopian stayed away to the finish, his fifth victory in the series. Tyler Clark (Caledon Hills Cycling Armada) would slot into second place by 18 seconds, while Competitive Edge put Dylan Zakrajsek into the final podium spot, followed by Drummond in fourth and Strohmeyer in fifth. Clark would finish second overall in the USCX, while Calvin Conaway, eighth on Sunday, finished third overall.

"It was definitely hard, but I was just trying to have fun and trying to follow Strohmeyer and learn from him,” Beshir said to organisers. “I saw my opportunity and I chopped him a little bit. I really felt bad because I respect this guy.

"You improve every year that you come here, but you don't really know how much [you’ve improved] until you go out and you do it."

He noted that the wet conditions made the pit stops dangerous. “I immediately regretted it once I came out of the pit and saw he crashed. Yes, it is racing, but I have so much respect for this guy.”

USCX included three consecutive weekends of C1 and C2 races in 2026, with openers at Rochester Cyclocross in New York and the second round at Virginia's Blue Ridge GO Cross in Virginia, both in September. Charm City Cross concluded the series.

Results

Manon Bakker and Tofik Beshir (CXD Trek Bikes) soloed to win the C1 races of Charm City Cross in Baltimore, Maryland, on day 1 of the third round of the 2026 US Cyclocross Series (USCX). Each rider took their fourth victory in five races in the series on Saturday.

In the women’s race, Bakker leaned into the same strategy that has served her well throughout the series, leading from the first lap. Bakker was coming off her first loss of the season on Day 2 at GO Cross.

“Today, I had a lot better focus and made no mistakes in the race,” Bakker said.

Lauren Zoerner led the front group going up the decisive Mansion Hill and across the long off-camber section on lap one. Going into the downhill, Bakker saw an opportunity to create some space ahead of her USCX rival, Sidney McGill.

From that point on, Bakker was untouchable. Behind her, McGill, Zoerner, Mia Aseltine (Competitive Edge Racing), Nico Knoll (PRO.FWD) and Kaya Musgrave (Competitive Edge Racing) formed the early chase, but the demanding course quickly turned the race into a war of attrition. Just past the halfway point of the six-lap race, McGill and Aseltine had emerged together in the battle for the remaining podium spots.

With two laps to go, McGill gapped Aseltine on the climb and rode on to secure second place, crossing the line 34 seconds behind the winner. Aseltine was third, a further 14 seconds down.

“I overtook Lauren right before the corner, going back down, and I knew that, normally, she couldn't hold my wheel,” Bakker added. “Probably Sydney is the only one who can. So, I wanted to have somebody in between me and Sydney to make it a little bit harder for her.”

The elite men’s race marked a homecoming for 19-year-old Beshir, who first lined up at Charm City six years ago during his inaugural cyclo-cross season. Baltimore is also the hometown of Marc Frazer, who mentored Beshir early in his career as team director at Kelly Benefits Strategies Cycling.

“To win in his hometown—that’s special,” Beshir says. “He’s the one that got me into the sport and it really means a lot to me.”

Struggling to return to form since an injury earlier in the year, Pan-American champion Andrew Strohmeyer (Competitive Edge Racing) put in a massive acceleration from the start, building a gap of 15 seconds to his closest pursuers by the third lap.

Beshir, who had been forced to fight his way through traffic after crashing on a corner earlier in the race, chased solo before finally catching Strohmeyer and settling onto his wheel. But a tiring Strohmeyer soon dropped back to the chase group, where he joined teammates Ryan Drummond and Dylan Zakrajsek, along with Tyler Clark (Caledon Hills Cycling Armada) and Miles Mattern (CXD Trek Bikes). Beshir continued alone with three laps to go.

One lap later, Clark attacked the group and crossed the line 18 seconds behind the winner for second place. The battle for third place heated up the final time up Mansion Hill, where Zakrajsek was able to pull away and hold on for third place.

“I knew Strohmeyer wasn’t going to slow down because he’s legit,” Beshir said. “I knew I needed to pull him back slowly. I didn’t want to burn myself out.”

“I wanted to follow him [Strohmeyer] because he is incredible,” he added. “I know he's not having a great season, but, just following him, you can tell he has a lot of experience and I've always admired him. I was definitely excited to follow his lines and learn new things from him.”

The UCI C2 race on day two at Charm will create some different dynamics, as parts of the course will be reversed and overnight rain could create slick conditions. Series champions will be officially crowned, as Sunday’s race will be the finale of the three-event series.

Results

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

One year after returning to the domestic pro calendar, the Battenkill road race in New York State is back on the UCI calendar after a 13-year absence, giving another boost for professional cycling in North America.

The race will run on May 22, 2027, as a UCI 1.2-ranked men's race, two weeks before the Armed Forces Cycling Classic Capitol Cup, also a men's 1.2 race, will be held on June 5.

The return of Battenkill follows the revival of the Philadelphia Cycling Classic p/b Amerigas, UCI 1.1-ranked road races for men and women. Together with the Tour of the Gila men's and women's 2.2-ranked stage races, these are the only US events currently listed on the UCI's 2027 road calendar.

As of yet, the Gran Premio New York City is not listed on the UCI's calendar, but organisers assured Cyclingnews that the application was submitted for a 1.2-ranked men's event, scheduled for May 16, 2027.

Battenkill, formerly known as Tour of the Battenkill, was held as a UCI race twice before, the first time in 2010, when Caleb Fairly soloed to the win ahead of Floyd Landis. Francisco Mancebo won the other edition in 2012. The event continued as a gran fondo in intervening years under different ownership, but the 2027 edition brings it back into the hands of Anthem Sports.

"Bringing Battenkill back to the UCI calendar has been one of our major goals since returning the event to Cambridge," event director Dieter Drake said. "Battenkill was built around hard, unpredictable racing on beautiful but unforgiving roads. The UCI race gives us an opportunity to bring that experience back to professional riders while also introducing a new generation of cyclists to what makes this event so special."

Organisers compare the course to the Belgian classics, where numerous short, steep climbs, narrow roads and unpaved sections favour positioning, tactics and the ability to endure repeated efforts.

"There isn't one climb where you can say the race will be decided," Drake said. "The entire course makes the selection. Riders are constantly being asked to make decisions - where to position themselves, when to spend energy, how aggressively to ride the dirt and when to attack. That has always been the essence of Battenkill."

The 2027 race will be based around the village of Cambridge, with a full weekend of events for amateur racers and recreational riders, and Drake hopes it will become a long-term fixture on the calendar.

"We aren't trying to reinvent Battenkill," Drake said. "We're trying to preserve what made people remember it. Cambridge, the dirt roads, the farms, the weather, the climbs and the unpredictability are all part of the race. Bringing the UCI event back gives us the opportunity to build on that history rather than replace it."

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Taylor Phinney has taken a big step in his comeback goal of making the USA Cycling track squad for the LA Olympics in 2028 by earning a spot on the team for the upcoming 2026 UCI Track World Championships in Shanghai, China.

The endurance and sprint squads were announced on Thursday, October 1, and having come out of retirement in April, Phinney will make up part of the team pursuit squad alongside new U23 road race World Champion Ashlin Barry, Graeme Frislie, Grand Koontz, and Anders Johnson.

Points Race silver medallist from 2025, Peter Moore, and Brendan Rhim make up the rest of the US men's endurance team, with no men's representation in the sprint events. Track Worlds will run from Wednesday, October 14, to Sunday, October 18.

In Santiago, Chile, last season, the US men's team finished fourth behind Denmark, Australia, and New Zealand, their best finish in the event since 1995, when they last won a medal.

It will be Phinney's first return to international track competition, having made his return to racing at the US Track National Championships back in August. There, he won gold in the team pursuit alongside Johnson, who he will be headed to China with, Colby Lange, and David Domonosky, at what was his first appearance at the event since 2008, aged 18.

A two-time World Champion in the track previously, Phinney won Individual Pursuit gold in Pruszków in 2009 and Ballerup in 2010. He also raced at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 on the track, finishing seventh as a teenager.

Phinney had been racing gravel for the past two seasons, having retired in 2019 from road racing, and has continued to do so into 2026, taking on Unbound Gravel in Kansas once again back in June.

The US team will also be sending a strong presence to China for the women's endurance and sprint events, with former Olympic road race champion and reigning Olympic team pursuit gold medallist Kristen Faulkner as the standout name announced for Shanghai.

Fresh off the back of finishing 19th at the road Worlds in Montreal, Faulkner will be joined by talented 18-year-old Emma Jimenez Palos, Bethany Ingram, Megan Jastrab, Stephanie Lawrence and Anna Hicks for the endurance events.

After landing the USA's best-ever result of seventh in the women's team sprint in Chile last season, the trio of Kayla Hankins, Emily Hayes, and Hayley Yoslov will return to action together in China. Taking on the team event and individual sprints, they will also be joined by McKenna McKee.

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Emma Langley (Haute Factory Racing) and Matt Wilson (Scott Sports USA) claimed the win at the inaugural Pulaski MTN-X Gravel Bike Race in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia on Saturday.

Starting and finishing in downtown Pulaski, the course took riders through the rugged landscape of the New River Valley in Southwest Virginia: crossing Case Knife Ridge, over Big Walker Mountain, into the heart of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, before climbing back over Big Walker Mountain on the return.

Following an Enduro-style race model, a total of six timed sectors across paved, gravel, and mixed-surface roads were used to determine the winners in the 102-mile route with 12,602 feet of elevation gain.

The six sectors totalled 68.8 miles, with the fourth the longest at 24.1 miles. Starting at mile 44.5, the road kicks after several rolling miles, climbing over Flat Top Mountain and Sugar Run Mountain. The route then turns sharply downhill, sending riders through a long, rugged descent toward Dismal Creek Rd.

Strong off his victory at Life Time Grand Prix Chequamegon MTB Festival last weekend, New Zealander Wilson was the fastest in three sectors and claimed the victory with a time of 3:31:23.

His compatriot, Unbound Gravel 200 champion Cam Jones (Scott Sports USA-RCC), who currently lives in Blacksburg, Virginia and trains throughout the New River Valley, took second with a time of 3:36:45.

Olympian Martins Blums of Latvia rounded out the podium.

In the women’s race, Langley set the fastest time over four sectors to take the win with a time of 4:27:54. The American, who finished third at the 2026 USA Cycling Gravel National Championships earlier this month, went on to claim a top-10 finish the next day at Virginia's Blue Ridge GO Cross in Roanoke.

Kate Buss was second, with a time of 4:28:28, while Britt Mason rounded out the podium.

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

In a heated duel with Manon Bakker, Sydney McGill avoided her rival’s crash in the final corners to race to victory in Sunday’s C2 at Virginia’s Blue Ridge GO Cross, ending Bakker’s three-race winning streak in the second round of the US Cyclocross Series (USCX). In the men’s race, Tofik Beshir (CXD Trek Bikes) took another solo to claim back-to-back victories this weekend and his third in the series.

The pace was high in the women’s race after Nico Knoll (PRO.FWD) lead the pack the first lap after taking the holeshot. But splits happened soon after, with Knoll, Bakker and McGill pulling away, but by the third lap, Knoll had faded, leaving Bakker and McGill to battle for the win, staying together until the end of the final lap.

As the leaders hit the final climb, Bakker went all in, punching her way to the top, but slipped out in the final dry, dusty corner before the descent. McGill was briefly held up but quickly pushed through and powered onto the finishing straight to claim her first win of the series.

“She would just like sit up and try and get me to go on the front,” McGill said of her duel with Bakker. “I was like, ‘I've learned my lesson from you. I'm not gonna pull you around and let you attack me.’ So, we definitely were playing a bit of a game.”

“I knew the race came down to the entry to the UCI [downhill] line and she obviously knew that as well,” she added. “So that's where she went for it, but she just made a mistake in the corner that let me squeeze by."

“I don’t like losing,” said Bakker, who rolled in 6 seconds behind for second place. “Winning is the only thing.”

Meanwhile, behind, Raylyn Nuss (STF Racing), in her 2026 USCX debut, was picking her way through riders including Kaya Musgrave (Competitive Edge Racing), Lauren Zoerner (Corner Racing p/b Beyond Horizon Media) and Ada Watson (CXD Trek Bikes), and ultimately moved up to finish third, 45 seconds later.

In the men’s race, Ryan Drummond (Competitive Edge Racing) was off the front solo after two laps, with a chase group coalescing behind him with Beshir, Dylan Zakrajsek (Competitive Edge Racing), Tyler Clark (Caledon Hills Armada), Aidan Vollmuth (Donovan Racing) and the Midwest NXT duo of Calvin Conaway and Ethan Brown.

By the fourth lap, the reduced chase group, down to Beshir, Conaway, Brown, and Clark, had bridged the 30-second gap to catch Drummond.

In a repeat of Saturday’s C1 race, Beshir attacked with three laps to go and put in his fastest laps of the day to claim the win, leaving the rest to battle for the remaining podium spots.

“I just let them do their thing,” Beshir said of waiting to make his move. “There was no need to fight.”

“I saw they were tired because they kept breaking late,” he added. “Before the sand, I slowly moved up and then took that corner really good and just kept taking my momentum all the way through the sand.”

Crossing the line 22 seconds later, 2025 junior national champion Brown took second, and his first elite podium while Conaway rounded out the podium.

The USCX concludes with two days of racing at the Charm City Cross in Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland, October 3-4, 2026.

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Results

Torbjørn Røed (Trek Driftless) and Lauren De Crescenzo (The Feed-Argonaut-Castelli-Maxxis) continued personal hot streaks with victories at the Life Time Rad Dirt Fest on Saturday.

Røed was now two-for-two in his new Norwegian gravel champion's jersey, following his top spot at Lauf Gravel Worlds in Nebraska with this elite men's win in Trinidad, Colorado.

The decisive move for men was made two miles from the finish of the 110-mile race, Røed going six seconds ahead of USA's Keegan Swirbul in a two-up finish. New Zealand's Caleb Bottcher came in 10 minutes later to round out the podium.

"Altitude races are always tougher and Keegan Swirbul made it a battle. Happy I was able to time it perfectly and catch you at the last km," Røed said on Instagram.

The Rad Dirt Fest began in 2021, where De Crescenzo took her first victory, and she's never lost in her four other starts, only missing the event in 2022, now dubbed 'the queen' of the Rad Dirt Fest.

The five-time winner finished solo, 20 minutes ahead of Hannah Shell in second place. New Zealand's Charlotte Clark was just a couple of minutes.

Both De Crescenzo and Røed are part of the Grand Prix this year, but no points were scored for the series. The race was last included as part of the Life Time Grand Prix two years ago and will return to the series in 2027, part of seven races from April to October.

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Results

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Brandon McNulty allowed himself one last look behind with 50 metres to go on the climb of l'avenue du Parc in Montreal, only then allowing himself to acknowledge he had just won the elite men's road race at the UCI Road World Championships.

The 28-year-old then found his wife Summer and a US flag in the massive crowd, embracing both and trying to grasp what he had just done, for himself and his country.

Teammate Matteo Jorgenson quickly landed a bear hug and yelled, "You just won the Worlds!" Then McNulty seemed to allow a smile to illuminate his face as the feat he had just accomplished almost sank in. His solo sortie of 33km landed the first US road race victory at Road Worlds since Lance Armstrong in 1993.

"It's been an hour now and I still don't believe it," McNulty began in his comments and answers at the post-race press conference.

"Today, I didn't really think the [rainbow] jersey was something that would genuinely happen. Of course, we dreamed and we had hopes, but some days everything comes together.

"I mean, I knew they [chasers] were coming close, and then the gap would grow. And then I know how hard the last 500 meters are from the last corner. I was completely empty. I mean, I was on the verge of cramping; I was on the verge of bonking," he admitted with a wry smile.

"I would sit down and started to cramp. I would stand up and fall because my legs were like noodles. So I really didn't believe it until I could see 50 metres to go and look back and there was no one there. And then I could accept that it had happened.

"I was just completely empty, though. I've never been so empty."

The Arizona native thrives in Montreal. He won the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal last year in a breakaway with UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Tadej Pogačar. This year he returned to the GP Montréal and completed the podium behind the aggressive duo of his teammate and winner Isaac del Toro and runner-up Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM). And on Sunday, he won a world title.

One week ago, he finished fourth in the elite time trial, a bit dejected to finish just 12 seconds off the podium. He used that time trial ability on the final Sunday of this Road Worlds to launch his winning attack, a bombshell to his rivals with just under 33km to go. The front of the race had just reshaped into a 12-rider pack, and McNulty took off, using no plan but "instinct".

"It was purely instinct. I knew that from so many years racing here that once the group is small and there's fatigue, they'll tend to hesitate and look at each other. So once it came together, I planned to try to go on one of the flat sections. I think when you go into climbs, everyone expects [attacks], so if you can do a little bit of a surprise, it'll maybe work out. And, yeah, today it worked perfectly," he said.

"I think the gap went pretty quickly. I imagine that they were looking at each other and also that Matteo [Jorgenson] and Quinn [Simmons] were able to neutralise any move. It wasn't pre-planned at all. That was just where it felt right. And today it was right."

McNulty was one of three protected riders on the eight-rider US squad, along with Simmons and Jorgenson. Not only did his teammates cover moves, but they also finished top 10, Simmons fourth and Jorgenson eighth. It was a monumental statement by a team that had only cracked the top 10 six times by five individual riders since Armstrong's title.

This victory at Worlds was not just a milestone for the US, but it now keeps the rainbow jersey in the UAE Team Emirates-XRG family for a third consecutive year, with former winner Pogačar cheering from home as he recovers from a crash in the Vuelta a España. In Montreal, McNulty was congratulated by Mauro Gianetti, the UAE team general manager after the finish.

"Obviously I'm very sad that what happened [crash at Vuelta] is why he's not here; I hate to see anyone crash. This was important to him. I can at least hope I made him proud. I hope he enjoyed watching."

Apparently Pogačar did watch and was proud: "The King of Montreal. Proud of you Brandon McNulty," Pogačar posted to Instagram about the time his teammate accepted the rainbow jersey and gold medal at the awards ceremony.

The 273.4km endurance test opened up with 85km to go once the leaders were on the Montreal finish circuit of 13.4km, completed a dozen times. As Pogačar said, McNulty is the king on this city circuit, who first raced the GP in 2018 as a 20-year-old with Rally Cycling, finishing 16th.

"Every year it's become a more special place. It was always my favourite circuit and then I came years later and we won with Adam [Yates], and then the next time [Pogačar], then I won and last week also with Isaac [del Toro]. I really enjoy racing on the circuit. I enjoy the town and, then today, the crowd was crazy."

He said he was scheduled to start Giro dell'Emilia with UAE Team Emirates-XRG next weekend, and a block of Italian races. Now in rainbows, will Pogačar now work for him?

"I don't know, maybe he will have to ride for me a few days," he laughed. "But I mean, at the end of the day, he's still the best rider. So now it'll be fun riding the front of races and me in the jersey for him.

"We'll probably celebrate a bit [now], but I'm meant to do Emilia and then almost the entire Italian block through Lombardia. So I'm looking forward to it and now to start with the jersey will be special. Hopefully, I can show with decent legs."

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Day 1 of the Virginia's Blue Ridge GO Cross in Roanoke, Virginia saw experienced Dutch rider Manon Bakker extend her perfect record on US soil, winning a third consecutive race in the USCX series. Rising talent Tofik Beshir (CXD Trek Bikes) took his first elite men's victory at the C1 level, which was his second consecutive win in the series following Rochester CX last Sunday.

"Today was about being smooth and being patient," Beshir said after his victory, which saw him extend his lead in the USCX standings.

"There were definitely times where I wanted to go. I remembered [Team Manager] Chris [Merriam] told me I needed to wait. But once everyone did their attacks and got a little tired, I hammered it."

Beshir attacked with three laps of the eight remaining to move into the solo lead of the race, and he never looked back. Tyler Clark finished second, 42 seconds down on Beshir, with Calvin Conway of Midwest NXT in third place.

"It felt great winning my first C1 [UCI race]," Beshir said. "I’ve been waiting for this for a long time."

In the women's race, the pre-race favourite Bakker confirmed her superiority with a convincing victory. The Dutch rider is a regular fixture on the European circuit but has found success in the USCX in past seasons and extended her perfect record.

On Saturday in western Virginia, she won with a 38-second advantage over Kaya Musgrave (Competitive Edge Racing) in second. Lauren Zoerner (Corner Racing p/b Beyond Horizons) rounded out the podium in third, finishing one minute down on Bakker.

Bakker pushed into the lead on the first tricky section of the course, the long sandpit. She remained in the lead for the entirety of the six-lap race after that.

Speaking after the race, Bakker said it was not an easy effort, as the hilly GO Cross course is the most challenging one for her on the USCX circuit.

"For me, it’s like a road race," she said. "There aren’t any very [many] technical parts, so it’s full gas the whole time. I was suffering."

Day 2 in Roanoke offers the C2 race taking on much of the same course but in the reverse direction.

Women's results

Men's results

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Riley Sheehan has raced bikes for 11 years and has never had a direct pathway to the top level of road cycling, nor has he been reserved with his opinions. Some call it drive and dedication, but he calls it just "stubbornness".

"Anything can happen in cycling," he told Cyclingnews from his hotel in Montreal one day before he takes the start for Team USA in the elite men's road race at the Road World Championships.

He was about to prove how true that statement can be, after an unexpected journey of emotions and miles with two trips to Montreal in the span of a week.

"I did [Grand Prix Cycliste de] Montreal and was completely destroyed after that race. I went super deep and was really proud of the race. All right, time to go to Belgium to race, and I took the 9 p.m. flight right after the race overnight to Paris. On my drive into Belgium after I landed, I got the call for Worlds, which was kind of funny. One hour, pretty much, after I landed in Europe, I got the call up," Sheehan said about the irony of being asked to return.

"It made my week a little more exciting with logistics and having to follow along with the responsibilities with team NSN, making sure I can have a good performance in the World Championships. So, a bit of a crazy, quick work trip in Belgium. I've been a little more quiet about it."

That subtleness was in response to a harsh post he made two days after he finished fourth at Philadelphia Cycling Classic p/b AmeriGas and expressed his dismay on not being selected to the eight-rider roster for US men at Worlds. He deleted his X post and decided to take a different approach to the bad news.

"I was really disappointed, because I really wanted to go," he told Cyclingnews two weeks ago, before getting his surprise call-up. "But I really believed I could have been a really vital asset to the team, and I had a great year."

That great year for the 26-year-old from Boulder, Colorado, once a journeyman with club and Continental teams in the US and France, began with Circuit de Wallonie in May. He then finished second overall at Tour de Wallonie and won the opening stage at Czech Tour before his performance in Philadelphia.

The consolation prize was being named a reserve for a stacked US men's team for Worlds.

"I still trained to my best ability, like I was going to go to the World Championships. So kind of maybe some stubbornness there, but it's always paid off so far."

The squad is comprised of WorldTour riders, including USPro road champion Quinn Simmons and former USPro time trial champion Brandon McNulty, both who finished top five at Grand Prix Montreal.

Neilson Powless was on the roster and had been racing in Italy in September, not the Canadian WorldTour one-day races. He struggled at GP Industria & Artigianato and Giro della Toscana, then didn't finish Coppa Sabatini. He pulled out of World Roads due to sickness, according to USA Cycling, and Sheehan got his call.

"The first thing I did was say 'yes, put me in', before I even asked permission [from NSN]. But you know, the NSN management, everyone, they all knew I was first reserve. I quickly made some phone calls with the directors and my performance team, and within the next two hours, we kind of had logistics figured out.

"OK, I do two races in Belgium, and six days in Belgium. Then come right back to Canada and hang out in Canada for the week. So a bit of a crazy quick work trip in Belgium. It was a quick turnaround. I landed on Sunday [September 20]."

He had his most challenging and rewarding year in 2023 when he moved back to the US from two years with a small team in France, and signed for a small team in Denver to race criteriums. He went from racing the Miami Beach Invitational with this start-up to winning Paris-Tours with Israel-Premier Tech.

"I'm sitting around the lunch table with all the other guys today, and you know we have Quinn Simmons, going straight from junior world champion to the WorldTour, and Brandon McNulty, a junior world champion. These guys had quite a direct pathway into the WorldTour.

"I've had a lot of ups and downs, and not a direct pathway, especially from being Denver Disruptors to WorldTour was crazy in itself. But I've always wanted to prove to myself and everyone what I am capable of. I mean that was a big motivation for me to be on the World's team.

"I'm just so happy to be a part of the team and do what I can to help us try and win."

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

About this time last September, Kate Courtney made history as the first US woman to win the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships, which was the second rainbow jersey in her career. But this year it was all about the road.

She entered her first USPro Road Nationals event in the summer, won that, and then signed a pro road contract with FDJ United-Suez. Momentum was on her side for a debut at the UCI Road World Championships. Instead of a medal of any colour, she came away with unexpected bruises in black and blue, but a desire to prove her fitness.

"The race was not great, obviously, not the perfect day today," she said with a smile and a laugh to media, including Cyclingnews, in the mix zone afterwards, one shoulder and one hip exposed from a ripped Team USA kit.

"I was in the perfectly wrong place, just close enough to see it [the start of the crash], not far enough back to react. So we will just lick our wounds and come back for more."

After an opening section of 72.8km on the east side of Montréal, the first of eight laps of the Mount Royal circuit began with USA's Natalie Quinn and Norway's Marte Berg Edseth setting the pace in a two-rider breakaway. It was on the next lap, with 95km to go, that a major crash reset plans for many teams, including Team USA.

The crash was sparked by several riders going down on the right side of the road, including defending champion Magdeleine Vallieres (Canada), who remounted slowly. However, Caroline Andersson (Sweden) and Lauretta Hanson (Australia) were not able to continue from there, needing medical attention.

Courtney recalled it was just a "fast" chain reaction in the peloton of riders going down across the wide avenue, creating a split.

"We were going fast. It was one of the fastest parts of the course. It was the descent where the course doubles back, and that's quite a big fight for positioning there.

"It's the classic [scenario] - someone was moving up, two riders come together, and if you're too close to that, you don't have time to react. So there was no time, a couple of riders in front of me.

"I'm obviously a little banged up, but it was quite a serious crash, and there were some girls laying on the ground when I walked away, and that was really honestly the worst part. So hoping that everyone's OK."

The USPro road champion made it around the circuit twice more, then pulled out.

"I was feeling great. We were well positioned, and we were working really well as a team, which was exciting. Alexis [Magner] did such an awesome job positioning me on the flats, and then Lauren Stevens was pulling me up there in the climb, and we were all in a really good position. We had Natalie [Quinn] in the breakaway, Grace [Arlandson] was with me as well," Courtney extolled about her teammates.

"I worked really hard for this race. I felt really strong coming into it, and I know that at some point, hopefully the next couple years, I'll get to show that fitness in a bike race."

The disruption at the halfway point in the 180.1km race proved to be an immediate end to the plans for Team USA, with Courtney tabbed as team leader in her debut at these championships.

