Gwin not representing US at World Championships? (WTF?)

update 7:12am Aug 8
new press release from USAC that has gwin on worlds team replacing austin dooley
-------------------
USA Cycling Names 2021 UCI Mountain Bike
World Championships Teams - REVISED
30 Cross-Country, 17 Downhill, and 7 E-MTB racers will head to
Val di Sole, Italy to compete in the World Championships.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Cycling announced today the final roster of athletes representing the United States in both cross country and downhill at the 2021 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships taking place August 25-29, 2021 in Val di Sole, Italy.
An all-star squad for the cross-country event will highlight riders who have had international success at last year’s Mountain Bike World Championships in Leogang, Austria. The team will showcase recent Olympians Haley Batten (Park City, Utah; Trinity Racing), Kate Courtney (Kentfield, Calif.; SCOTT-SRAM Factory Racing), and Erin Huck (Estes Park, Colo.; SCOTT-Stages) for the Elite Women. Batten took fourth in the U23 Women’s race last year and will compete in her first Elite Women’s World Championship. Fellow Olympian Christopher Blevins (Durango, Colo.; Trinity Racing) will also be moving up to the Elites, but on the Men’s side, after taking home a silver at the 2020 Mountain Bike World Championships in the U23 category. Joining the Olympians is Riley Amos (Durango, Colo.; Bear National Team), who rode to fourth in Leogang in the Junior Men’s Cross-Country race. Amos came out of the junior ranks flying and working his way up in positions at every U23 World Cup this year. He went back to Leogang for World Cup #3 and was the first male to ever win a World Cup in USA Cycling history.
Dakotah Norton (Oliver Springs, Tenn.; The YT Mob) has proven to be the fastest rider in the U.S. this year with a Top-10 at the Leogang World Cup and winning the National Championships. Junior Christopher Grice (Brevard, N.C.; Specialized Factory Racing) is looking for a podium finish this year in his last year as a junior. Grice is the next generation of DH racing keeping his times competitive with the elites. Kailey Skelton (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.; KHS Factory Racing/Monster Energy) will get a taste of international racing after having a blazing fast run at National Championships. Ella Erickson (Hayden, Idaho; Commencal USA) will headline the Junior Women’s field with several World Cup podiums on her resume. The Downhill squad is heading over to Europe to race the Maribor World Cup in preparations for the World Championships.
Among the other American competitors are several 2021 National Champions, crowned in at the 2021 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships in Winter Park, Colo.: Dakotah Norton, Kailey Skelton, Christopher Grice, Ella Erickson, Erin Huck, Keegan Swenson, Savilia Blunk, Riley Amos, Ruth Holcomb, Bradyn Johnson
Jim Miller, USA Cycling’s Chief of Sport Performance, is eager to see the World's best compete, especially after the Olympic Games and the Mountain Bike National Championships. Miller said, “We are excited about both the Cross-Country and Downhill teams selected. America has a resurgence of talent racing on the dirt and we’re optimistic in what they can accomplish in Val di Sole.”

The Team USA roster is as follows:
Cross-Country
Elite Women:
Haley Batten (Park City, Utah; Trinity Racing)
Kate Courtney (Kentfield, Calif.; SCOTT-SRAM Factory Racing)
Lea Davison (Jericho, Vt.; Team TWENTY24)
Erin Huck (Estes Park, Colo.; SCOTT-Stages)
Hannah Finchamp (Salt Lake City; Orange Seal Off-Road Team)
Kelsey Urban (Kentfield, Calif.; Team 31: Outride)

Elite Men:
Christopher Blevins (Durango, Colo.; Trinity Racing)
Stephan Davoust (Durango, Colo.; Giant Factory Off-Road Team)
Keegan Swenson (Park City Utah; Santa Cruz Bicycles)
Luke Vrouwenvelder (Chapel Hill, N.C; Giant Factory Off-Road Team)

U23 Women:
Savilia Blunk (Inverness, Calif.; Orange Seal Racing)
Gwendalyn Gibson (Ramona, Calif.; Norco Bicycles)
Madigan Munro (Boulder, Colo.; Trek Factory Racing)

U23 Men:
Riley Amos (Durango, Colo.; Bear National Team)
Bjorn Riley (Boulder, Colo.; Bear National Team)
Robbie Day (Evergreen, Colo.; Bear National Team)

Junior Women:
Lauren Aggeler (Durango, Colo.; Bear National Team)
Mia Aseltine (Littleton, Colo.; WE Development)
Bailey Cioppa (Durango, Colo.; Bear Development Team)
Sofia Forney (Lakewood, Colo.; WE Development)
Ruth Holcomb (Durango, Colo.; Bear National Team)
Makena Kellerman (Escondido, Colo.; Bear National Team)
Tai-Lee Smith (Breckenridge, Colo.; Bear National Team)

