Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia) and Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) is likely to be the overwhelming favourites for the elite males’s rainbow jersey on the UCI Street World Championships, however USA Biking has put collectively a various workforce of expertise together with Olympic gold medalist Kristen Faulkner with actual possibilities to win titles in different fields.
Historical past
The USA has a really brief record of elite males’s world champions, with Greg LeMond successful two – the primary in 1983 when he soloed to victory in Altenrhein, Switzerland, and a second in 1989 in Chambéry, France. He additionally was second in 1982 and 1985.
Lance Armstrong is the final males’s world champion – he received to maintain the 1993 title he gained in Copenhagen regardless of having the vast majority of his file erased when he was banned for all times by USADA for doping in 2012.
Two US ladies have gained world titles within the highway race: Audrey McElmury (1969) and Beth Heiden (1980). The nation has landed on the rostrum in 9 different editions, most just lately with Megan Guarnier taking bronze in 2015 in Richmond, Virginia.
Chloe Dygert gained the person time trial world title in 2023 and 2019, following on the success of Amber Neben (world champion in 2016 and 2008), Kristen Armstrong (2009, 2006), Mari Holden (2000), and Karen Brems (1994).
Taylor Phinney was the final American to face on the rostrum at Worlds within the time trial in 2012. Dave Zabriskie is the one different man from the USA to earn a medal, taking bronze in 2008 and silver in 2006.
Lineups
Elite Males: Matteo Jorgenson, Brandon McNulty, Neilson Powless, Riley Sheehan, Magnus Sheffield, Quinn Simmons, Kevin Vermaerke, Larry Warbasse
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Elite Ladies: Chloe Dygert, Ruth Edwards, Emily Ehrlich, Kristen Faulkner, Heidi Franz, Amber Neben (TT solely), Lauren Stephens
U23 Males: AJ August, Gavin Hlady, Cole Kessler, Artem Shmidt, Colby Simmons
U23 Ladies (mixed with elites): None
Junior Males: Grey Barnett, Ashlin Barry, Peyton Burckel, Braden Reitz, Noah Streif
Junior Ladies: Lidia Cusack, Helena Jones, Vida Lopez de San Roman, Alyssa Sarkisov
Key Riders
USA Biking have three former world champions within the workforce for the 2024 Worlds, with Chloé Dygert returning to defend her title within the elite ladies’s particular person time trial. The 2019 and 2023 world champion had a sparse highway marketing campaign within the first half of the yr. Nonetheless, since successful the bronze medal on the Olympic Video games in Paris, she raced the Tour de France Femmes, taking a detailed second to Demi Vollering within the stage 3 time trial and taking second within the Traditional Lorient Agglomération in Plouay final month.
Dygert should take care of Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) who put in a shocking experience to win the European Championships, and Olympic champion Grace Brown (Australia) and silver medalist Anna Henderson (Nice Britain). However contemplating Dygert crashed in Paris and nonetheless gained bronze, she’s the USA’s finest hope for a gold medal if she will be able to have an incident-free time trial in Zurich.
Amber Neben (Time trial)
The 2-time world champion solely competes in a number of choose occasions, managing to get to the highest of her sport particularly for championship occasions. She was third behind Dygert and winner Taylor Knibb on the US Nationwide Championships and gained the Pan-American championships time trial. Each of her world titles got here in Olympic years so it could be unwise to low cost the 49-year-old for a 3rd in Zurich.
The World Championships start this weekend with the elite particular person time trials the place Evenepoel and Primož Roglič (Slovenia) prime the contenders record. Brandon McNulty is the USA’s prime hope for the occasion, with Magnus Sheffield additionally participating.
It’d take a small miracle for the People to finest Evenepoel, who added the Olympic gold medal to his quickly rising palmares, however McNulty has a powerful historical past in time trials, successful the Vuelta a España opener final month, the stage 3 time trial on the Tour de Romandie and stage 2 TT on the UAE Tour, all of which have been considerably shorter than what the 46.1-kilometre route the boys will face in Zurich.
Within the highway races, Pogačar has confirmed his spectacular type on the GP de Montréal and appears unbeatable, however Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) has had a terrific season with a win in Dwars door Vlaanderen. He has a powerful sufficient workforce of riders alongside him for the marquee race on September twenty ninth to present the USA an opportunity on the medals.
The USA certified the utmost workforce measurement for the boys’s races for the primary time since 2012, and have playing cards to play with McNulty, Neilson Powless, Magnus Sheffield and 2019 junior world champion Quinn Simmons whereas Riley Sheehan, Kevin Vermaerke and Larry Warbasse present depth.
Faulkner heads into the ladies’s highway race as Olympic champion and a powerful backup workforce with nice alternatives for ways. Ruth Edwards and Lauren Stephens deliver years of expertise, Dygert contributes a robust motor, whereas Heidi Franz and Emily Ehrlich can be readily available to manage the early kilometres.
Faulkner had a stand-out season, successful the Omloop van het Hageland and two phases and second total within the Trofeo Ponente in Rosa within the spring. A stage win within the Vuelta a España and the US nationwide highway race title adopted earlier than she shocked the world to win gold on the Olympics in Paris.
She skipped the standard tour of morning TV exhibits to race the Tour de France Femmes, her finest place was fourth on stage 5.
The elite ladies’s race is mixed with the under-23s, however USA Biking opted to not deliver any espoir ladies after Megan Jastrab declined her place.
Strengths
Within the males’s race, the percentages are in opposition to the US workforce, however one benefit they’ve is depth. Sean Quinn and Larry Warbasse are loyal employees, Vermaerke was third total within the Arctic Race of Norway.
Sheffield was sixth within the Tour of Flanders and third total within the Tour of Austria, Riley Sheehan gained Paris-Excursions as a staigiare final yr and was on the rostrum of the Eschborn-Frankfurt in Could, whereas McNulty gained the GP Miguel Indurain in March.
The ladies’s workforce additionally has a wealth of expertise to again up Faulkner and even arrange Dygert, Edwards – winner of the Thüringen Women Tour – and even gravel nationwide champion Stephens for a podium inserting.
Weaknesses
The US lacks a rider of the calibre of Pogačar or Evenepoel, however then once more, so do most international locations. The riders have all proven individually they’re desperate to race aggressively however many of the riders are on totally different commerce groups, so how successfully they will work as a workforce stays to be seen.
The view from the USA
Kristen Faulkner’s Olympic gold medal was the most important accomplishment of a US rider in many years however it hardly made a splash within the mainstream media, and even fewer individuals can be listening to the workforce on the UCI Street World Championships.
Biking followers within the US have had such an extended interval with out a celebrity to fill the void left by Lance Armstrong’s doping shame that they’ve embraced overseas personalities like Peter Sagan and now Tadej Pogačar.
With the Netflix Tour de France collection drawing extra eyes to the game, the World Championships provide an opportunity for the riders to get the eye of their dwelling viewers, let’s hope they placed on present.