The top US finishers were Kristen Faulkner in 21st position, in a small group 8:34 off the winning pace of Demi Vollering (Netherlands), and Lauren Stephens in 40th, 15:31 back. Courtney's effort went down as a DNF, alongside another debutant for the team, Grace Arlandson, the bronze medallist at the USPro Road Championships.

Arlandson had a flat just before the crash and helped shepherd Courtney on the final kilometres.

"We had the super experienced girls on the team there to position her, and I think that was going really well. It's kind of cool to be a part of learning alongside Kate," Arlandson told Cyclingnews.

"She's kind of learning things too. Kate's already just stepped right up to the level," she added, showing off a yellow hair band that was on her wrist.

"Kate made us these hair ties. So I think all of us are wearing them. Mine kept falling out of my hair. But yes, also ideally the colour of a medal [we wanted]."

Courtney will finish the road year with FDJ United-Suez at two races in Italy in October, the Giro dell'Emilia and Tre Valli Varesine.

"I'll be headed back to Italy to do a couple more races with the team, and then end the season. So, some good ones coming up, and mostly just a head start on getting ready and seeing what we need to do for next year. Mostly not crash, I think would help," she added with another signature smile.

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

With 1.7km to go in the men's under-23 road race at the 2026 Road World Championships, the USA's Ashlin Barry was riding solo on one of the few flat roads on the Montréal circuit when a TV camera captured him shaking his head, seeming to realise he would soon have a gold medal for a birthday present.

"I don't know how I did that," he said after receiving his gold medal and rainbow jersey.

Going into the 174.2km contest, Barry had expected it to be the usual frenzy of high-octane racing among the field of 170-plus riders. He only wanted to stay away from the "uncontrolled" racing and find an opportunity if it was there.

"It was a hard start, and there's attacks going [everywhere]. I didn't really script it going in. I had maybe an idea of what I could do.

"I didn't think I'd be strong enough to follow the best guys on the climbs. So I just thought if I could get ahead, then maybe that would give me some room to go on the climb and still make the front group. Once I was away, I just committed.

"Honestly, I didn't think I could do it until the last lap, when I reached the top of the last climb. I attacked early in the race because I was worried I wouldn’t be able to follow the better climbers on the climb. In the end, I managed to keep everyone behind me. It feels surreal," the birthday boy, who turned 19 on Friday, admitted.

He saw the gap times posted on the bulletin board from the moto on his two-lap charge with Kristian Egholm (Denmark), both getting away as part of a five-rider break on the fourth of 13 laps as the Dane was the only rider able to stay with Barry.

The reigning US Pro men's U23 road champion then struck out on his solo escape with just under 29km to go, a full two laps of focus. That was the moment he saw an opportunity, but still wasn't confident.

"I kept seeing the gap and kept expecting it to come down on the climbs. Somehow, I was able to hold it. I was kind of just riding my pace and expecting some riders would come across to me. You know, so I just tried not to overextend or go over my limit, and I just kept pushing and eating and drinking as much as possible.

"I thought, eventually, I'd get caught or kind of hit a wall, and somehow it never happened. I really just rode my own pace and went as fast as I could to the finish. The last two laps I just gave it everything I had."

Barry finished fourth in the U23 time trial earlier this week, and thought he had a chance at a medal there. He said an unexpected bonus from training for several weeks on his TT bike seemed to help the most in the road race.

"I thought the TT would be a really big opportunity for me, so I was really focusing on it in my training. And in the end, that probably helped quite a bit in the road race. I think between the hills, I was just able to stay really efficient and conserve energy well. So definitely could have made the difference in the end."

This is his third World Championships medal after claiming silvers as a junior in the time trial and the on the track in the Omnium. However, it was special not just because of the colour, but where he won. The teenager lives with his family in Toronto, a dual citizen of US and Canada, and he opted to ride for Team USA two years ago for the best resources.

His immediate family was in attendance - father Michael Barry of Canada, mother Dede Demet-Barry of USA, his sister Holland, and his dog.

Both of his parents are retired professional cyclists, with Demet-Barry the other family member to have won a race in Montreal, doing so at the women's World Cup road race in 2002, finishing on top of Mount Royal.

Besides an extended celebration of his birthday tonight with family and friends, Barry already had sights on 2027 and beyond, wearing his new rainbow stripes as a U23 rider next year on the road, and perhaps getting an early call from the Visma-Lease a Bike development team to the WorldTour squad.

"I have a contract to join the WorldTour team with Visma, I don't know if that'll be next year or the year after. You know, on paper I was supposed to have two years in the development team, so we'll see. I think it'd be cool to race in the World Championship jersey, do some U23 races next year. But if they think I'm ready to step up and go to the World Tour, then that would be pretty cool too."

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Plans don't always work, and on Thursday the plan for a solo charge to a gold medal in the women's under-23 road race at the Road World Championships in Montréal turned into silver for home favourite Isabella Holmgren.

"Of course, I'm disappointed to not win for Canada, but there are so many positives from today. So I can't be too upset," Isabella Holmgren told media in the post-race press conference.

"I think if I had the legs, then I would have been alone. In the end, it came down to a sprint, which isn't ideal for me. But I did everything I could on the day."

The plan did not include a sprint finish. One of Isabella Holmgren's four teammates, Kiara Lylyk, said after the race that they agreed the night before for each rider to take turns on early and late laps to move their leader safely around the 13.4km circuit. Isabella Holmgren was then prepped for a solo attack on the penultimate circuit.

With three laps to go, Team Canada had three riders in the front group of around 20 riders: Isabella Holmgren, Ava Holmgren and Sidney Swierenga. Viktória Chladoňová (Slovakia) moved close to the front and reacted with Isabella Holmgren when Fleur Moors (Belgium) accelerated with 31km remaining.

"Yeah, Viki went, so I knew I needed to be there, and I had to follow her. And then with one lap to go, we knew that we had to try to lose Fleur on the first climb because you don't want to sprint Fleur, you probably won't win," the silver medallist recalled, laughing lightly.

"I gave everything on that first climb on the last lap, and it wasn't enough to be solo. And then I tried again on the last climb, but once again, Viki was able to follow.

"I just had to give everything I could [in the final uphill of 600 metres], because you can see the line. So really, you just have to empty the tank until you get there. I knew maybe I don't have the upper hand in a sprint, but I still had to try because yeah, you never know."

Before the trio escaped, Isabella said she communicated with all her teammates, as there were no race radios. But they knew each rider had a job.

"I think Alex and Kira did a really good job at keeping us closer to the front and making sure no attacks were going. And then Ava asked me if she could do anything later on in the race, and I told her it had to be a bit harder, so she did a really, really strong climb. I was happy that the race was getting harder because I think that's more suited to me."

That was with four and three laps to go, and then she found herself launching into a three-rider break one lap earlier than she wanted to go. Then it came down to the pair of highly-motivated racers who wanted the rainbows, the Slovakian who was second in the U23 road race last year in Kigali and the Canadian on home roads who was sixth last year.

"In the end, I wasn't the strongest today, but I'm really proud of Viki. She's such a nice competitor, so she really deserved it," Isabella said.

"For sure, I wanted to win in front of a home crowd and finish the work that all of my teammates did to help me today. But yeah, it's easy to be disappointed. But I think I just need to be really happy with how the race went and how we raced as a team.

"There were so many people cheering for us on the side of the road. It is so special just hearing my name. I could hear my friends and family cheering, but there were also just so many people that I didn't know supporting me and supporting Team Canada.

"It's definitely super special to race at home. I've never had a big international race like this in Canada. So, it was just such an amazing day. I'm just so grateful for the crowd."

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Ashlin Barry expects to hear a lot of people cheering for him at the men's under-23 road race this Friday at the 2026 Road World Championships. Friends and family will be in attendance from Toronto, including his parents and sister, as the US men's U23 road race national champion grinds his way around 13 laps of the 13.4km circuit in Montreal for Team USA.

He has been to Road Worlds twice before, winning a silver medal in the men's junior time trial in Kigali. But this year is doubly significant as he races in Canada, where he lives with dual citizenship, and Friday is his 19th birthday.

"A medal would be nice," he told Cyclingnews about the best way to celebrate his new age.

"Yeah, but I'm excited to race. It's in the morning. I can hang out with my family after and hoping for a nice day. I think to win on this course you have to be really strong, with us starting on the circuit and doing the whole race there."

The total length of racing is 174.2 kilometres with 3,497 metres of elevation gain, coming on the 1.7km Camillien-Houde climb to the top of Mount Royal and then the Côte de la Polytechnique on the back side, nearly half the distance but with steeper pitches up to 14%. He agreed that the circuits would wear down many of the riders, but it had the longer distance and the climbing that suited his abilities, though after a pre-ride on Wednesday it might be closer suffering than smooth sailing.

"I do like a bit of climbing. I definitely like a hard race, but I think this course is on the limit. I expect the race will be fairly uncontrolled. It's pretty common for junior and U23 racing. If it's raced a certain way, and if I feel really good and I'm strong, then I think I can be in the mix and be competitive."

This season Barry began a four-year stint with the Visma-Lease a Bike Development team and spent most of his time in Europe. In the 1.Pro-level Grand Prix de Denain, he was called up to the WorldTour team and finished in the top 20, that race 200km. Just prior to Worlds, he went fourth on stage 3 at Tour de l'Avenir, that ride 30km longer.

And in between, Barry made the trip to West Virginia to win the USPro National Championships and won his fourth career road title, the other coming as a junior. He almost won a medal in the elite men's road race as well, going fourth behind winner Quinn Simmons, Kevin Vermaerke and Larry Warbasse.

Like other juniors and U23 riders, who don't race the WorldTour races of Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, Barry checked out the climbing for the first time on Wednesday in a course preview, open for two hours to all riders at Worlds.

After the pre-ride he spoke in a one-on-one interview with Cyclingnews and related his familiarity with the course since both his parents, retired professional cyclists Michael Barry of Canada and USA's Dede Demet-Barry, had competed in races on similar roads. In fact, Demet-Barry came out of retirement in 2002, five years before Ashlin was born, and won the 98km Montreal World Cup road race that featured 12 ascents of Mount Royal.

"I hadn't ridden it in person. I've driven the course before a couple years ago, and watched the race from the sidelines. One of my first memories of watching a bike race was seeing my dad here. I think his last race was in 2012 or something. I was super young, but I have some memories of that," Barry recalled about his father's second time racing at Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal.

"I remember getting like a T-shirt and a cowbell and ringing it. I remember seeing my dad there. I was like five or six years old, so I was super young."

Do either of his parents have tips to impart about the course?

"My parents tend to be sort of hands off, you know, and let me get advice from my coaches, and see the course for myself. I'll probably chat with them this afternoon because it was my first time riding the course."

Barry finished one spot off the podium in the U23 time trial on Monday. World Championships are familiar turf, last year winning two silver medals - one on the road in the junior ITT and the other in the Omnium at the 2025 Junior Track World Championships. The tall teenager at 1.92 m (6 feet, 4 inches), looks forward to the team environment for his next chance at a medal.

"We have a smaller team than the elite race, they have eight guys, which makes it easier to control a race," he noted. "I'm not going in thinking like I have a super high chance of getting a medal or something, but I think I can be in the mix and definitely contest the final."

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Twelve months ago, Mike Woods was done. WorldTour racing had become more like a job than a passion, he had spent his final year hampered by crashes and injuries, and to top it all off, a hernia meant he wouldn't get to bow out at his home race at the GP de Montréal like he had hoped.

The cycling career he'd changed paths for later in life, that saw him win four Grand Tour stages, wasn't going to end on a high. Most riders want to choose how, when and where they end their career, but for many, that simply doesn't work out. Woods looked set to join the latter camp.

Except, as it turns out, that wasn't the end. Woods' 'retirement' did not mean hanging his wheels up for good, as he took the end of his WorldTour contract as a chance to pick up his gravel bike, racing events like The Traka, the Sea Otter Classic and the Gravel World Series as he made a transition away from racing, rather than a hard stop.

And very quickly, an opportunity arose: with the points he'd accrued in his final year, he might be able to qualify for selection for the Road World Championships. Held in 2026 in Montreal, Canada, it was an almost perfect chance to do over the road swansong he'd been denied in 2025.

"It's been in the back of my head for most of this year," Woods told Cyclingnews last week in Quebec, lining up for Team Canada in the GPs de Québec and Montréal ahead of his Worlds finale.

"I really wanted to end my career in Montreal. Last year I couldn't do that because I had a hernia and I had to have surgery, and I was devastated. It was like such an anticlimactic ending to a career. Not that anyone deserves [the perfect ending], and not that I deserved it, but I wanted to finish things off in Canada.

"Then when I looked at the selection criteria, and realised that I still had scored enough points last year to be eligible, I thought that if I maintained a certain level of fitness and really felt like I could prove that, then, I wanted to go to these races. Then I did [Road] National Championships and it was good [he finished seventh] and I knew after that I could provide a lot of value to the team at Worlds, and here we are."

A hope and a plan nearly a year in the making, Woods only got the call for certain in August, with the GPs de Québec and Montréal thrown in as openers, but he's felt ready for this return to the highest level of road racing for several weeks.

"Only about a month ago, within the last month when we made the official selection. I wasn't informed before," he explained. "But after the National Championships, I finished seventh, but, with the way the course was – it wasn't a very hard course – I proved I was definitely the second strongest climber in the race. I wouldn't want to come here if I wasn't going to contribute to the national team, but after doing that race I felt like 'Oh, I definitely will be valuable'."

