USA Cycling Athletes Enter Top 20 in the 2024 Cyclocross World Championships, Ending a Successful Tournament

After three rigorous days of intense cycling, the 2024 Cyclocross World Championship came to a great end. And one nation that will be elated with the performance of its athletes, across all categories, will be the United States of America. Out of 28 athletes who registered for the competition under the USA cycling banner, three of them finished in the top 20.

These individual acts of brilliance came into two different categories: U23 women and junior men. The athletes were in a rich vein of form even before the start of the tournament, coming off some sweet victories. However, a performance like this only boosts the morale of the setup and encourages more eyeballs on the sport.

USA Cycling shines bright at World event

For Team USA, the last day of the Cyclocross championship was the day of glory. A super Sunday that had three races: Junior Men, U23 Women, and Elite Men, finished with quite a bang! The first USA cycling athlete to shine was Miles Mattern, who finished 17th in the Junior Men category. Even though it was David Thompson who dominated before the tournament, a crash early in the race put him off.

Miles grabbed the opportunity and went head to head with him, eventually coming out on top. In just one lap, he moved to the 20th position from 50, fought with a group of cyclists, and overtook them to claim the 17th spot.

“I made good progress on the first lap, then just kept chipping away, trying to focus on catching some recovery where it was possible. Then be able to hit it on the key sections of the climbs. I tried to stick to wheels on the pavement and get some recovery, then move through the groups,” said Miles after the wonderful recovery and finish.

The future looks promising for the USA

As for the other two performances, we turn to the U23 women’s category. There are six cycling athletes taking part in which Lizzy Gunsalus and Keira Bond were the highlights. The race did not have large group formations but had more individual pursuits and chases.

The 20-year-old cyclist is currently ranked 67 but showed she is capable of much more during the race. Racing for CCB – Alpine Carbon p/b Levine Law Group Women’s Cycling, Gunsalus’ performance was perhaps the first sign of improvement after a rocky end to 2023. “I wanted a little bit more in terms of a result, but I am proud of everything that I gave. My brother in the pit for me every single lap was definitely a bonus,” she said.

The other cycling athlete in the top 20 was Keira Bond, who now races for Alba Development Road Team. The 19-year-old finished the race just a few positions away at 20th. For a young athlete to be around and experience the world stage in itself is rewarding, but walking away with a top-20 finish is the cherry on top.

Supported heavily by the MudFund, the group of athletes spent several weeks in Europe, training for the mega event in Tabor Czech Republic. This is an initiative that is responsible for efforts to create and implement consistent and sustained development programs for young American bike racers. Apart from that, the sole purpose is to ensure there is an established system set up to support the sport and its ecosystem.

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The entire bandwagon of USA cycling will be absolutely thrilled with the kind of show they presented. After spending considerable amounts of time preparing for the physically and mentally demanding attempt, a finish like this will make all efforts worth it.

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