Junior Men:
Austin Beard (Middlesex, Vt.; Bicycle Express Racing)
Carson Beard (Middlesex, Vt.; Bicycle Express Racing)
Carson Hampton (Boise, Idaho; Bear Development Team)
Bradyn Johnson (Jordan, Utah; Bear National Team)
Cayden Parker (Hot Springs, Ark.; Bear National Team)
Ivan Sippy (Duango, Colo.; Durango Segment 28)

Downhill
Elite Women:
Mazie Hayden (Pittsfield, Vt.; Defiant Racing)
Abigail Hogie (Heidelberg, Germany; Tillit Gravity Team)
Anna Newkirk (Riehen, Switzerland; Canyon)
Kailey Skelton (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.; KHS Factory Racing)

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)
Nikolas Nesteroff (San Diego, Calif.; KHS Factory Racing)
Dakotah Norton (Oliver Springs, Tenn.; The YT Mob)
Luca Shaw (Hendersonville, N.C.; Santa Cruz Syndicate)
Dante Silva (Chula Vista, Calif.; Canyon)

Junior Women:
Emma Artz (Kirkland, Wash.)
Ella Erickson (Hayden, Idaho; Commencal USA)

Junior Men:
Andrew Driscoll (Bow, N.H.; Defiant Racing)
Christopher Grice (Brevard, N.C.; Specialized Factory Racing)
Dean Lindsey (Pleasanton, Calif.)
Dylan Maples (Orangevale, Calif.; Commencal)

E-MTB
Elite Men:
Nat Ross (Golden, Colo.; Tough Guy Productions)
Kyle Smith (Cornelius, N.C.)
Gerald White (Tampa, Fla.)
Charlie Mullins (Grove City, Pa.)
Dave Harrison (Sun Valley, Idaho)

Elite Women:
Ashley Hendershot (Mansfield, Ohio)
Callie Horwath (Brevard, N.C.)

Selection criteria are available for Cross-Country here and Downhill here.

Schedule
Wednesday, August 25: XCO Team Relay
Thursday, August 26: XCO Juniors and Short Track
Friday, August 27: E-MTB and Four Cross
Saturday, August 28: XCO U23 and Elite
Sunday, August 29: Downhill Finals

To cheer for Team USA at the 2021 World Championships, please follow @UCI_Cycling and @USACyclingLIVE on Twitter. For more about the 2020 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, please visit the event website.

*Please note the revisions to the team selection. The press release has been updated to reflect the changes to the team roster.

Visit USACycling.org for more information on the athletes, events and membership programs, and follow @USACycling across all channels for the latest on Team USA.
For selection inquiries, please contact Jeff Pierce at jpierce@usacycling.org

ABOUT USA CYCLING (usacycling.org)
USA Cycling is the national governing body for the sport of cycling and oversees the disciplines of road, track, mountain bike, cyclocross, and BMX. USA Cycling’s mission is to champion accessibility, participation, and excellence in the sport of cycling to make more Americans healthier, happier, and better on two wheels while achieving sustained international racing success. USA Cycling supports cyclists at all levels, from those just beginning in the sport and participating in fun rides to international caliber racers. The organization identifies, develops, and selects cyclists to represent the United States in international competition through the support of kids’ and interscholastic programs, amateur bike racing and grassroots development programs, and the provision of critical infrastructure to run organized racing. USA Cycling has a membership of 100,000, annually sanctions over 2,500 events, and is a proud member of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC).
-------------------

update 3:06pm Aug 7
NEW UPDATE FROM GWIN via text. short version, clerical error with wrong spreadsheet used by media team for official worlds announcement yesterday. We all make mistakes, and I feel bad for everyone dealing w/ this one...riders and USAC team. Super bummer for everyone. When I sent an email asking if USAC had an official comment, I received an out-of-office reply about media team in Tokyo.
------------------------
Gwin's text today
Hey brotha. Got a response from USA cycling. They told me they made a mistake with the list and my petition wasn’t the issue since they had contacted me last week to confirm my interest in going. They said the media team, who is separate from their team in Tokyo currently, released the info a day early and didn’t have the final correct list of athletes. They said they will re-release the actual final list to everyone shortly and are contacting athletes with any changes. Guess we’ll see what happens. They were up at 3am in Tokyo this morning working on it.
------------------------

update 10:38am Aug 6
gwin just replied with the following via text.
--------------
I have no idea. I didn’t know I would need to petition, but USA Cycling hit me up a few days ago letting me know that they would add me to the selection process even though I missed the petition deadline. Was definitely my bad missing the petition deadline. I’ve just really never had to do that and didn’t realize everyone but the National Champ has to petition. Just thought they’d pick the top 5 on results or something and you’d petition for the last few spots.