The initial plan was for Woods to work for Canada's chosen leader, Derek Gee-West, but with the Lidl-Trek rider withdrawing from Sunday's road race after a crash at the GP de Montréal, the door has perhaps opened for Woods to use his strength for something exciting.

"I really want to go as far into the race as I can, or even try and do something special," he said. "I just want the national team and the maple leaf to have success at this race."

From 'jaded' to rekindling his love of racing

In many ways, the year-long delay to Woods' Montreal farewell might be a blessing in disguise.

The 39-year-old who is preparing to line up for Sunday's road race is very different from the 38-year-old who stepped out of the peloton in 2025, and that time and space has given him a new-found appreciation for the sport – and perhaps even the ability to enjoy his final road races more than he would have 12 months ago.

"I was pretty jaded by the end of last year," he said. "Last year particularly, I had my hernia, I had crashed. I went to an altitude camp in Tenerife, got in amazing shape, really felt like I was going to have a good year, and then crashed taking a leg warmer off in Milano-Torino, broke my collarbone, woke up in an ambulance. After that, I was over it.

"But this year has rekindled my love for the sport, made me realise how much I love racing. Watching the races on TV makes me realise how beautiful the sport was, and makes me really proud of what I did. I haven't missed it at all, but it's been a great year."

Racing all across Europe, the United States and Canada this year, the headlines reading that Woods was 'coming out of retirement' for the World Championships didn't exactly ring true, given he's hardly stopped this year, but he was clear that this season has been nothing like the ones that came before it.

"I've definitely been retired from the WorldTour. The WorldTour is a different beast, 70 race days, it's not just performing once or twice every few weeks, it's just this grind. So I've been retired from that," he said.

"Doing what I did this year has been so fun. It has been, I'd say, a retirement. I'm doing exactly what I want to do whenever I want to, which has been sweet. So I've definitely retired. But fortunately, it's kept me in good enough shape to be competitive at a high level."

No more imposter syndrome

Coming back to road racing for the GPs de Quebec and Montreal – where he finished 66th and 18th respectively – Woods had a chance to reacclimatise with the WorldTour peloton before taking on the World Championships road race. Being back in the world he left

"It's weird. It's cool. It's super cool," he said. "It amazes me. I used to feel like such an imposter at these races because I came in so late. I didn't do years of racing junior and then U23, or accruing relationships. I just came into the WorldTour and knew nothing. It felt like I was just like playing – this is going to date me – but like Age of Empires when everything is just dark. I didn't know anything.

"And now I come here and I know everybody. I know guys on every single team. I'm chatting with everybody, staff included – there's directors that I used to race with – so it's weird to now realise that I'm not an imposter."

Riding with the national team in Quebec and Montreal also offered Woods a chance to act as the experienced head in a team of young riders, both sharing his expertise and affirming to himself that the future of the sport is in safe hands.

"It's been awesome. When I first started at these races I was in a similar position, just hungry, chasing a $10,000 contract, trying to move up, and, it's nice to be around that energy again," he said. "Everyone's like 20 years younger than me. I'm learning from these guys, like the way the sport is now. There's so much access to information and these guys are so switched on that even me, who's been doing it for quite a few years now, I'm learning from them."

"Now I feel like an imposter in a different way!" he laughed. "I'm like, I have a wife, I have kids, I have a house. I'm in a way different state or place than these guys, but it's a nice change of perspective."

After the World Championships, this chapter is over, Woods is certain. He's not going to get sucked into the ever more competitive and more professional world of gravel. He won't be jetting off to Australia for Gravel World Championships after Montreal, and swapping the road grind for the gravel one isn't his idea of fun.

"That's been my life for the last 15 years. It's just chasing contracts, chasing points, chasing results for a team, sponsorship pressure, and this year wasn't that, and it was really nice," he said. "It is hard, it's not like it's smooth sailing for a lot of the privateers, it's a lot of work."

But whilst he's sure that "that's it forever" as far as trying to be a professional, competitive athlete goes, nothing will ever stop Woods from riding, and if anything, this bonus year and serendipitous perfect ending has only reaffirmed that love.

"I'll race and ride my bike for the rest of my life. I love it," he said. "There's a reason why I did what I did this year. I'm an addict to exercise and physical activity. I'm a much worse person when I'm not doing them. I'm in love with it, I'm in love with the bike. I'll ride for the rest of my life, just a lot less competitively in the years to come."

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final Monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

There's a trifecta of rich rewards awaiting two Canadian teammates who are also twin sisters, Ava and Isabella 'Bella' Holmgren, as they compete at the UCI Road World Championships in Montréal. They agreed that a home-country Worlds stacked the deck even before they reached a finish line - seeing and hearing family and friends nearby, competing side-by-side in the road race in unique Montréal-inspired national kits, and after it's all done, hunting down bagels from St-Viateur.

The 21-year-olds, who recently competed at Val di Sole at MTB Worlds, will compete next for Team Canada at Montréal Road Worlds. Ava is a contender for the U23 time trial on September 21 and both lead a strong group of five riders for the U23 road race on September 24.

"We're fraternal twins, but I think we're way more alike than any identical twins that I know. We're very different people, but our interests are very similar," said Isabella, the taller of the two.

Both grew up racing cyclo-cross and mountain bikes together, making history at the 2023 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships as the first Canadians to win medals of any colour, Isabella with gold and Ava with silver in the junior women's race. Ava had previously won a pair of Pan-American junior titles in 'cross.

They added hardware in the mountain bike discipline, Isabella sweeping U23 short track and XCO World Championship titles in 2024 and 2025, while Ava finished top 10 in both races in 2025.

In 2024, the pair signed their own contracts to race for Lidl-Trek to focus more on road racing; their contracts now extended through 2028.

Isabella won her first one-day race in 2025 at Durango-Durango and the GC at Tour de l'Avenir Femmes and ended the season with sixth in the U23 road race at Rwanda Worlds and fourth at Giro dell'Emilia. This year she finished seventh on GC at Giro d'Italia Women for a second consecutive season, confirming her abilities as an all-rounder. She also finished eighth overall at her first Tour de France Femmes.

Ava finished second on a stage at Tour de Normandie in 2024 to begin her Lidl-Trek tenure, then impressed with fourth in the U23 road race and 22nd in the elite women's road race at Road Worlds in Switzerland. She claimed her first road win at 2025 Canadian Road Nationals in the U23 time trial and this year had top 10s at the UCI 1.1 women's races in Gatineau prior to 2026 Road Worlds, including third at Tour de Gatineau.

The Holmgrens grew up in eastern Ontario and never seem to be far apart, in life and in work, so it seemed natural to let them interview each other about their newest journey and try to record more history for Canada. The duo shared their question and answer session with Cyclingnews, with an emphasis on the anticipation of racing for rainbow stripes not just for their home country, but also 'in' their home country.

Isabella Holmgren: So, you're doing the U23 time trial at Road World Championships in Montreal. Are you excited? And do you think the home crowd will be an advantage in a race like this?

Ava Holmgren: For sure, I'm really excited. It's a moment I've been looking forward to for a long time, and also the source of a lot of motivation in some hard trainings. And I think having familiar people saying my name on the sideline will give me all the extra boost that I need. If I'm having a good day or a bad day on the bike, it won't matter because I have some home supporters.

IH: Have you had any specific preparation going into the time trial, and what has the training looked like?

AH: I've been working on the time trial bike, and I'm looking forward to testing myself in this discipline again. After Mountain Bike Worlds, I just started training a lot more on the time trial bike and focused on some more efforts and staying in position, so that I'm more comfortable being uncomfortable, I guess.

IH: And the TT course, I know you haven't actually ridden it yourself yet, but do you think it suits you? And how do you see the course?

AH: I like the look of the course. I think with all of the turns, it breaks up the effort a little bit, and I really like that style of racing. I think I can try and corner as fast as possible, which could be an advantage. But I'll really need to use my technical abilities to the fullest to take the most advantage. So, looking forward to all the turns. I prefer a bit of a hillier time trial, but I think it'll be a nice mix.

AH: So, the men had the GP Montréal just a few days ago, and we watched it together. What was one of your main takeaways going into the World Championships, knowing that the course is similar?

IH: Yeah, it's nice that there's been other races, so you can kind of look back and have a reference on a similar course. It's also very similar to Rwanda, where it's a circuit and with some elevation. So, I think I can sort of learn from last year's race and see what I did well and see what I definitely needed to work on this year. It'll be super hard, especially because we only do laps of the circuit, unlike the women's race that goes out on a flat road. I think it'll be hard, but I like it hard.

AH: Our team for the U23 women's race has some riders that we've been racing with on national teams as juniors, and also against for a while, so we know each other pretty well. How do you think this could be an advantage?

IH: I think we have an extremely strong team, and we will definitely use it to our advantage. We have different riders that are good at different things, and I think it's a special feeling because we've raced with these girls in the past, and we're also just really good friends with them. All of the girls have been performing extremely well at the last races that they've done, and I'm really excited to see what we can do together. And I think when you have that relationship outside of the bike, it makes it even easier to work together.

Kiara Lylyk, I've known her for a really long time. We used to race cyclo-cross together. She did really well in a breakaway at a recent race in Europe.

And then there's Alex Volstad, I've done lots of national team project with her, like Avenir last year and she was second in Philadelphia Cycling Classic. She's very positive and happy and funny you just can't be in a bad mood when you're around her.

And then Sidney [Swierenga], I haven't actually raced with her in the past. She did extremely well in the recent Faun Tour Femmes. She's a really, really strong rider and I'm looking forward to racing with her.

AH: What else are you looking forward to, finally doing a home Worlds with some familiar faces?

IH: Just the fact that we're all Canadian and you're at your home Worlds is an extra little boost.

And it's also really special to race with you because you're my twin sister, and we're racing at home. We don't get to race together very often, or we haven't in the past. And I think just having you in a race is so nice. It makes me feel more comfortable and relaxed.

I know that you're very smart in race situations, and maybe that's something that I lack. So it's like you have the other half of your brain racing, which I guess people wouldn't understand unless they have a twin. So it's a unique feeling.

AH: (laughing) Yes. If you're at your max effort on the bike, you can't say any words because you need to breathe. You just give a look and then you know, right?

IH: (also laughing) We can have conversations without actually saying anything.

AH: What have you enjoyed the most this season on the road?

IH: I think I'm starting to learn a lot more of how to be positioned in the peloton and just racing with my teammates. Sometimes I lack a bit of confidence, and I get a bit nervous to be around my teammates, or in the bunch. So I think within the stage races that I've done, I've grown to be more confident and comfortable in that sort of environment throughout the year. I'm pretty proud of the step that I made versus last year.

IH: And what about you, Ava?

AH: For me, I'm most proud of being healthy on the start line. It's been a really big challenge the last few years and just having that good racing feeling again. Then I could really show the team what I'd learned, and I helped my teammates.

I think the race I'm most proud of was the GP Oetingen in Belgium in the spring. We had a really nice result with Fleur Moors, she was second and the only person to challenge Lorena [Wiebes] in the final. Everything just came together in the moment, and I felt fully focused the whole race, and I felt strong. I did my job really well, so it was a really exciting race.

IH: What are you looking forward to this next week at Worlds?

AH: Honestly, just being home in Canada. I'm really looking forward to spending some time here. The riding's been amazing. The staff on the Cycling Canada team have been super helpful, and it's great to see everyone, all categories, with a full team from Cycling Canada.

Even though it's a home Worlds, there's a lot of logistics, and not everyone is coming from Canada. A lot of people are coming from Europe, so it's a big challenge, and I'm really also looking forward to wearing this special edition kit. Yes, that's going to be hung up on the wall for a while.

AH: What besides racing are you excited about?

IH: That's a long list. We have a lot of family and friends that are gonna come and watch. They can always watch on TV, but it's so different when you see it in person, so I'm really excited for them to experience the atmosphere of a bike race. Because it's a circuit, I think that'll be even better because you get to see the riders so often.

And also, the first thing on the list after the road race is to go get bagels from St. Viateur in Montréal, a famous bagel place.

I also just think being in Canada is so nice, and having the Europeans come and experience our home, especially at this time of year when fall is starting, so I'm excited.

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Sofía Gómez Villafañe (Specialized Off-road) extended her Life Time Grand Prix lead while Matthew Wilson (Scott Sports USA) took his debut win in the series on Saturday with wins at Chequamegon MTB Festival in Cable, Wisconsin.

In the women’s race, Villafañe and 2025 champion Melisa Rollins were forced to chase back to the lead group following an early crash, just 25 minutes into the 40-mile race. Villafañe was up quickly and time trialled back to the front group. Sarah Lange launched an attack on the approach to the single-track section, then Villafane made an early pass to win that hole shot.

She was followed by Karolina Migoń and Cécile Lejeune and the trio took turns at the front. Across the top of the climb on Fire Tower climb, Villafañe went solo, crossing the finish line alone in a time of 2 hours, 14 minutes, 11 seconds, Migoń and Lange completing the podium 16 seconds behind her.

Speaking after the race, Villafañe, said: "Chequamegon is always such an unpredictable race. I found myself on the ground after a mud puddle due to losing traction and sadly taking out my good friend Melisa with me. I was able to make it back to the front of the peloton, but she was not.

"At Fire Tower, I made sure to lead as I knew I could likely be fighting for traction as well, and near the top I was solo as Karolina had to unclip due to losing traction. After that, I was solo and had a consistent effort to the finish.

"Chequamegon is a race where you can plan the way you want to race, but sometimes the course decides for you. I’m super happy to win my third Life Time Grand Prix event this year. I will be skipping Little Sugar and looking forward to the battle to come at Big Sugar."

