The U.S. XCO has experienced in 2024 the best year in terms of competition results and its federation wanted to recognize it in style a few days ago in Bentonville, Arkansas. But the historic medal of Haley Batten in Paris or the victories of Riley Amos, Chris Blevins, Kelsey Urban or Savilia Blunk do not accompany the new trends in the American country.
The Specialized Factory Racing cyclist, Haley Batten, achieved with her bronze in Paris 2024 the first Olympic medal for her country in this modality. A historical fact if we remember that we are in the nation where this sport was created in the 70s.
This was not an isolated achievement and the successes of the young Riley Amos, Trek Factory team rider who has dominated the Under-23 World Cup and managed to be seventh in the Olympic Games, the Rockrider Racing Team rider Savilia Blunk, Kelsey Urban in Team 31 or Chris Blevins, have put his country among the best world powers in the sport.
This was recognized by their Federation (USA Cycling) in pure American style last October. With a parade on convertible cars and a helicopter ride included.
But at the same time, these successes coexist with the paradox that in the United States XCO has never enjoyed great popularity among fans, who have always been the majority in other Gravity mountain bike modalities.
And now, in addition to these majority preferences, there is the relentless fashion of Gravel, one of the most booming modalities in cycling, and the United States is arguably the country with the most fans and the most crowded races.
“I think the reason gravel has grown so much is because it’s more accessible than XCO World Cup or road races. Also, the UCI XCO World Cup races have been 100 percent in Europe. I really think that can change. And when that changes it will be exciting … I think there are a lot of people who just don’t know, they don’t follow World Cup racing, but they love mountain biking, explained Cape Epic and World Cup winner Christhoper Blevis.
Haley Batten said, “It shouldn’t be one discipline against another … cycling is too small. I want other athletes to get big sponsorships and big brand endorsements. They should be earning salaries, doing media projects. Not everyone will go to an Olympics and can’t compete in the World Cup. Only a small group of people can do that and make a living at it, and if others can compete on their bike in another way and make it worthwhile, that’s awesome.”
For her part, Kelsey Urban explained, “The path to being a pro in XC can be, as in much of cycling, very elite. But especially being a kid … it’s pretty hard to make it work without a certain level of resources and people investing in you from a young age. Gravel is more accessible and it’s not just about racing for an hour and a half, they’re interested in the adventure of the race. The challenge of completing a really difficult race. It’s really amazing that people show up for that. I think there’s also a lot more of a social aspect to it. People start and finish with their friends, and that doesn’t happen in an XCO race.”
Source: www.brujulabike.com