Pretty shocked I’m trying to get in contact with someone to see what’s up.
----------------

emailed USAC and got out of office reply. will update if more comes in

full PR (buried in my spam folder : (

USA Cycling Names 2021 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships Teams

31 Cross-Country and 16 Downhill racers will head to Val di Sole, Italy to compete in the World Championships.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Cycling announced today the final roster of athletes representing the United States in both cross country and downhill at the 2021 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships taking place August 25 - 29, 2021 in Val di Sole, Italy.

An all-star squad for the cross-country event will highlight riders who have had international success at last year’s Mountain Bike World Championships in Leogang, Austria. The team will showcase recent Olympians Haley Batten (Park City, Utah; Trinity Racing), Kate Courtney (Kentfield, Calif.; SCOTT-SRAM Factory Racing), and Erin Huck (Estes Park, Colo.; SCOTT-Stages) for the Elite Women. Batten took fourth in the U23 Women’s race last year and will compete in her first Elite Women’s World Championship. Fellow Olympian Christopher Blevins (Durango, Colo.; Trinity Racing) will also be moving up to the Elites, but on the Men’s side, after taking home a silver at the 2020 Mountain Bike World Championships in the U23 category. Joining the Olympians is Riley Amos (Durango, Colo.; Bear National Team), who rode to fourth in Leogang in the Junior Men’s Cross-Country race. Amos came out of the junior ranks flying and working his way up in positions at every U23 World Cup this year. He went back to Leogang for World Cup #3 and was the first male to ever win a World Cup in USA Cycling history.

Dakotah Norton (Oliver Springs, Tenn.; The YT Mob) has proven to be the fastest rider in the U.S. this year with a Top-10 at the Leogang World Cup and winning the National Championships. Junior Christopher Grice (Brevard, N.C.; Specialized Factory Racing) is looking for a podium finish this year in his last year as a junior. Grice is the next generation of DH racing keeping his times competitive with the elites. Kailey Skelton (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.; KHS Factory Racing/Monster Energy) will get a taste of international racing after having a blazing fast run at National Championships. Ella Erickson (Hayden, Idaho; Commencal USA) will headline the Junior Women’s field with several World Cup podiums on her resume. The Downhill squad is heading over to Europe to race the Maribor World Cup in preparations for the World Championships.

Among the other American competitors are several 2021 National Champions, crowned in at the 2021 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships in Winter Park, Colo.:

Dakotah Norton, Kailey Skelton, Christopher Grice, Ella Erickson, Erin Huck, Keegan Swenson, Savilia Blunk, Riley Amos, Ruth Holcomb, Bradyn Johnson

Jim Miller, USA Cycling’s Chief of Sport Performance, is eager to see the World's best compete, especially after the Olympic Games and the Mountain Bike National Championships. Miller said, “We are excited about both the Cross-Country and Downhill teams selected. America has a resurgence of talent racing on the dirt and we’re optimistic in what they can accomplish in Val di Sole.”


The Team USA roster is as follows:

Cross-Country
Elite Women:
Haley Batten (Park City, Utah; Trinity Racing)
Kate Courtney (Kentfield, Calif.; SCOTT-SRAM Factory Racing)
Lea Davison (Jericho, Vt.; Team TWENTY24)
Erin Huck (Estes Park, Colo.; SCOTT-Stages)
Hannah Finchamp (Salt Lake City; Orange Seal Off-Road Team)
Kelsey Urban (Kentfield, Calif.; Team 31: Outride)

Elite Men:
Christopher Blevins (Durango, Colo.; Trinity Racing)
Stephan Davoust (Durango, Colo.; Giant Factory Off-Road Team)
Keegan Swenson (Park City Utah; Santa Cruz Bicycles)
Luke Vrouwenvelder (Chapel Hill, N.C; Giant Factory Off-Road Team)

U23 Women:
Savilia Blunk (Inverness, Calif.; Orange Seal Racing)
Gwendalyn Gibson (Ramona, Calif.; Norco Bicycles)
Madigan Munro (Boulder, Colo.; Trek Factory Racing)

U23 Men:
Riley Amos (Durango, Colo.; Bear National Team)
Bjorn Riley (Boulder, Colo.; Bear National Team)
Robbie Day (Evergreen, Colo.; Bear National Team)