The Life Time Grand Prix overall is still wide open heading into the final two events. Behind leader Villafañe, just 12 points separate the riders from second to sixth place, with Lauren Stephens in second place.

Leadville runner-up takes charge

In the men’s race, it was Martins Blum who took the early lead, opening an advantage of 1:30 over the rest over the first 13 miles.

Wilson was the man to give chase, the Leadville Trail 100 MTB runner-up launching an attack up Fire Tower climb. The New Zealander was brought back but continued his efforts, eventually moving clear with three other riders, all in the Grand Prix - series leader Keegan Swenson, Andrew L'Esperance, and Brendan Johnston.

The chasing quartet worked together to close the gap to lone leader Blum, and as the quartet made the catch, Wilson launched the race-winning move, surging clear to finish around a minute ahead of the chasers.

Johnston recorded a season's best result in the series finishing in second, with Swenson finishing just two seconds behind the Australian to round out the podium and retain his overall series lead.

"I tried to get away on the Fire Tower climb, Keegan and I got a good gap and thought we might be able to stay away, but unfortunately the whole group came back. But it gave me the confidence going into the final climb of the day," Wilson said.

"I gave it a nudge on the final climb, and four of us got away but I felt like I had the best legs in the group, so I kept riding hard, and I was able to get a gap and went full gas to the line and not look back.

"It feels so good after being so close to winning at Leadville; I was pretty determined to get a win. The only way to prove yourself after coming second is to win."

The fourth round had Swenson still in the lead, but the gap closed to eight points ahead of Johnston and Lange sitting in joint second and Chequagemon winner Wilson just two points further back heading into the penultimate round.

Results

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Mount Royal returns to the centre stage of global cycling this week when Montréal hosts the UCI Road World Championships, September 20-27. It has been 52 years since Montréal made history as the first Road Worlds outside Europe and two years later notched another milestone as the first Canadian city to host summer competitions for the Olympic Games.

The signature incline through Parc du Mont-Royal on city circuits is Camillien-Houde, which provides postcard views of the east side of Montreal and the Olympic Stadium. For junior, under-23 and elite riders, the steep 1.7km boulevard, with pitches to 10%, poses challenges for legs, lungs and will power on the repetition of ascents.

Mount Royal took its name from a French explorer in the early 1500s and a park was formally created to preserve the forested land in 1876 by New York City's Central Park designer, Frederick Law Olmsted. Later carriage paths became roads and 100 years on the Olympic Games used 21 laps of a 12.5km loop to award a gold medal to Bernt Johansson of Sweden. It would be two Olympiads later before women contested their own road race.

The province of Québec has embraced cycling events ever since with 38 years of the Tour de Beauce for men and 36 years of international-level mountain bike races for men and women at Mont-Sainte-Anne. In the past 16 years races have been staged for women in Gatineau, while for 15 years men have WorldTour-level races in Montréal and Québec City.

"I have been dreaming of the UCI World Championships since 2013, 2014, when the Grands Prix cyclistes de Québec and de Montréal began to enjoy a some success," said Sébastien Arsenault, who leads the organisation for the two WorldTour races. Arsenault is also president of the organising committee for the 2026 UCI Road World Championships

"The success of the Grands Prix cyclistes de Québec and de Montréal is set to be multiplied tenfold. Cycling often comes to our region for just two days, two six-hour races, and then we wait a whole year. With the UCI World Championships, we’ll be offering what I call the Olympics of road cycling: the joy, the fun, the passion, the pace and the energy of the Grand Prix, but spread over eight days of competition."

What was in plain view this past decade to people in Montréal was a far cry from what Olmstead originally brought to life. His love for the outdoors, which included hiking and fishing, would lead to a love affair for the "city of saints" and cyclists.

Baiting the hooks in 1974 and earning accolades from spectators and media was the first step, then the stars from Belgium and France took over.

Instant appeal

Eddy Merckx dominated the monster 262.5km elite men's road course in high temperatures, 30°C, to earn a third rainbow jersey in 1974. It was also his shining moment to celebrate a cycling 'triple crown', adding the world title to GC wins at the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in the same year.

Merckx stood on the podium alongside French riders Raymond Poulidor and Mariano Martinez, and only 15 other riders completed the course. But it was only until an all-day breakaway by Frenchman Bernard Thévenet was caught that Merckx could position for the win.

"It's an incredible memory. Initially, they said the course was for sprinters, but Mont Royal turned out to be something quite different," Merckx recounted in a UCI video recorded for organisers to announce the 2026 Road Worlds return to Montréal.

"I believe it was a very tough race, with [Bernard] Thévenet leading a long breakaway. I think the Belgian team worked well in my favour, allowing us to catch up on the final lap.

"By the time we caught up with Thévenet, of course, at that point, I was in a better position to become World Champion for the third time. I was able to attack, and only Poulidor was able to follow me, but I managed to beat him in the sprint. That's truly an exceptional memory.

"I also remember the car without a body that was next to us [to capture video]. It was really something special."

Live racing action was captured on stationary cameras that year in Montréal, with a camera secured to a cut-out automobile, not a motorcycle, following the leaders.

On the women's side, seven-time French road champion Geneviève Gambillon won the elite women's race in a two-up sprint as well.

She came into the race as the first French woman to win a world title on the road, doing so in 1972. With a solid career on the track, earning 15 national titles across a nine-year career, Gambillon welcomed another sprint finish two years later in Montréal.

"Just eight days before, I had a bad crash in Gap, resulting in a fractured collarbone and a displaced acromion. So I started the race with my arm in a sling. I had to grab my arm and place it on the handlebars," she recounted in the UCI video.

"Given how demanding the course was, we ended up with just two of us in the breakaway, which made things a bit easier. I was confident I could beat her in the sprint as well.

"It was a really beautiful championship. It was a championship with various twists and turns, the atmosphere was incredible."

After Canada opened the doors to the world's best road cyclists for Road World Championships 52 years ago, the races were held on other continents away from Europe 10 times, including three more editions in North America, USA hosting twice (1986, 2015) and Hamilton, Ontario taking the honours for a second Canadian visit in 2003.

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Rebecca's Private Idaho in southern Idaho, the three-day event featuring 203 miles across 12,645 feet of elevation gain, was all about the queen stage on Sunday, September 13.

On the final day, the standalone 'Fully Loaded Baked Potato' race, with 118 miles and nearly half of the elevation gain, all ears were on event founder Rebecca Rusch for an update on the event, while all eyes were on a new teammate for former WorldTour rider and gravel pioneer Lachlan Morton (EF Education-EasyPost).

Morton completed the course as a rider-coach for the Adventure For All non-profit, helping 20-year-old Christian Loafman finish in 10:54:03. This RPI event was not about winning or the four-hour deficit to men's stage winner Allan Schroeder, or the three-hour deficit to women's winner Britt Mason. It was about completing a challenge.

Loafman, a neurodivergent endurance athlete who has faced significant medical challenges since the age of two, now adds this high-elevation gravel stage race to his list of accomplishments, having completed Unbound Gravel 100 in May with Ian Boswell (Wahoo-Specialized-RCC).

"He was really determined. I was never questioning whether he could get it done. I recognised pretty early on we got a pretty similar mindset, and he committed to it. He was hurting, I've been in that place so I know what that feels like," Morton said about his ride partner.

"The roads are rough, high elevation, the course is always throwing something at you, and then we had a big headwind coming home. So plenty of challenges out there today.

"We had a definite low point on the new loop, on the far end. The headwind was like ripping off the mountain. I could see the body language, he was quiet. So I said we're gonna stop here, take the pack off, sit down, stretch for a sec, eat something and just do a total reset.

"It was wild, he really reset and then took off. From then I'm like we're gonna make it. He was in that [hurt] locker deep for probably six hours. It's not something most people can tolerate. Hard things suck because they're hard."

Rusch steps away from RPI

In 2027, Rusch, a seven-time world champion and celebrated endurance athlete, will step away from the event, which will be rebranded as The Big Lost, taking its name from a 'disappearing' river, the Big Lost River, that moved underground in the area.

"14 years ago, there wasn’t even a gravel culture. There wasn’t the equipment, the community, or the trails I now call home. I was the only one riding up Trail Creek. This weekend, we closed the final chapter of Rebecca’s Private Idaho, and I was overcome. Not with sadness, but with pride, for what we built together.

"So yes, this is the last RPI. But it’s a chapter, not the end of the book. The race lives on as The Big Lost, under new leadership, on the same trails you love," Rusch posted on social media, saying she would now focus on coaching and her podcast, What's the Rusch.

Sidney McGill and Rhett Bates win Canmore Cross

Former two-time U23 Canadian national champion Sidney McGill and 19-year-old rising Canadian talent Rhett Bates won the elite C2 races on Saturday at Canmore Cross in Alberta, the North American opener for the 2026-2027 cyclocross season.

McGill dominated the women's field in a time of 53:30, with USA's Amelia Shea finishing second, a little more than three minutes back, and Christiane Bilodeau another minute later for third.

Bates needed a strong kick at the end to distance USA's Ben Frederick, who was seven seconds off the winning time of 1:00:33. First-year U23 US rider Jack Billowitz completed the podium, holding off Mark Fagnan of Canada.

The upcoming weekend features the start of six UCI races that comprise the USCX series, one C1 and one C2 at each of the trio of events beginning with Rochester Cyclocross on September 19-20. Virginia's Blue Ridge GO Cross follows on September 26-27 and the series concludes with Charm City Cross on October 3-4.

Marles Mejías and Cade Bickmore best in sprint finishes at Bucks County Classic

Marles Mejías (Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28) and Cade Bickmore (Team Cadence Cyclery pb Waldo Racing) won elite titles at Bucks County Classic in Doylestown, Pennsylvania on Sunday.

Now in its 22nd edition, the Bucks County Classic marks the traditional conclusion for criterium racing in the US. Early rain left the 1.4-mile, eight-corner course slippery for the Penn Medicine Doylestown Health Pro Women race, which saw a large crash on lap three split the field. From there, most of the favourites rode in a 16-rider front group which contested a final-lap sprint.

Last year's runner-up and 2024 winner Mejías took the lead on the final uphill straightaway and saw only daylight for the victory. 2023 winner Skylar Schneider (L39ION of Los Angeles) could not get around the Cuban rider and settled for second. WorldTour rider Barbara Guarischi (SD Worx-ProTime) swept past Arrielle Verhaaren (Automatic Racing) to grab the final podium spot.

“I love this race and I decided at the last minute to go, and I’m so happy I did,” said Marlies, who was joined by her family. “The race was really hard and the group got smaller, but I felt strong. I love an uphill power sprint, so when we came into the finish I knew I had a good chance. It was a really special win.”

It was a different scenario for the Thompson Pro Men’s race, with a group of five riders lapping the field with 11 circuits to go. Bickmore, Michael Reidenbach (Total Civil Construction), Daniel Uhranowsky (Visit Pittsburgh) and Kelly Benefits Cycling duo Julien Ruhe and Dillon Lee were all able to reconnect with other teammates to position for the charge to the line.

Using pulls on the final two laps from Sam Smith and Danny Summerhill, Bickmore edged Ruhe for the victory. Dillon then gave Kelly Benefits two riders on the podium with Lee riding solo for third. Reidenbach was fourth and Uhranowsky fifth.

For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You'll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Romy Kasper and Tobias Mørch Kongstad won Falling Leaves on Saturday, a UCI Gravel World Series race which will next year host the UEC European Championships across two days of racing on Saturday July 31 and Sunday August 1.

Kasper (PAS Racing) won a tight elite women's race after fending off Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM) in the finale, beating the Australian by four seconds. Local rider Elisa Serné finished in third place.

"I really enjoyed it. It's a super nice course - a bit of everything," Kasper said afterwards.

In the men's race, Kongstad topped a PAS Racing 1-2 ahead of Rasmus Bøgh Wallin after a long solo breakaway. Estonian Riko Tammepuu (UN Cycling Team) was third.

"It was a long day out there," Kongstad said. "The tactic today was to be in the front. Sometimes it plays out in the correct way and today I was lucky."

The 175km finish race takes riders through the Salpausselkä UNESCO Geopark. After leaving from Pajulahti the first 50km takes place on wider scenic roads and through forested sections, then it is onto what organisers describe as a "rollercoaster" with no long climbs but also no flat to be seen. After that is the 35km northern loop, with a mix of dual track rods and hardpack gravel deep in the forests. At Vuolenkoski the race then heads south to return to the Pajulahti start/finish line of the course which is 87% gravel.

The race was one of the late season qualifiers for the UCI Gravel World Championships, which is being held in Nannup, Western Australia on October 10 and 11.

After two full seasons with Netcompany Ineos, three-time USPro time trial national champion Artem Shmidt makes a move to NSN Cycling in 2027. The 22-year-old rising talent will feature in the Classics and stage racing for his new outfit on a three-year commitment.

The New York native displayed versatility this year with his first professional win at Classique Dunkerque, ninth overall in the 4 Jours de Dunkerque and a top-10 finish on a hilly final stage at the Tour of Britain Men.

His victory at the 1.Pro race in France on a rainy May edition saw him make an aggressive solo move to disrupt an expected battle of sprinters. His power, combined with tactical acumen, cast a sharp light on his growing versatility.

“Artem Shmidt is one of the most exciting talents to come out of the US in recent years, and we believe he represents a rider profile we don’t currently have in the team,” said Kjell Carlstrom, NSN's general manager, in a press release Friday.

“Artem already has some very clear qualities, particularly in the time trial, but what excites us is how much more he can develop over the next three seasons. He only has two seasons in the WorldTour to his name, and already he has shown great potential, so a big objective for us is to continue facilitating that development and see just how far he can go in one-day and stage races."

