USA Cycling has announced its wildcard selections for the 2024 UCI Gravel World Championships in Belgium and while it is no surprise that national champions Brennan Wertz and Lauren Stephens are among the squad, there is a notable absence.
Keegan Swenson – the rider to beat on the US gravel scene and top-five finisher at last year's rainbow jersey race – had been offered a spot to compete, but he declined to participate to instead focus on the final pair of Life Time Grand Prix series races.
Instead, joining new national champion Wertz among the list of seven wildcard selections for the elite men's squad are John Borstelmann, the experienced Ted King, Andrew Lydic, Justin McQuerry, Ethan Overson and Colby Simmons. If he accepts the wild card entry, Visma-Lease a Bike's Simmons would be the youngest elite rider on the USA squad.
The wild card nominations for the women's elite team spearheaded by Stephens – who came sixth at Worlds last year – went to Lauren De Crescenzo, Whitney Allison, Laura King, Shayna Powless, Safia Schugar, Hannah Shell, Kyleigh Spearing, Leah Van Der Linden and Caroline Wreszin. Like Swenson, De Crescenzo has declined to participate in order to remain in the US for the Life Time Grand Prix, the fifth of six races in the series, The Rad Dirt Fest, taking place this Saturday in Colorado.
The federation had earlier announced a new perk to set aside wildcard spots for the top five finishers in the Elite Gravel National Championships. Many of those top riders have now declined to participate, as the one-day race in Belgium is sandwiched between Life Time Grand Prix events. Top five finishers Paige Onweller and Alexis Skarda were other riders among the top five at US Gravel Nationals who declined to race and provided wildcard entries for others at Gravel World Championships.
Age group athletes selected were Mat Stephens and Todd Hageman, making 19 total wildcard entries from the 20 spots allocated to the national federation.
There are also other pathways to entry to the UCI World Championships, with the Gravel World Series races acting as qualifiers plus national gravel champions being allocated a spot. This means the list of elite riders who have gained the right to race extends beyond those given wildcards, with riders like Chad Haga, Daxton Mock, Jenna Rinehart, Amity Rockwell and Heidi Franz among those who have qualified for the elite USA squad via the Gravel World Series.
Still, there are many examples of those who have the option to go to the UCI World Championships event but chose not to, as qualification or selection to the elite teams doesn't equate to financial support to make it to the race in Belgium.
USA Cycling said in its selection document this year that: "Athletes who receive automatic invitations from the UCI or are nominated by the USA Cycling Athlete Discretionary Selection procedures are responsible for the full expense associated with this event. USA Cycling will not assume financial responsibility for any athletes."
USA Cycling isn't alone in missing leading gravel figures from its team, with AusCycling's announcement earlier this week also noting that Australian national gravel champion Brendan Johnston wouldn't be taking up his automatic qualification spot.
The UCI Gravel World Championships will take place in Belgium on October 5-6, with the elite women's race taking place on a 134km course, which is more than half unpaved, on Saturday while Sunday's men's elite race will unfold over 181km.
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