Kate Courtney, Keegan Swenson, Aaron Gwin headline Team USA for MTB world championships
World cup winners and world champions in the men's and women's fields highlight strong representation from Team USA in the Austrian-hosted event.
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On Thursday USA Cycling announced the roster for the upcoming 2020 UCI mountain bike world championships in Leogang, Austria, held October 5 – 11.
Highlighting the squad is the 2018 world champion and 2019 world cup overall champion, Kate Courtney (Scott/SRAM Racing). She will be joined by four-time national champion Erin Huck (Stages Cycling-Scott), and former collegiate national champion and current VeloNews coaching columnist Hannah Finchamp (Orange Seal Off-Road Team).
The same women have also been named to the USA Cycling Olympic long team, with the addition of Haley Batten (Specialized Factory Racing), who will be racing in the under-23 category.
Jim Miller, USA Cycling’s chief of sport performance, commented on the team’s outlook.
“We’re bringing a highly focused team and a group of medal capable athletes competing against the best in the world. Some of the athletes have done only a handful of races this year, for others, this will be their first of the season.” Miller continued, “We believe we are bringing one of the strongest teams we have ever had. For the cross-country racers, many have their eyes on the Olympic Games in 2021 with this race being a big factor in the qualification process.”
The junior women’s team will be anchored by Madigan Munroe (Trek Factory Racing) who finished third at the 2020 UCI cyclocross world championships earlier this year.
On the men’s side, 2019 mountain bike cross-country national champion Keegan Swenson (Stan’s-Pivot Pro Team p/b Maxxis) will represent Team USA in the men’s elite event, while Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) will represent in the U23 category. One Olympic berth is on offer for the USA men, pitting these two against each other for results which will lead to an Olympic slot. The junior men’s team will include Riley Amos (Bear Development Team) and Bjorn Riley (Bear Development Team) who both hope to better last year’s world championship performances.
In the downhill competition, five-time World Cup overall champion Aaron Gwin (Intense Factory Racing), reigning USA downhill national champion Neko Mulally (Intense Factory Racing), Charlie Harrison (Trek Factory Racing), Dakotah Norton (Unior Devinci Factory Racing), and Luca Shaw (Santa Cruz Syndicate) will be sporting the red, white, and blue jerseys for the men, while Anna Newkirk (SRAM Young Guns Racing) and Mazie Hayden (Defiant Racing) will be racing in the women’s event.
2020 UCI mountain bike world championship Team USA roster
Cross-country elite men:
Keegan Swenson (Park City, Utah; Stan’s-Pivot Pro Team p/b Maxxis)
Cross-country elite women:
Kate Courtney (Kentfield, Calif.; SCOTT/ SRAM Racing)
Hannah Finchamp (Altadena, Calif.; Orange Seal Off-Road Team)
Erin Huck (Boulder, Colo.; Stages Cycling-Scott)
*Lea Davison and Chloe Woodruff were both been nominated to the team, but declined their spots.
Cross-country U23 men:
Christopher Blevins (Durango, Colo.; Specialized Factory Racing)
Cross-country U23 women:
Haley Batten (Park City, Utah; Specialized Factory Racing)
Cross-country junior men:
Riley Amos (Durango, Colo.; Bear Development Team)
Bjorn Riley (Boulder, Colo.; Bear Development Team)
Cross-country junior women:
Ruth Holcomb (Durango, Colo.; Bear Development Team)
Madigan Munroe (Boulder, Colo.; Trek Factory Racing)
Haley Randel (Mill Valley, Calif.; Bear Development Team)
Downhill elite men:
Aaron Gwin (Murietta, Calif.; Intense Factory Racing)
Charlie Harrison (Trabuco Canyon, Calif.; Trek Factory Racing)
Neko Mulally (Pisgah Forest, N.C.; Intense Factory Racing)
Dakotah Norton (Knoxville, Tenn.; Unior Devinci Factory Racing)
Luca Shaw (Hendersonville, N.C.; Santa Cruz Syndicate)
Downhill elite women:
Mazie Hayden (Pittsfield, Vt.; Defiant Racing)
Anna Newkirk (Riehen, Switzerland; SRAM Young Guns Racing)
Downhill junior men:
Austin Dooley (Yucaipa, Calif.; Commencal)
Christopher Grice (Brevard, N.C.; Specialized Factory Racing)
Dante Silva (Chula Vista, Calif.; unattached)
Matthew Sterling (San Jose, Calif.; Giant Factory Off-Road Team)
Downhill junior women:
Ella Erickson (Hayden, Idaho; unattached)
2020 UCI mountain bike world championship schedule
Wednesday, October 7: team relay and e-bike
Thursday, October 8: junior women’s and junior men’s cross-country
Friday, October 9: downhill qualifying and U23 Men’s cross-country
Saturday, October 10: U23 women’s, elite women’s, and elite men’s cross-country
Sunday, October 11: all junior and elite downhill finals