Two Vermont Women Named to World Championship MTB Team

There’s one Vermont woman that we’ve become used to seeing standing on the podium at World Championship mountain bikes events.

And at the 2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, August 28- September 1, 2019 in Mont-Saint-Anne, Canada, Lea Davison will have the chance to score a third World Championship medal in cross-country. The Jericho resident, two-time Olympian and a founder of Little Bellas earned a silver at the 2016 World Championship and a bronze two years before, in 2014. Now, at age 36 after a brief hiatus, she’s back on the U.S. Elite Team, racing cross country

[For a full profile of Davison from a few years back, see Can Lea Davison Grab an Olympic Medal? ] 

And Lea Davison is not the only Vermonter on the U.S. Team.

This year, Pittsfield native and University of Vermont student  Mazie Hayden makes the Elite women’s team in downhill. Hayden, who is just 19,  has competed as a junior before, finishing ninth in the junior division at the 2017 World Mountain Bike Championships in Australia. A dual sport athlete, Hayden has also been a top contender in ski cross and in  2018, she earned a silver at the  FIS World Junior Ski Championships in New Zealand.

[See our story on Hayden, Switching Gears]

“This year I’m going to focus more on mountain biking,” said Hayden, a Killington Mountain School alumn who is now at UVM. Hayden has a good track record of racing at Mont Sainte Anne, having won silver at the UCI Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup there in 2018 as a junior.

This season, racing as a pro, Hayden has racked up four wins at Maxxis Eastern State Cup events, including both the downhill and enduro at Killington this past weekend.

Hayden and Davison will join a star-studded U.S. team. Looking to defend her title is 2018 World Champion, Kate Courtney (San Francisco; Scott-SRAM)  is also currently ranked first in World Cup standings for cross country.  2018 Silver Medalists Christopher Blevins (Durango, Colo.; Specialized Factory Racing) and Anna Newkirk (Riehen, Switzerland; Team Project) will also be looking to improve on last year’s performances in the U23 Cross-Country and Junior Downhill competitions respectively.

Among the competitors are several 2019 National Champions, crowned July 23-28 2019at the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships in Winter Park, Colo.:  Chloe Woodruff (Prescott, Ariz.; Stan’s NoTubes Pivot p/b Maxxis), Keegan Swenson (Park City, Utah; Stan’s NoTubes p/b Maxxis) Kelsey Urban (Kentfield, Calif.; Rouleur Devo p/b DNA Cycling), Jerry Dufour (Birmingham, Ala.; Bear Development Team), Riley Amos (Durango, Colo.; Bear Development Team),  Madeline Robbins (Durango, Colo.; Bear Development Team), Neko Mulallay (Pisgah Forest, N.C.; Intense Factory Racing), and Jill Kitner (Seattle, Wash.)

“This Mountain Bike World Championship team represents the best U.S. athletes across the board from Junior to Elite.  I expect them all to represent the United States well.  I feel very good about the strength and depth of our Women’s Cross Country Teams with Kate (Courtney) as well as phenomenal World Cup and Nation’s Cup performances from riders like Chloe Woodruff, Haley Batten and Maddie Jo Robbins. Anna Newkirk has also had a phenomenal season in Downhill and I am also looking forward to seeing great performances from the rest of our deep and talented team,” said Marc Gullickson, Performance Director of USA Cycling’s Mountain Bike Program.

The Team USA roster is as follows:

DOWNHILL

Junior Women:
Anna Newkirk* (Riehen, Switzerland; Team Project)Jordan Scott* (Las Vegas, Nev.)
Autumn Parham (Edmunds, Wash.)

Junior Men: 
Matthew Sterling* (San Jose, Calif.)
Joey Foresta (South Jordan, Utah)
Cole Suetos (Temcula, Calif.)
Dante Silva (Chula Vista, Calif)
Zach Gareis (Mars, Penn.)
Austin Dooley (Yucaipa, Calif.)

Elite Women:
Jill Kintner* (Seattle, Wash.)
Caroline Washam (Mooresville, N.C.)
Samantha Soriano (Littleton, Colo.)
Abigail Hogie (Beckley, W. Va.)
Mazie Hayden (Pittsfield, Vt.)

Elite Men:
Charlie Harrison* (Trabuco Canyon, Calif.; Trek Factory Racing)
Aaron Gwin* (Murietta, Calif.; Intense Factory Racing)
Luca Shaw* (Hendersonville, N.C.; Santa Cruz Syndicate)
Dakotah Norton* (Rotten Oaks, Tenn.; Unior Devinci Factory Racing)
Neko Mulally* (Pisgah Forest, N.C.; Intense Factory Racing)
Bruce Klein (Altadena, Calif.; Commencal/ 100% Racing Team)
Nikolas Nesteroff (San Diego, Calif.; KHS Factory Racing)

Cross Country

Junior Women:
Madeline Robbins* (Durango, Colo.; Bear Development Team)
Alexis Bobbitt* (Austin, Tex.; Bear Development Team)
Madigan Munro* (Boulder, Colo.; Boulder Junior Cycling)
Ada Urist (Boulder, Colo.; Boulder Junior Cycling)
Haley Randel (Mill Valley, Calif.; Bear Development Team)

Junior Men:
Riley Amos* (Durango, Colo.; Bear Development Team)
Bjorn Riley (Boulder, Colo.; Bear Development Team)
Robbie Day (Evergreen, Colo.; Racer X Cycling/ColoBikeLaw
Nolan Jenkins (Colorado Springs, Colo.; Rouler Devo p/b DNA Cycling)
Brennon Peterson (Sandy, Utah; Rouler Devo p/b DNA Cycling)

U23 Women:
Haley Batten* (Park City, Utah; Clif Pro Team)
Kelsey Urban* (Kentfield, Calif.; Rouler Devo p/b DNA Cycling)
Savilia Blunk (Inverness, Calif.; Sho-Air TWENTY-20)
Gwendalyn Gibson (Ramona, Calif.; Norco Bicycles)

U23 Men:
Christopher Blevins* (Durango, Colo.; Specialized Factory Racing)
Jerry Dufour* (Birmingham, Ala.; Bear Professional Team)
Cole Paton (Cashmere, Wash.; Giant Factory Off-Road Team)
Henry Nadell (Carbondale, Colo.; CZ Racing)
Sandy Floren (Berkley, Calif.; Bear Professional Team)

Elite Women: 
Kate Courtney* (San Francisco, Calif.; Scott-SRAM)
Chloe Woodruff* (Prescott, Ariz.; Stans NoTubes Pivot p/b Maxxis)
Lea Davison* (Jericho, Vt.; Sho-Air TWENTY20)
Erin Huck* (Boulder, Colo.; CZ Racing p/b SCOTT)
Alexis Skarda (Grand Junction, Colo.; Spintertainment Video)
Hannah Finchamp (Salt Lake City, Utah; Clif Pro Team)
Rose Grant (Columbia Falls, Mont. (Stans NoTubes Pivot p/b Maxxis

Elite Men:
Keegan Swenson* (Park City Utah; Stans NoTubes Pivot p/b Maxxis)
Russell Finsterwald (Colorado Springs, Colo.; Clif Pro Team)
Alex Wild (Los Gatos, Calif.; Specialized Factory Racing)
Luke Vrouwenvelder (Chapel Hill, N.C)
Stephan Davoust (Durango, Colo.; Giant Factory Off-Road Team)

Opening photo: Mazie Hayden competing at Mount Snow. Courtesy photo.