After the conclusion of the Tokyo Olympics 2020, the UCI Road World Championships 2021 race is back. The Road World Championships are the annual bicycle road racing organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale. The race will be held in Flanders, Belgium and around 11 races will be conducted.

Cyclists will compete in the time span of 8 days, from 19th to 26th of September 2021. The USA has announced a team of 26-rider groups that will be heading to the championship. Lauren Stephens and Joey Rosskopf will lead Team USA at the event.

List of the team USA riders for UCI Road Championships 2021

Unfortunately, American cycling star Chloe Dygert has declined the direct nomination for the championship. Chloe has been suffering from lingering pain after her serious leg laceration because of the crash at last year’s championship.

Amber Neben suffered a fractured pelvis after a car crash and will take part only in the time trial. Neben has also declined the direct nomination in the road race for UCI Road World Championships. Here is the full list of team USA.

Elite Men Time Trial (September 19): Lawson Craddock (EF Education-Nippo), Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates)

Elite Women Time Trial (September 20): Amber Neben (Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling), Leah Thomas (Movistar Team Women)

U23 Men Time Trial (September 20): Matthew Riccitello (Hagens Berman Axeon), Magnus Sheffield (Rally Cycling)

Women Junior Time Trial (September 21): Olivia Cummins and Makayla MacPherson (LUX/Sideshow p/b Specialized)

Men Junior Time Trial (September 21): Alex Gustin and Cole Kessler (LUX/Sideshow p/b Specialized)

Men Junior Road Race (September 24): Alex Gustin, Cole Kessler, Colby Simmons (LUX/Sideshow p/b Specialized) and Artem Shmidt (Mission Devo Cycling p/b Tyler Perry Studios)

U23 Men Road Race (September 24): Luke Lamperti (Trinity Racing), Sean Quinn and Matthew Riccitello (Hagens Berman Axeon), Magnus Sheffield (Rally Cycling), Kevin Vermaerke (Team DSM)

Junior Women Road Race (September 25): Olivia Cummins, Makayla MacPherson, Kaia Schmid (LUX/Sideshow p/b Specialized), Chloe Patrick

Elite Women Road Race (September 25): Kristen Faulkner (Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank), Coryn Rivera (Team DSM), Lauren Stephens (Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank), Leah Thomas (Movistar Team Women), Taylor Wiles and Ruth Winder (Trek-Segafredo).

Elite Men Road Race (September 26): Lawson Craddock and Neilson Powless (EF Education-Nippo), Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar Team), Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates), Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo), and Joey Rosskopf (Rally Cycling)

Top Five athletes to look out for

Tokyo Olympics 2020 gold medalist and defending champion Italy’s Filippo Ganna will be one of the favorites to win again. Another rider to look out for is Dutch rider Tom Dumoulin who earned the silver medal in Tokyo. Notably, two time world champion and Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Australia’s Rohan Dennis will also look to put up a strong fight at the games.

Interestingly, the Tokyo Olympics gold medalist in time trials Primoz Roglic will be absent from the championship. Whether this will work in the favor of Team USA or not will be clear as the championships start on the 19th of September 2021.

Also read: Veteran Cyclist Michael Woods on How the Tokyo Olympics Has Lost Its Charm