Junior Women:
Lauren Aggeler (Durango, Colo.; Bear National Team)
Mia Aseltine (Littleton, Colo.; WE Development)
Bailey Cioppa (Durango, Colo.; Bear Development Team)
Sofia Forney (Lakewood, Colo.; WE Development)
Ruth Holcomb (Durango, Colo.; Bear National Team)
Makena Kellerman (Escondido, Colo.; Bear National Team)
Tai-Lee Smith (Breckenridge, Colo.; Bear National Team)

Junior Men:
Austin Beard (Middlesex, Vt.; Bicycle Express Racing)
Carson Beard (Middlesex, Vt.; Bicycle Express Racing)
Carson Hampton (Boise, Idaho; Bear Development Team)
Bradyn Johnson (Jordan, Utah; Bear National Team)
Cayden Parker (Hot Springs, Ark.; Bear National Team)
Ivan Sippy (Duango, Colo.; Durango Segment 28)
Ethan Villaneda (Corona, Calif.)

Downhill
Elite Women:
Abigail Hogie (Heidelberg, Germany; Tillit Gravity Team)
Anna Newkirk (Riehen, Switzerland; Canyon)
Kailey Skelton (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.; KHS Factory Racing)

Elite Men:
Austin Dooley (Yucaipa, Calif.; Commencal USA)
Charlie Harrison (Trabuco Canyon, Calif.; Trek Factory Racing)
Neko Mulally (Pisgah Forest, N.C.; Intense Factory Racing)
Nikolas Nesteroff (San Diego, Calif.; KHS Factory Racing)
Dakotah Norton (Oliver Springs, Tenn.; The YT Mob)
Luca Shaw (Hendersonville, N.C.; Santa Cruz Syndicate)
Dante Silva (Chula Vista, Calif.; Canyon)

Junior Women:
Emma Artz (Kirkland, Wash.)
Ella Erickson (Hayden, Idaho; Commencal USA)

Junior Men:
Andrew Driscoll (Bow, N.H.; Defiant Racing)
Christopher Grice (Brevard, N.C.; Specialized Factory Racing)
Dean Lindsey (Pleasanton, Calif.)
Dylan Maples (Orangevale, Calif.; Commencal)

Selection criteria for Downhill available here. PDF

Schedule

Wednesday, August 25: XCO Team Relay
Thursday, August 26: XCO Juniors and Short Track
Friday, August 27: E-MTB and Four Cross
Saturday, August 28: XCO U23 and Elite
Sunday, August 29: Downhill Finals

To cheer for Team USA at the 2021 World Championships, please follow @UCI_Cycling and @USACyclingLIVE on Twitter. For more about the 2020 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, please visit the event website.

Visit USACycling.org for more information on the athletes, events and membership programs, and follow @USACycling across all channels for the latest on Team USA.

For more information, contact Angelina Palermo at apalermo@usacycling.org

ABOUT USA CYCLING (usacycling.org)
USA Cycling is the national governing body for the sport of cycling and oversees the disciplines of road, track, mountain bike, cyclocross, and BMX. USA Cycling’s mission is to champion accessibility, participation, and excellence in the sport of cycling to make more Americans healthier, happier, and better on two wheels while achieving sustained international racing success. USA Cycling supports cyclists at all levels, from those just beginning in the sport and participating in fun rides to international caliber racers. The organization identifies, develops, and selects cyclists to represent the United States in international competition through the support of kids’ and interscholastic programs, amateur bike racing and grassroots development programs, and the provision of critical infrastructure to run organized racing. USA Cycling has a membership of 100,000, annually sanctions over 2,500 events, and is a proud member of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC).

Maybe he stepped aside to let the up and comers have a chance instead of going to a race he doesn't feel ready for or something? My best guess.

On a side note, stoked to see the local kid, Dylan Maples, get picked for the junior squad. Dumb fast and a super nice dude to boot.

Yup, young athletes, of any sport, cannot improve unless they face world class competition. This is how it is done. Besides, based upon the way Gwin was talking on the podcast, he does not really seem to interested in training up.

I feel like Gwin not being on the team has to be a personal decision. His season maybe hasn't been up to his Gwinning ways, but he was 22nd and 36th at the the two world cups this year and 4th at National Champs which in the grand scheme is still pretty dang good.

Gwin had to be involved in that decision. I'm not a fan of USAC, but there is no way they skipped over him for worlds at VDS without his input.

Spomer....I assume you're reaching out to USAC for comment?