Shmidt has developed from his junior years with LUX Cycling and Hot Tubes Development for two years on the Continental level with Hagens Berman Jayco. He was always comfortable and strong on a time trial bike, winning his first USPro title in the men's U23 ITT in 2024, then sweeping the elite title the next two years.

A move to NSN is now an opportunity for Shmidt to develop for stage racing, his goal to earn a spot for a Grand Tour appearance, which would be his first.

“In terms of my development in road racing, I believe NSN is the perfect team for me to develop an aggressive and opportunistic racing style and really sharpen those characteristics I have shown as a rider. My big objectives will naturally be the time trials and Spring Classics, but I would love to do my first Grand Tour," Shmidt said in the NSN announcement about his new contract.

"There were many things that stood out to me about NSN Cycling Team. The professionalism and the way the team came across in our meetings were important, but what really made an impact was the culture. The English-speaking environment and the atmosphere in the team were big factors for me, and the racing style is more my type of beat.

"Being up the road, attacking, and on that front foot is the mentality that we share.”

Shmidt will compete at Grands Prix Cyclistes Québec et Montréal for Netcompany Ineos and follow the Canadian doubleheader by representing Team USA at UCI Road World Championships in Montréal, riding in the elite men's time trial and road race.

For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You'll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

In four days, Keegan Swenson lines up with an eight-rider US team to defend his title at the UCI Mountain Bike Elite Marathon World Championships.

After Saturday's contest in the Italian Dolomites, Swenson confirmed to Cyclingnews that he has added the lengthy travel to Western Australia for the UCI Gravel World Championships on October 11 to his schedule.

Still to be confirmed as a wildcard by Team USA, Swenson would modify his appearances for the Life Time Grand Prix series, racing Chequamegon MTB in Wisconsin one week after UCI MTB Marathon Worlds and Big Sugar Gravel in Arkansas one week after UCI Gravel Worlds.

A second trip to the Worlds for gravel would mean he has to miss Little Sugar MTB, but this can count as a 'drop race'. Each athlete in the invitation-only field must start five of the six races to be eligible for a share of the $350,000 prize purse, split evenly between top 10 women and top 10 men. It's a risk he'll take, as missing a start at either Chequamegon or Big Sugar would take him off the leaderboard completely.

Swenson has command of the elite men's rankings in the Life Time Grand Prix with half of the races still to go. The Utah native rolled off three consecutive Grand Prix titles before going fourth last year. He has a double-digit points lead over series challengers Bradyn Lange, Matt Beers and Brendan Johnston after winning Leadville Trail 100 MTB for a record-tying sixth time in July.

A trip to Primiero San Martino di Castrozza in Trentino to retain the title in the MTB marathon discipline had been a clear target; after all, he wore the rainbow stripes to victory in Leadville. There is also prize money for the top 3, and €5,000 for the elite winners.

Last year's XCM runner-up was Italian Samuele Porro, who finished just 26 seconds behind the US winner. The Italian squad will be hard to hold off, as they bring 21 riders to the start of the elite men's race.

Other contenders coming from the Life Time Grand Prix are Beers of South Africa, Andreas Seewald of Germany, Andrew L'Esperance of Canada and US riders Lange and Cole Paton.

Marathon Worlds will follow the same routes as used by the acclaimed Italian mountain bike race Mythos Primiero Dolomiti. Elite fields will compete on September 12 across 95.2km, with 4,000 metres of elevation gain. Two hors categorie climbs with gradients reaching over 12% pack a punch in the final 25km.

The XCM Worlds have been held since 2009, with the first winners from USA sweeping the elite podiums last year, Swenson going solo for the men and Kate Courtney also winning solo for the women. Courtney has since signed with FDJ United-SUEZ and will compete in Italy in defence of her world title.

Elite men start at 9:00 a.m. local time on Saturday, with elite women on course 30 minutes later.

The UCI MTB World Championships for cross-country, downhill and E-XC were held August 26-30 in Val di Sole, Italy.

For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You'll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

L39ION of Los Angeles duo Skylar Schneider and Justin Williams sealed overall titles for the American Criterium Cup on Monday in St. Louis, Missouri, both finishing in the top 10 at the Giro Della Montagna one-day race.

Both elite fields provided exciting sprint finishes and first-time winners, WorldTour rider Barbara Guarischi (SD Worx-Protime) exploding past series favourites to win the sixth and final round of the series in the women's race, while Preston Eye (Clif Family Drifters) was the best in the men's sprint finish.

The St. Louis race, part of the long-standing Gateway Cup, provided the final round of the six-race series, with a hilly route and downhill sprint.

In the women's race, Claudia Marcks (Pedla Racing) used an effort in a two-rider breakaway with Holly Breck (L39ION of Los Angeles) to grab enough points in the Sprint Prime classification to move into the green jersey, which had been on Breck's shoulders. The duo created a gap that reached 35 seconds, but could not do more.

A consistent pattern of attacks kept the second half of the race interesting for the large crowds. Race winner Guarischi gave it a go with nine laps to go to check out the headwind at the finish to see what was possible for the final lap. And it all came down to the final lap.

HigherDOSE | Renova set the pace on a final pass of The Hill, Marcks was tucked in third wheel, while ACC individual leader Skylar Schneider was even further back.

Kendall Ryan (Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing) had clear sight of the finish line as she accelerated, but with 50 metres to go, Barbara Guarischi (SD Worx-Protime) pushed to the front for the win.

Ryan held for second, while Marlies Mejias Garcia (Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY28) rounded out the podium in third. Skylar Schneider beat Marcks for fourth, earning more than enough points to seal the overall title in the American Crit Cup.

“I tried to position myself as best I could in the last two corners, and then I waited because I knew with the headwind it was best to stay covered as much as I can," the WorldTour rider said after the victory on the American Criterium Cup live stream.

“I was never really here to race crits, so really that’s my first time. I am a really good friend of Skylar, and she was in my team last year. So I said, 'Do you mind if I come and we race together?' She said it was super cool and I am welcome in the US."

The traditional four-corner course started and finished at the intersection of Marconi and Wilson avenues. The back side of the 1.7km course featured a punchy 200-metre climb that led to a quick succession of corners three and four, and this year also moved riders from a significant tailwind to a headwind for the final 300 metres.

A trio of riders in the men's race - Dylan Fluckiger (Velovit Elite), Clif Family Drifters' Christian Corsello and Tyler Williams (L39ION of Los Angeles) - used that tailwind to help them get away from the peloton for the first 50 minutes of the 67-minute contest. While top points in the Sprint Prime moved Fluckiger to second overall in that competition, he could not overcome a substantial lead retained by Owen Gillott (Chaney Windows and Doors Big Shark p/b Pastaria).

The catch of the trio was made with seven laps to go, most of the work done by Gillott. Attacks flew, and failed across the next six circuits with the tailwind providing the push up 'the hill'. On the final approach to the final two turns, L39ION of Los Angeles and Cadence Cyclery p/b Waldo Racing took turns at the front to position their top sprinters, ACC overall leader Justin Williams for L39ION and Fetzer for Cadence.

From the final corner, Dan Holloway (Rollers) surged to the front, but was passed by Fetzer. In the blink of an eye, it was Eye who jumped next and edged Fetzer by a tyre width. Brown, who was second at Chicago Grit, completed the podium in third. Justin Williams finished eighth, which confirmed the ACC overall title.

"So much of my family is here, my family is from St. Louis, and it just means the world. I’ve been here since I was a junior, and today was finally my day,” said an emotional Eye in his post-race interview.

The 22-year-old race winner was eighth at his hometown race last year. This year's victory was significant as it moved him from fourth to second overall in the ACC men's individual standings. Lucas Bourgoyne (Cadence Cyclery pb Waldo Racing) finished 11th in St. Louis and left with third overall in the ACC. Bourgoyne had missed the Salt Lake Criterium three weeks ago when he had surgery for appendicitis.

The final round of the American Criterium Cup was also part of a four-day omnium competition for the Bommarito Audi West County Gateway Cup, a set of criteriums on Labor Day weekend now in a 40th edition. Skylar Schneider won the elite women's omnium, while Fetzer used two wins to take the four-day title.

Guarischi competed at all four days of racing that comprised the Gateway Cup on a US holiday, coming away with one victory and a fourth place.

For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You'll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Giro Della Montagna race results

American Criterium Cup final standings

Visma-Lease a Bike have announced the signing of Unbound Gravel 100 winner Kylee Hanel on a stagiaire contract for two upcoming races in Brittany.

The 20-year-old American won both the elite and under-23 categories in Emporia, Kansas, back in May, beating Samantha Johnson by 2:31 in the 100-mile race.

Hanel has experience racing in Europe, having raced several Belgian kermesses last year. This year, she won the youth classification at the Tour of Gila Women, closing out the week with a win on the final stage in Pinos Altos. She's also the US under-23 time trial champion and leader of the gravel Life Time under-23 competition.

Hanel, who hails from Oregon, will join Visma-Lease a Bike for this weekend's races, the Tout commence en Finistère and the Pointe du Raz.

"We are always looking for talented riders, and not only within the traditional road cycling world. Kylee caught our attention through her impressive performances," said Visma-Lease a Bike manager Rutger Tijssen.

"She has shown that she has a lot of potential, and we are curious to see how she can translate those qualities to the road. We see this as a great opportunity for her to gain experience with our team and for us to get to know her better as a rider."

Hanel has been racing with the US club team Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment as the youngest rider in the team, which also includes Lauren Stephens, winner of the Redlands Bicycle Classic and Tour of the Gila Women.

Back in August, Hanel said that she's learned a lot from racing alongside Stephens, who has been racing in the pro peloton in the US and Europe for well over a decade.

"I have learned so much from her. I've not only learned positioning, bike handling skills, and teamwork from her, but the most important thing I learned from her is humility," she said.

"She knows it's a blessing to be racing and is appreciative of the fact that she gets to go out and race. She doesn't look at the world like it owes her something, which I admire a lot about her."

It remains to be seen how Hanel will fare in her time with Visma-Lease a Bike, and whether the move will be made permanent beyond this stagiaireship. Later this month, she'll represent the USA at the Road World Championships in Canada, taking part in the under-23 time trial and road race for the first time.

For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You'll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Modern Adventure Pro Cycling have released an update on Ezra Caudell's condition after the US racer crashed hard at the Philadelphia Cycling Classic.

Caudell was involved in a crash early in Sunday's race, colliding with Lotto-Intermarché rider Milan Menten. He was knocked unconscious in the accident, according to a report by The Philadelphia Enquirer.

The 19-year-old's team have now given details on his condition in a statement released on Tuesday night.

"Ezra remains hospitalized and is actively receiving care for multi-system trauma he sustained as a result of his crash at the Philadelphia Cycling Classic," the statement read.

"He has an incredible team working diligently and family at his bedside. We are grateful for the thoughts and ongoing outpouring of support."

On Monday, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker thanked first responders at the scene, noting that both Caudell and Menten were taken to hospitals after the crash.

"We are also closely monitoring two cyclists from the men’s race who were injured and required treatment at local hospitals," she said, according to Patch Philadelphia.

"City first responders, including our Fire Department, on-site medical personnel, and my leadership team responded immediately to the incident, and I am grateful for their service. My team and I are at the hospital now."

Lotto-Intermarché have yet to release a statement on Milan Menten's condition.

Caudell, who turns 20 on September 8, scored top 10s in three USPro Road Championships races in June, including fourth in the U23 road race and one day later went seventh in the elite men's road race. His teammate Ben Oliver finished seventh on Sunday in the Philadelphia race.

Tim Torn Teutenberg (Lidl-Trek) eventually won the men's race in a three-man sprint against Robert Donaldson (Jayco-AlUla) and Jonas Rutsch (Lotto-Intermarché), while Chiara Consonni (Canyon-SRAM) beat Alexandra Volstad (EF Education-Oatly) to the line in a seven-rider sprint to win the women's race.

For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You'll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Two-time mountain bike world champion Kate Courtney continues her hit-parade season with a debut at the UCI Road World Championships for Team USA, taking place in Montréal, Canada, September 20-27.

Courtney earned her spot with a victory in her first appearance at the elite women's US Pro road race championships. She then moved to an off-road campaign that included missing the defence of her Leadville Trail 100 MTB title, and signed a multi-year contract with FDJ United-SUEZ.

Former US road champion Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) returns to the lineup after missing last year's World Championships due to an injury suffered in the Tour de France Femmes. She is the only elite woman slated to ride both the time trial and the road race.

Veteran Lauren Stephens (Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment)) makes her 10th appearance for Team USA and Alexis Magner (EF Education-Oatly) returns for a sixth time in her career to the Worlds. Three other elite women will compete for the first time: Grace Arlandson (Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment), Natalie Quinn (Mayenne Pro Cycling) and Taylor Knibb, a two-time US Pro time trial champion.

Winning the US Pro road title for a third time, Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) leads the elite men's roster that includes a total of eight riders, all of whom are part of WorldTour or ProTeam squads. EF Education-EasyPost teammates Neilson Powless and Sean Quinn join Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), Kevin Vermaerke (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Larry Warbasse (Tudor Pro) for the road race. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Artem Shmidt (Netcompany Ineos) will compete in both the road race and time trial for elite men, the 22-year-old Shmidt having won the US Pro elite title in the ITT in June.

The seven elite women will be joined by nine riders competing in the U23 and junior divisions for Team USA. Among that group are four riders with national titles in 2026 - U23 road race winner Katherine Sarkisov (CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group), U23 time trial winner Kylee Hanel (Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment), junior women's road race winner Sophia Wellmeier (Team California Academy) and Liliana Edwards (CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group).

