USA Cycling names roster of 22 for Cyclo-cross Worlds

Katie Compton is shown here with a silver medal after the most recent World Cup in Rome.
Colorado Springs, Colo. (January 14, 2013) -- USA Cycling announced today the 22 riders named to its roster of elite, U23, and juniors athletes that will represent the United States at the 2013 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, Feb. 2-3 in Louisville, Ky.

ELITE WOMEN

Always a contender for the win in any major competition, Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo./Trek Cyclocross Collective) will lead the elite women’s squad in Louisville. Compton earned her automatic nomination to the team after clinching the overall 2012-2013 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup win with one race remaining on Jan. 20. Compton won four rounds of the World Cup while collecting silver medals in three of the rounds. She also won her ninth consecutive national title in the elite women’s race at the USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships yesterday.

Kaitlin Antonneau (Racine, Wis./Cyclocrossworld-Cannondale) also earned an automatic nomination to the women’s squad by virtue of her ninth-place finish in the World Cup opener in Tabor earlier this season. The 21-year-old continued to prove her strength over the weekend when she repeated for both the women’s Collegiate Division I national title and the U23 women’s national title in Madison.

Joining Compton and Antonneau in Louisville will be four discretionary selections to the team: Georgia Gould (Fort Collins, Colo./LUNA Pro Team), Meredith Miller (Boulder, Colo./California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized/California Giant Cycling), Amy Dombroski (Boulder, Colo./Young Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team), and Jade Wilcoxson (Talent, Ore./Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies). Gould was fourth at nationals and also had the second most accumulated (next to Compton) UCI rankings points from the nine U.S. UCI selection races. Miller was eighth at nationals and 11th in the fifth round of the World Cup. Dombroski was 11th at the third and fourth World Cups and 14th at the fifth round. Wilcoxson earned the silver medal at the national championships.

ELITE MEN

Tim Johnson is one of the automatic qualifiers to the elite mens team.

Jeremy Powers (Easthampton, Mass./Team Rapha-FOCUS) automatically qualified for the team as the top-ranked U.S. rider in the UCI rankings and also placed seventh in the World Cup opener in Tabor.

Jonathan Page (Northfield, N.H./ENGVT) also grabbed an auto invite. Page got his ticket to Louisville by winning the elite men’s national title this weekend and by posting 15th place in round five of the UCI World Cup in Namur.

Also grabbing automatic invitations to world championship start line are Ryan Trebon (Bend, Ore./Cannondale-Clement) and Tim Johnson (Topsfield, Mass./Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) as the second- and third-ranked riders in the UCI’s elite men’s rankings.

The four automatic qualifiers will be joined in the elite men’s race by two discretionary picks: James Driscoll (Sandy, Utah/Cannondale Cyclocrossworld) and Daniel Summerhill (Englewood, Colo./Unitedhealthcare). Driscoll and Summerhill were third and fourth respectively at Cyclo-cross Nationals while Driscoll collected 244 ranking points at the nine U.S. UCI selection races and Summerhill collected 100.

U23 MEN

Zach McDonald (Bainbridge Island, Wash./Team Rapha-FOCUS) was the lone auto qualifier for the U23 men’s race. He grabbed his invite with his stellar fourth-place performance in the opening round of the world cup in Tabor.

McDonald won’t be the alone in the Team USA jersey on the start line though. He’ll be joined by four discretionary picks: Andrew Dillman (Fairdale, Ky./Bob’s Red Mill Cyclocross), Tobin Ortenblad (Santa Cruz, Calif./California Giant Berry Farms-Specialized), Skyler Trujillo (Fort Collins, Colo./Boo-Enve), and Joshua Johnson (Fort Wayne, Ind./Indianapolis Cycling Club). Not only did these four riders all perform well against international competition in their races at Euro Cross Camp this season, but they finished second, third, fourth, and fifth in the U23 national championship race this weekend.

JUNIOR MEN

Logan Owen is a contender for the podium in the junior mens race.

Following a phenomenal season of racing, Logan Owen (Bremerton, Wash./Team Redline) has earned an automatic nomination to the junior men’s squad based on his second-place seat in the UCI junior men’s World Cup standings. The junior recorded second, third, fourth, and two fifth-place finishes in world cups this season. In addition, he took home his eighth consecutive national title this weekend.

“It's a great honor anytime you get to represent your country at the World Championships. I really do believe that I can challenge (Mathieu) Van Der Poel (NED) for the win at Worlds if I continue with the great form I'm on now,” Owen commented after being named to the team. “I will have to race a perfect race if I want to win in Louisville, but it’s definitely a possibility to get a podium and maybe the win. Plus I’ve got a whole country backing me at Worlds, which will only make me faster. Can't wait to get out there and give it all I got.”

Joining Owen as an automatic nomination will be Curtis White (Delanson, N.Y./Hot Tubes Development Cycling Team). The silver medalist from the weekend’s national championship grabbed his spot on the Louisville start line with his 13th-place effort at the third round of the World Cup in Plzen.

Owen and White will line up with three discretionary teammates: Maxx Chance (Boulder, Colo./Clif Bar Development Cross Team), David Lombardo (Crystal Lake, Ill./Verdigris-Village CX Team/Village-Verdigris Cycling), and Stephen Bassett (Knoxville, Tenn./Bob’s Red Mill Cyclocross Team). All three riders raced well during Euro Cross Camp over the holidays while Chance was seventh in his race at Cyclo-cross Nationals, and Lombardo and Bassett were fourth and 24th.

This year not only gives the American riders a home field advantage, but it marks the first time ever that the elite, U23, and juniors portion of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships has been held outside of Europe. The event will be preceded by the Masters Cyclo-cross World Championships, also being held in Louisville, Jan. 29-Feb. 1.

2013 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships
Louisville, Ky. -- Feb. 2-3, 2013
U.S. Roster

Elite Men
Jeremy Powers (Easthampton, Mass./Team Rapha-FOCUS)
Jonathan Page (Northfield, N.H./ENGVT)
Ryan Trebon (Bend, Ore./Cannondale-Clement)
Tim Johnson (Topsfield, Mass./Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com)
James Driscoll (Sandy, Utah/Cannondale Cyclocrossworld)
Daniel Summerhill (Englewood, Colo./Unitedhealthcare)

Elite Women
Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo./Trek Cyclocross Collective)
Kaitlin Antonneau (Racine, Wis./Cyclocrossworld-Cannondale)
Georgia Gould (Fort Collins, Colo./LUNA Pro Team)
Meredith Miller (Boulder, Colo./California Giant Berry Farms-Specialized)
Amy Dombroski (Boulder, Colo./Young Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team)
Jade Wilcoxson (Talent, Ore./Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)

U23 Men
Zach McDonald (Bainbridge Island, Wash./Team Rapha-FOCUS)
Andrew Dillman (Fairdale, Ky./Bob’s Red Mill Cyclocross)
Tobin Ortenblad (Santa Cruz, Calif./California Giant Berry Farms-Specialized)
Skyler Trujillo (Fort Collins, Colo./Boo-Enve)
Joshua Johnson (Fort Wayne, Ind./Indianapolis Cycling Club)

Junior Men
Logan Owen (Bremerton, Wash./Redline)
Curtis White (Delanson, N.Y./Hot Tubes Development Cycling Team)
Maxx Chance (Boulder, Colo./Clif Bar Development Cross Team)
David Lombardo (Crystal Lake, Ill./Verdigris-Village CX Team)
Stephen Bassett (Knoxville, Tenn./Bob’s Red Mill Cyclocross Team)

This Article Updated December 6, 2013 @ 06:27 PM For more information contact: