USA Cycling has announced the rosters for the elite women, U23 men, and juniors men and women that will represent Team USA at the 2014 UCI Road World Championships. The world championships take place Sept. 21-28 in Ponferrada, Spain, and the U.S. looks to build off its two bronze medals and ten top-10 finishes of a year ago. The elite men’s roster will be finalized in the coming week. “We are excited about the team that was selected for the UCI World Championships in Ponferrada," said USA Cycling Vice President of Athletics Jim Miller. "These are good, well-balanced teams, but most importantly, when I look at the roster, these teams are made up of fighters. In order to compete in a single-day world championship race, you need a team of athletes that wants to do battle and doesn’t have the word ‘quit’ in its vocabulary."
Elite Women
The elite women’s road race team is comprised of four automatic selections and three discretionary picks.
Earning automatic nominations were Evelyn Stevens (Dennis, Mass./Specialized-lululemon), Shelley Olds (Gilroy, Calif./Ale-Cipollini), Megan Guarnier (Mountain View, Calif./Boels Dolmans Cycling Team) and Alison Powers (Pinecliffe, Colo./UnitedHealthcare). Stevens, 31, and Olds, 34, both qualified by being in the top 20 of the UCI individual rankings, sitting 13th and eighth, respectively. Stevens, who tookfifth in the women’s road race at last year’s world championships, also won the overall title at the 2014 Thuringen Rundfahrt der Frauen. Olds placed third at the Boels Rental Ronde van Drenthe World Cup in March. Guarnier, 29, nabbed an automatic selection by virtue of her second place at the Pan American Continental Road Championships, while Powers, 35, earned her spot by winning the elite women’s road race at the 2014 Volkswagen USA Cycling Professional Road & Time Trial National Championships. Rounding out the women’s elite road race team as discretionary selections are international veterans Mara Abbott (Boulder, Colo./UnitedHealthcare), Carmen Small(Durango, Colo./Specialized-lululemon) and Lauren Hall (Dolores, Colo./Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies). Abbott, 29, is considered one of the best climbers in the world and is a two-time winner of the Giro Rosa. Small, 34, who raced with Abbott, Guarnier and Stevens on last year’s world championship team, is a natural leader with vast experience racing in Europe. Hall, 35, is another strong team rider who has proven she can also finish a race as evident by her win at this year’s Gent-Wevelgem.
The U.S. will also boast three automatic selections in the women’s individual time trial in Ponferrada. Small qualifies after winning the bronze medal at last year’s world championships, Powers earns her spot as U.S. national champion, and Stevens, fourth at worlds last year, notches a spot in the start house after winning the time trial at the 2014 Pan American Continental Road Championships.
U23 Men
The five-man U23 road race team is led by automatic nomination Tanner Putt (Park City, Utah/Bissell Development Team), the reigning U23 road race national champion. Putt, 22, is coming off two top-10 stage finishes at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and a 10th place at the Volta ao Alentejo where he also nabbed the Best Young Rider jersey. Putt will be joined by four discretionary selections: Alexey Vermeulen (Pinckney, Mich./BMC Development Team), Robin Carpenter (Philadelphia, Pa./Hincapie Sportswear Development Team),Logan Owen (Bremerton, Wash./Bissell Development Team) and Tyler Williams (Shafter, Calif./BMC Development Team). Vermeulen, 20, is a good climber who placed 20th at this year’s Tour Alsace. Carpenter, 22, made a name for himself at last month’s USA Pro Challenge when he won the 169-kilometer stage 2 from Aspen to Crested Butte. Owen, 19, is back after narrowly missing the podium at last year’s U23 road race in Italy, where he placed fourth. Williams, 20, placed second at this year’s U23 Paris-Roubaix. Carpenter will pull double duty in the individual time trial where he will be joined by T.J. Eisenhart (Lehi, Utah/BMC Development Team). Eisenhart, 20, automatically qualified for the spot by winning the U23 national championship time trial in July. He also boasts a second place in the prologue time trial at the Giro Ciclistico della Valle d’Aosta Mont Blanc. Juniors Men
The juniors men’s squad includes four automatic nominations and a pair of discretionary selections. Zeke Mostov (San Francisco, Calif./Hagens Berman U23), William Barta (Boise, Idaho/BYRDS (Boise Young Rider Development Squad)), Adrien Costa (Los Altos, Calif./Hagens Berman U23) and Jonny Brown (Covington, Tenn./Hot Tubes Development Cycling Team, Inc.) each earned automatic nominations. Mostov, 18, placed second at the Tour de l’Abitibi Desjardins in July. Barta, 18, has third-place finishes this year at both the Course de la Paix Juniors and at the Tour du Pays de Vaud. Costa, 17, won the Tour du Pays de Vaud, and Brown, 17, is the U.S. national road race champion.