The men's roster includes 18 total riders, 10 competing in the U23 and junior divisions. The four riders who won US national titles in June are part of this group - U23 road race winner Ashlin Barry (Visma-Lease a Bike Development), U23 ITT winner Kade Kreikemeier (Meridian Racing), junior men's road race winner Enzo Hincapie (Grenke - Auto Eder) and junior men's ITT winner Kashus Adamski (Hot Tubes Cycling).

Racing in downtown Montreal begins with the elite time trial races on Sunday, September 20, the women setting off at 9:00 EDT and the men at 12:45 EDT. The U23 fields competed in races against the clock on September 21, with mixed relay and junior categories competing on September 22. After an open day on Wednesday, competition resumes from September 24-27 for road races.

For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You'll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Team USA roster for 2026 UCI Road World Championships

Elite women

• Grace Arlandson (Aegis X Leaders of Enchantment) – Road Race
• Kate Courtney (FDJ United-Suez) – Road Race
• Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) – Road Race, Time Trial
• Taylor Knibb – Time Trial
• Alexis Magner (EF Education-Oatly) – Road Race
• Natalie Quinn (Mayenne Pro Cycling) – Road Race
• Lauren Stephens (Aegis X Leaders of Enchantment) – Road Race

Elite men

• Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease A Bike) – Road Race
• Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) – Road Race, Time Trial
• Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) – Road Race
• Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost) – Road Race
• Artem Shmidt (Netcompany Ineos) – Road Race, Time Trial
• Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) – Road Race
• Kevin Vermaerke ( UAE Team Emirates-XRG) – Road Race
• Larry Warbasse (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – Road Race

U23 women

• Mia Aseltine (Comp Edge Racing) – Road Race
• Lidia Cusack (Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team) – Road Race, Time Trial
• Kylee Hanel (Aegis X Leaders of Enchantment) – Road Race, Time Trial
• Alyssa Sarkisov (CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group) – Road Race
• Katherine Sarkisov (CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group – Road Race

U23 men

• Ashlin Barry (Visma-Lease a Bike Development) – Road Race, Time Trial
• Nathan Cusack (EF Education-Aevolo) – Road Race
• Kade Kreikemeier (Meridian Racing) – Road Race, Time Trial
• Marcis Shelton (Comp Edge Rading) – Road Race
• Gavin Sherry (EF Education-Aevolo) – Road Race

Junior women

• Liliana Edwards (CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group) – Road Race, Time Trial
• Emma Jimenez Palos (City Bikes) – Road Race, Time Trial
• Sofia Tripcevich (Team California Academy) – Road Race
• Sophia Wellmeier (Team California Academy) – Road Race

Junior men

• Kashus Adamski (Hot Tubes Cycling) – Road Race, Time Trial
• Sylvan Garrelts (Hot Tubes Cycling) – Road Race
• Enzo Hincapie (Grenke - Auto Eder) – Road Race, Time Trial
• Cormac Nagle (Hot Tubes Cycling) – Road Race
• Rowan Nistal ( Bear National Team) – Road Race

The banner year for 20-year-old Ella Sabo (Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY28) kept on rolling Sunday with a surprising podium finish at the Philadelphia Cycling Classic p/b AmeriGas. She exhibited her maturity and "multi-faceted" racing skills to be part of a chasing group which caught a late breakaway and saved enough in the tank across three hilly circuits of Lemon Hill to sprint for third.

While two Women's WorldTour riders reached the finish line at Ben Franklin Parkway just a bike length sooner - Chiara Consonni (Canyon-SRAM) winning and Alexandra Volstad (EF Education-Oatly) taking second - Sabo secured her best finish at a UCI one-day race. From the bunch sprint, she outpaced compatriot Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) and three other WorldTour riders.

Her Continental team was one of four squads with only four riders at the race, and they had to start minus Marlies Mejías due to sickness. So Sabo had only Olivia Cummins, Sofía Arreola, and Kenna Pfeiffer for support, while other teams brought six riders each.

"Coming into this week, we had to kind of shift gears pretty last minute with Marlies not feeling well, unfortunately, and so a bit of a last-minute change, and so it was a little stressful, I'll be honest, going into the race," Sabo told media, including Cyclingnews, at the finish.

"I mean, it's unreal. I feel like I'm still trying to soak it all in. I'm pinching myself."

The California native came into the restored Philly Classic, which had not been contested for the past 10 years, without personal knowledge of the tricky course which included multiple passes of the 17% gradient of the Manayunk Wall. However, she had weapons based on experience from team staff - Shelley Olds, who was twice on the podium when the race was the Liberty Classic, and Giana Chilcott (nee Roberge), who directed the Saturn team to wins at the race. Also, Arreola most recently raced at the 2016 edition.

"She was like, it'll be a hard race, these girls want it," Sabo said about advice from Arreola. "They've been racing a different style of race that we're used to here in the U.S. We knew it was going to be aggressive, and we knew we were just going to have to be smart with what moves we followed."

Arreola had also told her teammates about the tough climb in the Manayunk neighbourhood, on the far side of the Philadelphia circuit with the tough pitch from the Schuylkill river.

"I had been working in training, doing like two and a half minute efforts, specifically for that climb. So going into it, knowing I had put in the work in preparation to get myself up and over it, and hopefully contest a sprint. It was really cool to [see it] pay off.

"Having a squad of four versus some of these squads of six, it was going to be a challenge. So she [Arreola] made sure that we all soaked it in - just take in the atmosphere that is the Philly Cycling Classic, enjoy the environment.

"That 'Wall', so many people cheering. It was so insane, so cool."

Last year, Sabo won the USPro U23 national championship in the road race and this year she took the stars-and-stripes jersey in the U23 criterium national championship. And just prior to racing in Philadelphia, she came away from her first USA Cycling Elite Track Championships event with three gold medals - two in U23 individual races and one in the elite Women's Team Pursuit.

The stakes were bigger for Sunday's international contest. A podium may have been a surprise to many people, but not to Nicola Cranmer, her team's executive director.

"In Philadelphia, Ella raced with tremendous patience. We only had four riders, and they did everything they could to keep her safe and in position until the final lap. From there, she was able to trust her instincts and race to the finish. She has a powerful sprint, and when the opportunity came, she really stepped up," Cranmer told Cyclingnews.

"Ella joined our team as a junior, and development takes patience. We’ve watched her make steady progress over the past few years, but this season she really came into her own with another level of confidence and maturity.

"Ella will remain with the team next year, and we’re really excited to see what she can do with even more opportunities."

For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You'll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

The Philadelphia Cycling Classic returns after a decade off the North American calendar and Cyclingnews is on the ground for the refreshed edition.

Watch the elite women's race from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EDT and the men's from noon until approximately 4:45 p.m. EDT.

US champion Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) and Olympic champion Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) headline the start lists.

'Philly' was one of the most important races in North America from 1984 until its demise in 2016, serving as the US Pro National Championships for men until USA Cycling created a standalone event in 2006.

The Philadelphia Cycling Classic course runs from Logan Circle along Kelly Drive and the Schuylkill River to the 'Manayunk Wall' - a short but very steep climb kicking up to 16% gradients - before returning via the shorter Lemon Hill.

It's the same route that produced famous champions like Eric Heiden, Petra Rossner, Ina Teutenberg, André Greipel, the only men's two-time winner Kiel Reijnen and, in ancient times, Lance Armstrong.

Cyclingnews will have full coverage from the men's and women's races.

For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You'll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Chad Haga has indicated that his cycling career is over after a heavy crash on his mountain bike left him with multiple injuries.

The 38-year-old US rider has carved out a successful secondary career in gravel since retiring from road cycling at the end of 2023, but recently revealed his plans to hang up his wheels at the end of this season.

That ending has now come prematurely, and without a fitting farewell, as Haga revealed in an emotional social media post on Thursday morning.

"Heartbroken," he wrote alongside a photo of himself in a hospital bed.

"This morning I gave a little mtb jump too much pop and ended my career early."

Haga then listed out the injuries he had sustained, which include damage to both forearms as well as two broken ribs, a collarbone injury, and a collapsed lung.

The radius and the ulna are the two bones that comprise the forearm, and while Haga does not specifically state as such, it is presumed that he suffered a fracture in the top of his left radius and a fracture to his right ulna.

Haga also indicated that he suffered a head impact.

"I'm thankful that my helmet did its job and saved my brain," he wrote, going on to thank the emergency medical technicians who treated him as well as his family and friends.

Haga spent a decade as a pro road racer and won a stage of the Giro d'Italia with the Sunweb team before following the wave of road pros heading into the burgeoning gravel scene in 2024. After a number of solo missions to 'prove that I belong', he bagged a ride with the PAS Racing set-up and went on to finish runner-up at that year's Unbound 200, the biggest race in gravel.

Towards the end of 2024, he suffered a very similar injury to this latest one, breaking the radius and ulna in his right arm in a training ride. At the end of a 2025 campaign in which he went full privateer as a gravel racer, he had surgery to remove a plate in that right forearm.

Haga has continued to race the world's biggest off-road events with a strong line-up of personal sponsors in 2026, but at the start of August he revealed that he would not race on in 2027.

"It was on a sledding day in January of this year when I realised I didn’t want to keep making the sacrifices it takes to perform at the highest level, so this year I’m doing the best I can with the time that I have to train, and I’m going to wrap it up and move onto new adventures," he said in a social media update.

"I’m excited about that. There are just a couple of months left so I’m going to make the most of my last few races."

Haga raced the Leadville Trail MTB event earlier this month, but had not publicly stated which races remained and where he planned to compete for the final time. In any case, that ending has now been taken away.

For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You'll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

This year's course for the Vuelta a España is sort of like an expanding helium balloon, as the peloton goes deeper into the three weeks and further south into Spain, the climbing continues to grow. However, stage 6 delivers a rush of intrigue with gravel making a return on the final climb of a mountain day in northern Valencia.

The Vuelta calls this 177.4km route on August 27 "ambush territory". Canadian climber and three-time Vuelta stage winner Michael Woods calls this "compelling, interesting, high drama", but those superlatives are more for race spectators and television viewers, not the pro riders.

"Like the 2022 Tour or 2024 Tour, with gravel sectors, or the Giro in the past, having a Strade Bianche-style stage [2021], it does introduce a lot more chaos. And from a spectator's perspective, it's awesome. These stages were amazing stages to watch, compelling, interesting, high drama. So I can see why Grand Tours are interested in putting them in," Woods told Cyclingnews.

"I think most riders would prefer them not to be there, particularly if you're in the GC position. Rarely, as a GC rider, are you looking to gain an advantage in those scenarios. You're more just trying not to lose."

Woods will line up for Team Canada at this year's Road World Championships in Montreal, but no longer competes with a full calendar of WorldTour events. Even though he admitted he had an offer to continue with a 16th pro road campaign this year, he instead found his own sponsors for the privateer path.

Two years ago, Woods won a Canadian road race title and a third career stage at the Vuelta a España. He won a stage across five appearances at the Tour de France, finishing the 2025 Tour with Israel-Premier Tech for his 13th Grand Tour appearance, and an injury later in the year led him to retire. But he's still up to speed on the pro peloton and what's coming with a very mountainous Vuelta this year, including a return with some gravel.

"For this route, it's the same when the Vuelta had a gravel section in the Andorra stage [in 2019], where you have to ride a couple of kilometres on it, and it makes it more interesting," he said.

"I actually think it could impact the race because it's a challenging section. But I don't think it will undo anybody because of the gravel. It's so short, and it's uphill.

"The only real thing that's going to change is just how the rider goes up. Technically, like for me, I always disliked it when that [gravel] was introduced because it disadvantaged someone who can stand [to climb]. It's easier to stay seated [to climb on gravel], and that way you don't lose traction with your rear wheel."

Woods has had a mixed bag of results and experiences at his bucket list of global events so far. He has had top 10s at two UCI Gravel World Series races, including second at OG Classique in Quebec. At his debut at Unbound Gravel 200, he suffered a number of crashes, flats and a scratched cornea, which saw him pull out after the 151-mile time check, though going deeper into the 204-mile race than other former WorldTour riders like Paul Voss, Romain Bardet and Thomas De Gendt.

He also crossed the finish line first among elite men at the Canadian Gravel Championships, but that race division, and several others on the longest course, were cancelled due to high temperatures, so he only has the memories that he "suffered like a dog for this" and not an official title.

Most recently, he finished 14th at Leadville Trail 100 MTB. At least he was able to get a Leadville mountain bike race in the books, though he was concerned he had travelled from his home in Andorra to North America for a second time, and his efforts would not count, or there would be no race at all.

"Leadville was such a cool event. I'm really glad I went," Woods said. In his debut at the mountain bike race, he was in the top 15, 111:46 behind winner Keegan Swenson, but also the third-best of the elite men not part of the Life Time Grand Prix.

"Powerline being gone took out some of the technicality of the race and made it a bit less demanding. So yeah, it would have been cool to do the original course, but it's just amazing that they were able to pull it off, considering all the wildfires."

The Vuelta a España introduced gravel for the first time in 2019. That year was notable not just for the gravel, but who won that stage - it was Tadej Pogačar's first Grant Tour victory. He wears the red leader's jersey for the first time in his career in the early days of this year's Vuelta. If he likes to climb while seated, the 3.5km of gravel will pose no obstacle just before the summit of the Cat.1 Puerto El Bartolo, with under 20km for the finish.

"Guys are going to obviously be aware of it. There's going to be for sure extra protocols around flats," Woods warned.