What the frick?

txted gwin, waiting to hear.

gwin just replied with the following via text.
--------------
I have no idea. I didn’t know I would need to petition, but USA Cycling hit me up a few days ago letting me know that they would add me to the selection process even though I missed the petition deadline. Was definitely my bad missing the petition deadline. I’ve just really never had to do that and didn’t realize everyone but the National Champ has to petition. Just thought they’d pick the top 5 on results or something and you’d petition for the last few spots.

Pretty shocked I’m trying to get in contact with someone to see what’s up.
----------------

emailed USAC and got out of office reply. will update if more comes in

also, if you missed the link, here's selection criteria (PDF file) - https://s3.amazonaws.com/usac-craft-uploads-production/documents/2021-M…

Really hoping that AG can somehow remedy this.

That’s a bummer, always like to see athletes giving it their best. I feel we might see a early bike departure from him soon? 🤷‍♂️ #teamrumors

i wonder if he forgot.... the same way VDP "forgot" that ramp was going to be removed before finals at the olympics

Is there a limit to how many riders can represent each country? If not I hope they can just lump him in.

7 riders max according to the PDF rulebook link page

Based on the pdf you've posted, AG didn't meet any of the criteria for automatic selection to the team. Could this be the first year he'd have to be chosen through the discretionary process? And if so, seeing as how Neko was able to adhere to USAC's policies; how could there be not communication within the IFR team about submitting a petition for a discretionary pick?

So it boils down to Gwin being a first time Team Owner/Manager. In the past, the team manager has always looked to make sure their rider(s) secured a spot or they knew the USAC petitioning rules for Worlds.
The responsibility fell to AG himself and so it was an oversight on his part.

Stinks to hear. It's easy to place the blame on Gwin here, but no way would I let that slide.

This firmly lies on the shoulders of our governing body. From the very instant they recognized that Gwin was not going to be an automatic bid, they should have been doing what is quite literally their job which is to GET IN TOUCH WITH THE #1 USA DH RACER to let him know what was going on THE VERY SECOND THEY HAD KNOWLEDGE.

And not by some random text or email. It's your freaking job as USAC to call the elite of the elite and their entourage/sponsors/team owner/managers to get the best racers on the continent to the race.

This is USAC once again dropping the ball.

And please...no one try to hand me that horse crap defense about "It's the team mananger's job to blah blah blah..."

If you've been around as long as Spomer or I, you 100% know that this is on USAC. I bet if I reallllllllly wanted to put out the best team possible, I could call a half dozen people who would pick up the phone and say "Hey Aaron...."

I’ve always heard bad experiences with USAC so you are correct, the horrible word (BUT) if you knew that you should stay on top of it. And judging by Aaron’s text he didn’t know he had to petition, has he been national champion every year he’s ridden WC’s?

Amen @bizutch. Is there a way for us to sign some type of petition to help his case of getting a spot?

Completely agree Gwin needs to be on the team for Worlds. Let's say the UCI and USAC pull their heads out and say, yes, who do you bump? Seems like a pretty crappy thing to have to do to someone you've already told has a spot. But, congrats USAC, you've done a wonderful job, once again.

How long has it been since an American has entered 4x worlds?

Charlie Harrison's broken arm from Leogang may be Gwin's ticket. Not sure how far Chuck's recovery is though.

Sure. But Gwin, as team manager and owner should be aware of how the process works? Seems like the other teams got the info to their guys. The lack of communication between him and Neko on this, as teammates, is baffling.

Lucky for Mulally he has an experienced team manager that was on top of getting his petition submitted...

Oh wait.. nope...theory does not check out.

Gwin isn't the best US downhill racer ever? Lopes is better? Dak is better?

WTF are you talking about? Gwin is the second winningest male WC downhill racer in the world. Right behind Minnaar.

When Minnaar was working for me he said that Gwin completely changed the sport. Minnaar was bummed because before Gwin the world cup was a week long party. Gwin trained harder than everyone and until is string of injuries he was winning 30% of the world cups he entered.

I would rather hang with Dak or pretty much anyone else on the US team but I have a lot of respect for Gwin. He really stepped up everyone's game and changed the sport. Just ask Sven, he misses the parties as much as Greg does.

Every National I ever went to, I regretted having to go to work the next morning because I knew Peaty, Kovarik, Rennie, Gracia, Palmer, Hill....they were gonna get stupid wasted Sunday night & one if not most were getting kicked out of someplace.
Which brings us full circle to Diablo Mountain Bike Parks Hellacious after parties when they hosted the US Open.

However you look at it, it's a total bummer.

I'm on board with everything you said

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