They will be joined by discretionary selections Philip O’Donnell (Suwanee, Ga./Hot Tubes Development Cycling Team, Inc.) and Jack Maddux (Fresno, Calif./Hot Tubes Development Cycling Team, Inc.). O’Donnell, 18, won the King of the Mountains jersey at the Tour du Pays de Vaud where he also placed fourth in the general classification. Maddux, 17, placed third on stage 1 of the Valley of the Sun Stage Race, was second at the Sea Otter Classic Circuit Race, and fourth at the Athens Orthopedic Clinic Twilight Criterium.
Mostov and Costa will also contest the individual time trial for the juniors men as automatic selections. Mostov won the bronze medal at last year’s world championshipswhile Costa is the reigning national time trial champion.
Juniors Women
Janelle Cole (Rockford, Mich./West Michigan Coast Riders), Emma White (Delanson, N.Y./Hot Tubes Development Cycling Team, Inc.) and Madeleine Boutet (Anchorage, Alaska/TWENTY16 Pro Cycling) comprise the juniors women’s team. Cole, 18, is an automatic selection as junior national road race champion. White, 17, and Boutet, 17, finished behind Cole at the junior national road race in second and third place, respectively. Cole and White will also compete in the juniors women’s time trial. White was an automatic selection for the time trial after winning the 17-18 division at the national championships. Cole was runner up to White at the event. 2014 UCI Road World ChampionshipsPonferrada, SpainSept. 21-28 Team USA Roster Elite Women
Mara Abbott (Boulder, Colo./UnitedHealthcare)*Megan Guarnier (Mountain View, Calif./Boels Dolmans Cycling Team)Lauren Hall (Dolores, Colo./Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)*Shelley Olds (Gilroy, Calif./Ale-Cipollini)*Alison Powers (Pinecliffe, Colo./UnitedHealthcare) – competing in road race and time trial*Carmen Small (Durango, Colo./Specialized-lululemon) – competing in road race and time trial*Evelyn Stevens (Dennis, Mass./Specialized-lululemon) – competing in road race and time trial U23 Men
Robin Carpenter (Philadelphia, Pa./Hincapie Sportswear Development Team) – competing in road race and time trial*T.J. Eisenhart (Lehi, Utah/BMC Development Team) – competing in time trial onlyLogan Owen (Bremerton, Wash./Bissell Development Team)*Tanner Putt (Park City, Utah/Bissell Development Team)Alexey Vermeulen (Pinckney, Mich./BMC Development Team)Tyler Williams (Shafter, Calif./BMC Development Team) Juniors Men
*William Barta (Boise, Idaho/BYRDS (Boise Young Rider Development Squad))*Jonny Brown (Covington, Tenn./Hot Tubes Development Cycling Team, Inc.)*Adrien Costa (Los Altos, Calif./Hagens Berman U23) – competing in road race and time trialJack Maddux (Fresno, Calif./Hot Tubes Development Cycling Team, Inc.)Philip O’Donnell (Suwanee, Ga./Hot Tubes Development Cycling Team, Inc.)*Zeke Mostov (San Francisco, Calif./Hagens Berman U23) – competing in road race and time trial Juniors Women
Madeleine Boutet (Anchorage, Alaska/TWENTY16 Pro Cycling)*Janelle Cole (Rockford, Mich./West Michigan Coast Riders) – competing in road race and time trial*Emma White (Delanson, N.Y./Hot Tubes Development Cycling Team, Inc.) – competing in road race and time trial
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