USA Cycling announced on Thursday all BMX, mountain bike and road athletes to compete for the 2016 U.S. Olympic cycling team, filling out the remainder of the U.S. Olympic lineup for the sport.
The 2016 Olympic Games will run Aug. 5-21 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The USA Cycling Selection Committee named two BMX, three mountain bike and five road spots as discretionary picks.
BMX
Nic Long (Haro Bikes-Dans Comp) and Alise Post (Redline USA) earned automatic BMX selections by virtue of their UCI BMX World Championships podium finishes, while Corben Sharrah (Daylight Cycle Co.) earned an auto bid after winning the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – BMX on June 11.
Brooke Crain (Haro Bikes-Dans Comp) and Connor Fields (Chase BMX-Monster Energy) earned discretionary selections.
MTB
No U.S. athletes earned automatic selections in mountain bike, and Lea Davison (Specialized Factory Racing), Howard Grotts (Specialized Factory Racing) and Chloe Woodruff (Stan’s NoTubes-Pivot) earned discretionary selections.
Here’s what Woodruff had to say after being selected:
Road
Megan Guarnier (Boels Dolmans Cycling Team) punched her ticket to Rio last fall when she earned bronze at the 2015 UCI Road World Championships in Richmond, Va.
Joining her on the road team are discretionary selections Mara Abbott (Wiggle-High5), two-time Olympic gold medalist Kristin Armstrong (TWENTY16 p/b SHO-AIR), Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing Team), Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing Team) and Evelyn Stevens (Boels Dolmans Cycling Team).
Track team selections were made on March 18.
The 21-member U.S. Olympic cycling team includes 10 Olympic veterans. Olympians from 2012 Crain, Davison, Fields, Long, Post and Stevens return for their second Olympics, while Rio marks the third Games for 2008 and 2012 Olympians Hammer, Lea and Phinney (Phinney competed in 2008 on the track). Armstrong looks to make it three straight women’s individual time trial gold medals in Rio, which will be her fourth consecutive Olympic appearance.
Road races and individual time trials open cycling competition at the 2016 Olympics Aug. 6-7 at Fort Copacabana and Aug. 10 at Pontal in Barra, respectively, followed by track cycling Aug. 11-16 at the Rio Olympic Velodrome in Barra.
Action moves north to Deodoro for BMX Aug. 17-19 at the Olympic BMX Centre, and mountain bike closes things out Aug. 20-21 at the Olympic Mountain Bike Centre.
Click here for the full Olympic competition schedule.
2016 U.S. Olympic Cycling Team:
BMX
Brooke Crain (Visalia, Calif./Haro Bikes-Dans Comp)
Connor Fields (Henderson, Nev./Chase BMX-Monster Energy)
Nic Long (Lakeside, Calif./Haro Bikes-Dans Comp)*
Alise Post (Chula Vista, Calif./Redline USA)*
Corben Sharrah (Tucson, Ariz./Daylight Cycle Co.)*
Mountain Bike
Lea Davison (Jericho, Vt./Specialized Factory Racing)
Howard Grotts (Durango, Colo./Specialized Factory Racing)
Chloe Woodruff (Prescott, Ariz./Stan’s NoTubes-Pivot)
Road
Mara Abbott (Boulder, Colo./Wiggle-High5): Women’s Road Race
Kristin Armstrong (Boise, Idaho/TWENTY16 p/b SHO-AIR): Women’s Road Race, Women’s Individual Time Trial
Brent Bookwalter (Asheville, N.C./BMC Racing Team): Men’s Road Race, Men’s Individual Time Trial
Megan Guarnier (Queensbury, N.Y./Boels Dolmans Cycling Team): Women’s Road Race*
Taylor Phinney (Boulder, Colo./BMC Racing Team): Men’s Road Race, Men’s Individual Time Trial
Evelyn Stevens (San Francisco, Calif./Boels Dolmans Cycling Team): Women’s Road Race, Women’s Individual Time Trial
Track
Matt Baranoski (Perkasie, Pa./Custom Velo): Men’s Keirin
Kelly Catlin (Arden Hills, Minn./NorthStar Development): Women’s Team Pursuit
Chloe Dygert (Brownsburg, Ind./TWENTY16 p/b SHO-AIR): Women’s Team Pursuit
Sarah Hammer (Colorado Springs, Colo.): Women’s Omnium*, Women’s Team Pursuit
Bobby Lea (Mertztown, Pa./Custom Velo): Men’s Omnium
Jennifer Valente (San Diego, Calif./TWENTY16 p/b SHO-AIR): Women’s Team Pursuit
Ruth Winder (Lafayette, Calif./UnitedHealthcare): Women’s Team Pursuit
*automatic nomination
All nominations to the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team are subject to approval by the United States Olympic Committee.