USA Cycling announced the roster of 24 riders to represent the United States at the 2022 UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong, Australia, taking place September 18-25, 2022.
Seven women and five men make up the elite squad for the time trial and road races, the US women being one of five nations to qualify a full quota allocated for competition.
Five men were also selected for under-23 honours and there were a total of seven juniors – three men and four women – named to complete the lineup.
Kristen Faulkner (Team BikeExchange-Jayco), who won two stages and the mountains classification at the Giro d’Italia Donne, will enter the 164.3km elite/U23 women's road race from Helensburgh to Wollongong as one of the key riders to watch. She will be joined by time trial national champion Leah Thomas (Trek-Segafredo) and Coryn Labecki (Team Jumbo-Visma), who makes her eighth appearance at Worlds as an elite rider.
A trio of EF Education-TIBCO-SVB teammates are also in the team – road race national champion Emma Langley, Tour des Pyrénées winner Krista Doebel-Hickok and top-10 GC finisher in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift Veronica Ewers. It is the first time Ewers and Langley have made appearances at Worlds.
The lone US domestic elite rider is Skylar Schneider (L39ION of Los Angeles), who makes her first appearance at Worlds since she won silver in the junior road race in 2016.
For the elite men on the 266.9km road race featured on the final day of the championships, USA Cycling has qualified six riders and have only named five.
USA Cycling will name a sixth rider for elite men's road race at a later date. "There is a bit of a points race as we close out the WorldTour season that is making it difficult for riders to race the World Championships. We will be naming a sixth rider," USA Cycling told Cyclingnews.
Grand Tour veteran and two-time time trial national champion Lawson Craddock (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) leads the way along with three other rising WorldTour stars - Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates), Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), and Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers). US road race champion Kyle Murphy (Human Powered Health) rounds out the elite team.
Last year in Belgium, Powless made the final group of select riders in the elite men’s race and finished fifth, while Rivera earned her second 10th-place finish in the elite women’s road race.
Joining Thomas and Craddock in the elite time trial events on the opening two days of competition, both races on the same 34.2km course in Wollongong, will be Faulkner for the women’s race and Sheffield for the men’s race. Thomas was 14th last year for elite women, while fourth-placed Amber Neben has transitioned to gravel racing this season. Craddock was the highest-place US rider in the elite men’s time trial last year in 18th position, while Sheffield, 19 years old last year, finished 10th in the U23 ITT.
Competing in the U23 men’s race are Luke Lamperti (Trinity Racing), Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost), Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech), Kevin Vermaerke (Team DSM), Patrick Welch (Kelly Benefits Strategies), with Quinn and Welch riding the ITT and the road race. The women’s U23 competitors will be part of the elite field, however, the US squad did not name a rider, aged 17-22, to contest this category. Schneider’s racing age this year is 23, just outside qualification parameters.
The squad for junior men features Alex Gustin and Viggo Moore of LUX Cycling Development Team and Artem Shmidt (Hot Tubes Development Cycling).
The squad for junior women is comprised of Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24 teammates Makala Jaramillo and Samantha Scott along with Chloe Patrick (Serious Cycling) and Katherine Sarkisov (LUX Cycling Development Team).
Last year three LUX riders finished as the top US riders in junior races, Kaia Schmid in second and Makayla Macpherson in fifth for the women and Colby Simmons 15th for the men.
Team USA at the 2022 UCI Road World Championships:
Elite Women and U23 Women ITT (September 17):
Kristen Faulkner (Team BikeExchange-Jayco), Leah Thomas (Trek-Segafredo)
Elite Men ITT (September 18):
Lawson Craddock (Team BikeExchange-Jayco), Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers)
U23 Men ITT (September 19):
Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost), Patrick Welch (Kelly Benefits Strategies)
Junior Women ITT (September 19):
Chloe Patrick (Serious Cycling), Katherine Sarkisov (LUX Cycling Development Team)
Junior Men ITT (September 20):
Alex Gustin (LUX Cycling Development Team), Artem Shmidt (Hot Tubes Development Cycling)
Team Time Trial Mixed Relay (September 21): tbd
Junior Men Road Race (September 22):
Alex Gustin (LUX Cycling Development Team), Viggo Moore (LUX Cycling Development Team), Artem Shmidt (Hot Tubes Development Cycling)
U23 Men Road Race (September 23):
Luke Lamperti (Trinity Racing), Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost), Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech), Kevin Vermaerke (Team DSM), Patrick Welch (Kelly Benefits Strategies)
Junior Women Road Race (September 23):
Makala Jaramillo (Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24), Chloe Patrick (Serious Cycling), Katherine Sarkisov (LUX Cycling Development Team), Samantha Scott (Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24)
Elite Women and U23 Women Road Race (September 24):
Krista Doebel-Hickok (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB), Veronica Ewers (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB), Kristen Faulkner (Team BikeExchange-Jayco), Coryn Labecki (Team Jumbo-Visma), Emma Langley (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB), Skylar Schneider (L39ion of Los Angeles), Leah Thomas (Trek-Segafredo)
Elite MenRoad Race (September 25):
Lawson Craddock (Team BikeExchange-Jayco), Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates), Kyle Murphy (Human Powered Health), Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers)
