Brandon McNulty out of USA World Championship squad
Injuries, fatigue and the WorldTour relegation battle opens up places for new riders in the USA team
Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) has become the latest high profile name to rule himself out of the upcoming road World Championships in Wollongong, Australia.
McNulty along with Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) are two men’s WorldTour stars who have ruled themselves out due to fatigue.
The climbing that features on the course in Wollongong would have seen a rider in the calibre of McNulty considered as a strong favourite. However, his absence along with that of Simmons has opened the door for Volta Portugal stage winner Scott McGill (Wildlife Generation) and Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz Bicycles) to take their places.
USA Cycling originally announced their full selection of riders that would travel for the competition in Wollongong, Australia on 26 August. Since the initial announcement some riders have suffered injuries while others are involved in the WorldTour relegation battle rendering them unable to travel.
Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) and Kevin Vermaeke (Team DSM) were two long listed names forced out due to needing to accrue valuable UCI points for their trade teams.
In the elite women’s category both Coryn Labecki (Jumbo-Visma Development team) and Krista Doebel-Hickock (EF Education-TIBCO Silicon Valley Bank) were both part of the original squad. Although both riders are now ruled out with broken collarbones after crashes at the Simac Ladies Tour and Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta respectively.
The absence of Labecki and Dobel-Hickok has opened up places for Lauren Stephens (EF Education-TIBCO Silicon Valley Bank) and first timer Heidi Franz (InstaFund Racing).
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Skylar Schneider ( L39ion of Los Angeles) and Franz have both impressed coaches this season during competition for USA Cycling’s new women’s development programme earning them both a place in the World Championships squad.
In the U23 men’s category two new additions to the team are 18-year-old Colby Simmons (Jumbo-Visma Development Team) and Finn Gullickson (CR4C Roanne).
On adding Keegan Swenson to the squad and the selection difficulties brought by a chaotic 2022 season, Brendan Quirk CEO of USA Cycling said: “This has proven to be an unusual year for World’s team selection. Between the WorldTour relegation battle and the daunting trip to Australia, our selection pool is far smaller than normal. I’m a big fan of the phrase ‘let no good crisis go to waste.’ And that’s why the selection committee decided to add Keegan to our Elite Road team.
“We know he has a world tour engine; we know he’s not intimidated by anything or anyone. And we know that the most incredible phenomenon going on in the road right now is crossover riders diving in from other disciplines. This is an amazing opportunity for Keegan to show how talented he really is.”
The finalised roster for USA Cycling is as follows:
ELITE MEN
Lawson Craddock (BikeExchange-Jayco)
Scott McGill (Wildlife Generation)
Kyle Murphy (Human Powered Health)
Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost)
Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers)
Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz Bicycles)
ELITE WOMEN
Veronica Ewes (EF Education-TIBCO Silicon Valley Bank)
Kristen Faulkner (BikeExchange-Jayco)
Heidi Franz (InstaFund Racing)
Emma Langley (EF Educatio-TIBCO Silicon Valley Bank)
Skylar Schneider (L39ion of Los Angeles)
Lauren Stephens (EF Educatio- TIBCO Silicon Valley Bank)
Leah Thomas (Trek-Segafredo)
U23 MEN
Finn Gullickson (CR4C Roanne)
Luke Lamperti (Trinity Racing)
Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech)
Colby Simmons (Jumbo-Visma Development Team)
Patrick Welch (Kelly Benefits Strategies)
JUNIOR MEN
Alex Gustin (LUX Cycling Development Team)
Viggo Moore (LUX Cycling Development Team)
Artem Shmidt (Hot Tubes Development Cycling)
JUNIOR WOMEN
Makala Jaramillo (Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY24)
Chloe Patrick (Serious Cycling)
Katherine Sarkisov (LUX Cycling Development Team)
Samantha Scott (Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY24)
TIME TRIAL
ELITE MEN
Lawson Craddock (BikeExchange-Jayco)
Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers)
ELITE WOMEN
Kristen Faulkner (BikeExchange-Jayco)
Leah Thomas (Trek-Segafredo)
U23 MEN
Patrick Welch (Kelly Benefits Strategies)
JUNIOR MEN
Alex Gustin (LUX Cycling Development Team)
Artem Shmidt (Hot Tubes Development Cycling)
JUNIOR WOMEN
Chloe Patrick (Serious Cycling)
Katherine Sarkisov (LUX Cycling Development Team)
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After previously working in higher education, Tom joined Cycling Weekly in 2022 and hasn't looked back. He's been covering professional cycling ever since; reporting on the ground from some of the sport's biggest races and events, including the Tour de France, Paris-Roubaix and the World Championships. His earliest memory of a bike race is watching the Tour on holiday in the early 2000's in the south of France - he even made it on to the podium in Pau afterwards. His favourite place that cycling has taken him is Montréal in Canada.