Kate Courtney (San Francisco, Calif.; Scott-SRAM) will step up to the line at the 2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships on Saturday, not only as defending World Champion, but also currently ranked first in the 2019 overall UCI World Cup standings. Courtney, who was the first American Female to win the Mountain Bike World Championships since Alison Dunlap won in 2001, has made her mark this past year on the World Cup stage as well.
“Seeing Kate ride the way she has all season gives me incredible confidence, not only heading into tomorrow, but also as we continue into the Olympic qualification period,” said Marc Gullickson, Mountain Bike Performance Director for USA Cycling, “All of our women riders have really put a focus on ensuring we are in the best position for maximizing Tokyo 2020 spots and it is apparent with the way all of them have been riding this season.”
Courtney will be joined on the start line in the Elite Women’s Race by newly crowned National Champion Chloe Woodruff (Prescott, Ariz.; Stan’s NoTubes Pivot p/b Maxxis), 2016 World Championship Silver Medalist, Lea Davision (Jericho, Vt.; Sho-Air TWENTY20), Erin Huck (Boulder, Colo.; CZ Racing p/b SCOTT), Alexis Skarda (Grand Junction, Colo.; Spintertainment Video), Hannah Finchamp (Salt Lake City, Utah; Clif Pro Team) and Marathon Mountain Bike National Champion Rose Grant (Columbia Falls, Mont.; Stans NoTubes Pivot p/b Maxxis).
Also racing tomorrow are the U23 Women and the Elite men. The U23 Women’s squad will be led by U23 Pan American Champion Haley Batten (Park City, Utah; Clif Pro Team) who not only won her first U23 World Cup this season, but also clocked the fastest female lap time in the Team Relay earlier in this competition where Team USA placed second. The Elite Men’s squad will be headlined by National Champion Keegan Swenson who was also on the silver medal winning Team Relay squad.
Saturday’s Roster is as follows:
U23 Women:
Haley Batten* (Park City, Utah; Clif Pro Team) Kelsey Urban* (Kentfield, Calif.; Rouler Devo p/b DNA Cycling) Savilia Blunk (Inverness, Calif.; Sho-Air TWENTY-20) Gwendalyn Gibson (Ramona, Calif.; Norco Bicycles)
Elite Women:
Kate Courtney* (San Francisco, Calif.; Scott-SRAM) Chloe Woodruff* (Prescott, Ariz.; Stans NoTubes Pivot p/b Maxxis) Lea Davison* (Jericho, Vt.; Sho-Air TWENTY20) Erin Huck* (Boulder, Colo.; CZ Racing p/b SCOTT) Alexis Skarda (Grand Junction, Colo.; Spintertainment Video) Hannah Finchamp (Salt Lake City, Utah; Clif Pro Team) Rose Grant (Columbia Falls, Mont.; Stans NoTubes Pivot p/b Maxxis)
Elite Men:
Keegan Swenson* (Park City Utah; Stans NoTubes Pivot p/b Maxxis) Russell Finsterwald (Colorado Springs, Colo.; Clif Pro Team) Alex Wild (Los Gatos, Calif.; Specialized Factory Racing) Luke Vrouwenvelder (Chapel Hill, N.C) Stephan Davoust (Durango, Colo.; Giant Factory Off-Road Team)
Automatic qualifiers are noted with an asterisk (*).
How to watch:
Racing will be streamed live on Redbull.tv starting with the Elite Women’s Race at 12:15 EST then the Elite Men at 1:35 EST.
To cheer for Team USA and get up to date info regarding your favorite riders, follow @USACyclingLIVE on Twitter and @USACycling on all other platforms. For more about the 2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, please visit the event website at http://www.velirium.com/.
The USA Cycling 2019 Mountain Bike World Championships selection criteria for XCO is available here
and the criteria for DH is available here
.Please contact Kelly Fox with questions at apalermo@usacycling.org