"It's really not going to impact the race that much. This one's going to be pretty insignificant in the sense of its location. It isn't the final."

For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You'll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Three-time USPro road champion Megan Guarnier retired after 2018 but made a surprise return to racing earlier this year at USPro Road National Championships and finished 11th in the road race. She then continued director duties, staying stateside while Technical Director Tim Mitchell handled any international races for the CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Firm team.

The two planned to co-manage the next big UCI race in the US, the Philadelphia Cycling Classic on August 30. Now Guarnier has found her way from a seat in a team car to the saddle of a team bike, headed back to a race she won in 2016, which was the last year for the "Philly Classic". The race is back and so is Guarnier.

"We have a few riders that will be racing Giro della Toscana Femminile with the US National Team and unfortunately, one of our riders, who was racing incredibly strong in Europe, had a season ending injury. We feel that it is important to show our support of the return of the Philly Cycling Classic with full representation from our CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group team," Guarnier told Cyclingnews.

The four-day Giro della Toscana Femminile in Italy takes place August 27-30, and the roster was not confirmed yet for Team USA, but Guarnier had many fewer riders she could keep in the US for the Philadelphia contest.

What does that mean really? It's not a stunt, she wanted a full squad. And she said it was a unique way to help her young riders navigate the 14.4-mile circuit.

"It will be exciting for me to be back in the peloton, allowing a first-hand account of the race in real time, as opposed to being in the driver's seat and hearing it over the radio.

"In this scenario, we can make quick decisions and execute confidently, while drawing on my experience from my time in the peloton. As I'm working with our riders on the road, we will also have one of the team directors, Tim Mitchell, in the car who has a great feel for racing dynamics."

The US domestic elite squad brings USPro U23 silver medalist in the time trial and road race Jorja Bond and Ella Brenneman, who had top-10s in the same U23 races. There are also Lizzie Gunsalus, Sabrina Hayes and Elizabeth Grier, with the 41-year-old veteran Guarnier. It is a young squad, with the five teammates averaging half the age of their 'boss', most of them not even out of grade school when Guarnier took the victory in Philadelphia 10 years ago.

Absent from the CCB lineup is USPro women's U23 criterium silver medalist Lyllie Sonneman, who broke her elbow and wrist while racing on a block of Belgian kermesees. She finished runner-up in two races and won GP Désire Goossens-Drongen.

"She was having such a good Euro block! She's super tough though," Guarnier said.

At the pinnacle of her 10-year career in 2016, Guarnier won GC titles at the women's Giro d'Italia and Tour of California to secure the first-ever Women's WorldTour title, and in between she soared across 'Manayunk Wall' for the victory. That final year, the women's race and men's race both ended at the top of the tough 17% gradient in the Manayunk neighbourhood located eight miles away from downtown Philadelphia.

This year's course will take in the famous Manayunk climb again, but on the original course used from 1985 to 2012 for the men and the first 19 years for the women's race, known as The Liberty Classic. The route will begin and end near Logan Circle and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in downtown Philadelphia with multiple passes of the hilly circuit.

For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You'll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

The chance to ride a UCI Road World Championships in front of a home crowd is alone a rare one, but the chance that Magdeleine Vallieres has to do it with race number one pinned on the back of her jersey takes the journey to a whole new level in Montréal.

"Just getting to do the World Championships at home is already a dream, but defending my title is an even bigger one," world champion Vallieres told reporters at a media conference as the build towards the September 20 to 27 event picked up pace. "So yeah, right after [the announcement] it’s been in my head from the start. From the beginning, even before the Worlds, I was already thinking about it."

Then in Kigali the Canadian fans were given a focal point and proven contender for the third visit of the Road World Championships to their shores, after Vallieres claimed the nation's first elite title in the road race in Kigali last year. It was a second career win and instantly shot the rider from a position as a relative unknown to a key draw for the crowds and cameras as she moved through the peloton in the rainbow jersey and her timing in doing it was perfect.

"It’s the kind of thing that happens once in a lifetime – to be able to defend your title at home," said Vallieres as she looked ahead to the return of the Road World Championships to Canada for the first time since 2003. "So I’m trying to take it more as energy than pressure, and just to go with how it comes, to go all‑in and give everything. That’s my goal."

"I think it's a lot more excitement than pressure at the moment. I mean, I feel insanely lucky. It's not only luck winning it last year, it's a lot of hard work. I mean, I'm feeling already quite lucky to have had the jersey for one year, so just being able to be at home to defend it is already like something quite big."

What's more, the 25-year-old, is setting forth to defend her title with a strong team on a course that could also suit her. She won on punchy terrain in 2025, and she will be presented with more in 2026 as the 180km race with 2,502m of elevation gain, facing the Camillien-Houde climb on the eight laps of the 13.4km finishing circuit.

"The climb isn’t too long, it’s a lot of repetitions of a punch. Normally with more and more fatigue, I usually fatigue a bit less than the others, so that can be good for me," said Vallieres.

"I mean, it always depends on how the race is ridden and the risks you take and everything. So we’ll make sure that the Canadian team rides it in a way that plays to our advantage."

Even though the course may hold some similarities to the one Vallieres won on, the circumstances certainly do not. The current world champion no longer has any chance of being able to fly under the radar.

"For sure, the strategy will be a bit different. I came in last year as an underdog, and this year, for sure I will be looked at a lot more," said Vallieres.

"I will still need to look at opportunities a bit like I did last year. I won't be let go as much. Last year it was a strong move, with a lot of strong riders in my group. I'm hoping for something a bit similar, getting away. And if not, just being aggressive is my goal. I want to give myself the best chance to defend the title."

Typically exuberant, with a fast pace on and off the bike, Lucas Bourgoyne (Cadence Cyclery p/b Waldo Racing) was resting this week after an emergency appendectomy two weeks ago.

He had traveled to Florida to visit a sponsor for the elite men's team he founded this season and intended to travel to Omaha, Nebraska to race the ONE Cycling Series on August 8-9. Instead, he ended up in hospital having surgery.

"It happened the day I got into Naples, Florida, and then it went nuclear. I stayed in Naples for three days to kind of give my body some rest before I flew home to Texas. Yeah, I think my season's over," Bourgoyne told Cyclingnews by telephone 12 days after surgery.

The former USPro criterium national champion was set to join his team for two days of a new ONE Cycling Series of races in Omaha, Nebraska. He made a quick flight to Florida, but it turned into a five-day ordeal instead.

"It was Thursday. I had dinner, and I was sick that night. That same night it all kind of blew up. I couldn't fall asleep and I woke up groaning at four a.m., crawled my way over to the shower. I passed out for like an hour in the shower," he recounted.

"I crawled my way back to the bed, and then slept till 1 p.m. And then I wake up, my buddy's there, and I'm like 'I can't pick my leg up. I think we should go to the hospital just to check'. Sure enough, I have appendicitis and I had to go immediately into surgery that day.

"I'm at this two-week window now and by week four I should start being able to just put some miles in. So maybe Gateway Cup, maybe Bucks County [for racing], maybe it's a season wrap for me."

He'd like to make an appearance at both the Gateway Cup four-day series in St. Louis, Missouri and the Bucks County Classic in Doylestown, Pennsylvania as he won overall titles at both events last year. In fact, he won many of the top North American one-day races in 2025, including Gastown Grand Prix, Utah Crits, Tour of Somerville and the USPro elite men's Criterium National Championship.

He confirmed major investors and launched an innovative criterium crusade for the 2026 season, signing veteran riders to complement himself and Luke Fetzer, last year's USPro U23 criterium champion. Bourgoyne took a high-profile victory at this year's Athens Twilight Criterium, another Tour of Somerville and Capitol Cup in Washington, DC, but the wins have not been easy to come by as other teams have stepped up and his squad has been injury plagued.

"We've had a lot of injuries amongst our team this year, but it's turned out to be a pretty good year in spite of all those injuries and having to learn how to gel quickly. The boys really started to come on around Chicago, and it wasn't just me putting wins on the board. It makes it easier for the team to win when you have so many threats."

In July at the 10-day Chicago Grit, Cade Bickmore was healthy again and won the overall title. His teammate Fetzer was second overall. Team Cadence is currently second in the team standings and Danny Summerhill second in the sprint classification for the American Criterium Cup, which has one race to go at Gateway Cup on September 3.

Bourgoyne had been two points behind American Criterium Cup individual leader Justin Williams (L39ION of Los Angeles) headed into the Salt Lake Criterium this past weekend, but Williams locked up the title with the victory and Bourgoyne can still finish the year in second place, even though sidelined.

The 25-year-old remained characteristically optimistic for a return for another big year. After all his, teammates took both race wins at ONE Cycling Series without him, Fetzer winning the Aksarben TIRC Criterium and then Bickmore winning Papillion Twilight Criterium the next day.

"We are still working on getting everything dialed and really create the show that I think that this sport can be. This year was a big year, bringing something new to the American road circuit," he said about kicking aside the team van for an 85-foot "mega rig".

The 45-foot recreational vehicle served to house athletes and as a promotional vehicle, while a 36-foot trailer was towed to store bikes and components as well as to serve as a mobile service course.

"People are taking notice and I think 2027 is shaping up to be a pretty spectacular year," said Bourgoyne.

For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You'll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Early rider confirmations began to surface this week for the women's and men's elite fields at the Philadelphia Cycling Classic p/b AmeriGas on August 30, with reigning USPro road race champion Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) and current Canadian road race champion Maggie Coles-Lyster (Human Powered Health) were announced by race organisers to compete in the pair of UCI 1.1 races.

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) and three-time USPro criterium champion Luke Lamperti (EF Education-EasyPost) also headline WorldTour team rosters.

Joining Simmons at Lidl-Trek are 2020 Giro d’Italia winner Tao Geoghegan Hart of Great Britain and Canadian Derek Gee-West, who was fifth overall at this year's Giro d'Italia. Riding alongside Lamperti will be former USPro road race champion Sean Quinn.

In the men's field of 15 teams, there are a total of five WorldTour squads - EF Education EasyPost, Lidl-Trek, Lotto–Intermarché, NSN Cycling Team, Jayco AlUla - plus three ProTeams and seven Continental teams.

Canyon-SRAM joins EF Education-Oatly and Human Powered Health from the Women's WorldTour, with four Continental and 13 elite teams rounding out a 20-team lineup for the women's field.

Two notable members of US women's domestic squads will be Megan Guarnier, who won the last edition of the women's Philadelphia Cycling Classic 10 years ago, and former USPro road champion Lauren Stephens, who was seventh in 2013.

Cyclingnews confirmed Guarnier will return to the 'Philly' race with CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group, and has decided to make the switch from co-director to rider, as there have been recent injuries to members of the roster.

Stephens will line up alongside Emma Langley for the Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment squad. Langley won the USPro road title in 2022, a year after Stephens.

The women’s race begins at 8:30 a.m. EDT on Saturday, August 30, with riders taking on a 14.4-mile (23.1km) circuit four times for a total of 62 miles (100km). The men's race follows at 12:00 p.m. EDT, with the men completing eight circuits for nearly 120 miles (200km) of racing. Elite women and men will share a total prize purse of $150,000, split equally.

Beginning in 1985 for men and then adding a women's race nine years later called The Liberty Classic, the Philadelphia races became a staple for the US calendar. Both races featured the signature 500-metre climb in the Manayunk neighbourhood, the gradient reaching 17% and known as the Manayunk Wall. That climb, and the Lemon Hill section, return for the middle of the course, which begins and ends on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia on a circuit that replicates the original route.

“We’re bringing the stadium to the streets, giving fans a chance to experience elite cycling up close and be part of the action in a way you simply can’t in most other sports," Carlos Rogers, a member of Race Street Partners, which owns the Philadelphia Cycling Classic, said in a recent press release.

Both races will be streamed live on 6abc.com, with special updates throughout the day for local television viewers in the Philadelphia market. Viewers across the US and internationally will also have access to the ABC coverage using paid subscriptions with Hulu and Disney+, according to organisers.

Philadelphia Cycling Classic 2026 women's teams

Women's WorldTour teams

• Canyon-SRAM (GER)
• EF Education-Oatly (USA)
• Human Powered Health (USA)

Continental teams

• Vini Fantini - BePink (ITA)
• PatoBike-BMC (MEX)
• Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28 (USA)
• XDS China (CHN)

Elite teams

• 1KFlips-FTP Racing Jakroo Mixed (USA)
• Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment (USA)
• AUTOMATIC Racing (USA)
• CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group (USA)
• Competitive Edge Racing (USA)
• Cyclery Racing - Abacus Data (CAN)
• Équipe Dynamiks Féminine (CAN)
• Fearless Femme Racing p/b The Beasley Firm (USA)
• HigherDOSE | Renova (USA)
• Kingdom Elite Racing (USA)
• Milton Revolution Women’s U23 Project (CAN)
• Team Winston Salem (USA)
• United Cycling (USA)

Philadelphia Cycling Classic 2026 men's teams

WorldTour teams

• EF Education EasyPost (USA)
• Lidl-Trek (GER)
• Lotto–Intermarché (BEL)
• NSN Cycling Team (SUI)
• Team Jayco AlUla (AUS)

Continental teams

• Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber (ITA)
• Modern Adventure Pro Cycling (USA)
• Team Novo Nordisk (USA)

Elite teams

• APS Pro Cycling by Team Cadence Cyclery (USA)
• Competitive Edge Racing (USA)
• L39ION of Los Angeles (USA)
• Meridian Racing p/b de la Uz (USA)
• Nu Colombia (COL)
• Project Echelon Racing (USA)
• Team Skyline (USA)

For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You'll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.