Junior & U23 XC Mountain Bike Development Race Camps

In an effort to extend international development opportunities to a larger number of our best young U.S. mountain bikers, USA Cycling will organize three cross-country mountain bike development camps in Europe, Canada and the U.S. for the spring and summer of 2013. Riders who are eager to improve through international competition are encouraged to use these camps as a primary development tool.

The team of Stephen Ettinger, Russell Finsterwald, Jack Hinkens and Kerry Werner pose at the 2011 Solothurn Swiss Racer Bikes Cup.

2013 Camp Dates

• May 17-26: Will support junior men aged 17-18
• June 28 - July 7: Will support junior men and women aged 17-18 as well as U23 men and women
• August 1-3: Will support junior men and women aged 15-18

2013 Race Schedule

• May 19 — Mont Tremblant, Canada Cup, UCI C1  (camp #1)
• May 25 — Baie Ste Paul, Canada Cup, UCI C1 (camp #1)
• June 30 — Landgraaf International, Netherlands, UCI C2 (camp #2)
• July 6 — Sankt Vith Grand Prix, Belgium, UCI C2 (camp #2)
• July 7 — Saalhausen Bundesliga, Germany, UCI C1 (camp #2)
• August 3 — Catamount Classic Pro XCT, UCI C2 (camp #3)

Financial Responsibility

• 2012 cross-country mountain bike U23 men and women national champions and 2012 cross-country mountain bike junior men and women category 1, 17-18 age group national champions will only be required to pay for their round-trip airfare.
• Any rider who qualified for automatic nomination to the 2012 Mountain Bike World Championships will only be required to pay for their round-trip airfare. This only applies to riders who qualify for the same age category at the 2013 Development Camp as they raced in 2012.
• All other attending riders will be required to pay for their round-trip airfare as well as an $1,000 camp fee for camps #1 and #2. The rider fee for Camp #3 will be $400.

Selection

• All interested riders should petition for a specific camp using the MTB Development Race Camp petition form. This form should be emailed directly to Marc Gullickson at mgullickson@usacycling.org on or before the petition deadlines:
  • Camp #1 Deadline: April 22
  • Camp #2 Deadline: June 3
  • Camp #3 Deadline: July 15
• For the first two camps, riders will be selected based on 2012 and 2013 international and domestic race results.
• For camp #3, top 15-18 year-old junior men and women performers from the three (3) USA Cycling Regional Mountain Bike Talent ID Camps may be given special consideration.

Camp Goals

• Provide high-level UCI race experience for our country's best young mountain bike riders.
• Offer an alternative to using the world championships as a development tool. The world championships should be viewed as a secondary goal after a rider has performed successfully at one of the mountain bike development camps. Of course any rider who meets the published world championship automatic selection criteria will be selected for the world championship team.
• Give riders an opportunity to experience high-level international competition in a supportive team atmosphere in advance of their participation in top-tier events such as world cups and world championships.

Looking Ahead

• In 2014, our goal will be to offer even more opportunities for U23 and Junior riders to race and train in Europe.
• Riders interested in attending 2014 mountain bike development race camps should strive to attain top results in the Mountain Bike Cross-country National Championships as well as USA Cycling Pro XCT events. International results as well as results from these domestic events will be used as the main selection events for the 2014 camps.