Twenty-two road cyclists set to represent U.S. at 2023 Para-Cycling World Championships

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO ­– Following the U.S. Paralympics Cycling Rock Prairie Time Trial race, 22 athletes have been named to the roster that will compete for Team USA at the 2023 UCI Para-Cycling Road World Championships later this summer in Glasgow, Scotland.

The roster includes 11 athletes who have raced at a Paralympic Games, combining for 40 Paralympic medals. It also features eight former world champions, while six athletes are making their world championships debut.

For the first time ever, Para-cycling worlds will be contested in conjunction with able-bodied world championships. Set to be held August 3-13, the competition will feature all disciplines for both able-bodied and Para. The U.S. Paralympics Cycling worlds team for track cycling will be announced in July.

“The 22 athletes racing for the United States at our road world championships this summer represent the best Team USA has to offer,” Ian Lawless, Director of U.S. Paralympics Cycling, said. “They have already proven themselves on the world cup circuit and also through our selection event this year, and we can’t wait to see where they stack up among the best in the world on the sport’s biggest stage.”

Headlining the group are Paralympians Clara Brown (Falmouth, Maine), Samantha Bosco (Claremont, California) and Oksana Masters (Louisville, Kentucky), all of whom earned automatic berths to Glasgow based on their reigning world champion status. Bosco and Masters both won double gold in the time trial and road races at last year’s world championships, while Brown is the defending time trial champion.

Masters, the most decorated U.S. Winter Paralympian of all time, will look to make a return to her handcycle after rehabilitating an injury that kept her sidelined during the 2023 world cup season. The 17-time Paralympic medalist has 24 world championship medals to her name between cycling and Nordic skiing.

Bosco, meanwhile, has continued to tear through her international competition slate this season, winning every WC4 race she’s entered. She and Brown claimed the overall world cup titles in the WC4 and WC3 competitions, respectively, this season. Brown, a 2020 Paralympian, is looking to add to her 11 career world championship podiums as she makes her fifth worlds appearance. Bosco is a 15-time worlds medalist and is set for her 15th worlds team between road and track cycling.

Joining Bosco, Brown and Masters on the women’s side are Paralympic medalists Alicia Dana (Putney, Vermont), Allison Jones (Colorado Springs, Colorado), Shawn Morelli (Meadville, Pennsylvania) and Jamie Whitmore (Somerset, California), as well as Jenna Rollman (Rancho Cucamonga, California) and Elizabeth Mis (Medina, Ohio).

An eight-time Paralympic medalist, Jones is set to compete in her second world championships since coming out of retirement. The eight-time Paralympian has secured five world cup medals in 2023, all of them bronze.

Morelli, a three-time Paralympic champion, is set for her 11th world championships team. Over her career, she has amassed 16 world championship medals, 12 of which are gold. Whitmore rounds out the women’s bicyclists, and the two-time Paralympic medalist is set to compete in the WC3 races. Whitmore’s 21 career worlds medals have come across 14 event appearances across both road and track. Mis is set for her second career world championships appearance – her best career finish came in last year’s MC5 time trial, when she finished sixth.

Along with Masters, Dana and Rollman will make up the women’s handcycling contingent for Team USA. The duo went 1-2 in the time trial at the first-ever U.S.-hosted UCI Para-Cycling Road World Cup last month in Huntsville, Alabama. A three-time Paralympic medalist, Dana is looking to add to her 10 career world championships medals, which include two golds, while Rollman is making her worlds debut after her strongest season to date on the world cup circuit.

On the men’s side, Dennis Connors (Beaverton, Oregon) led the way on the world cup circuit this season, winning five medals in six MT2 races. The 2022 world championships silver medalist in the road race, Connors makes his third worlds roster and will be the lone tricyclist representing Team USA on the world stage this summer.

A contingent of eight men’s handcyclists joins Connors on the roster, including Paralympic medalists Freddie De Los Santos (Hopewell Junction, New York), Travis Gaertner (Burien, Washington) and Ryan Pinney (Phoenix, Arizona). De Los Santos and Pinney were both part of the bronze medal-winning relay team in Tokyo, while Gaertner, a two-time Paralympic champion in wheelchair basketball, is making his third world championships team as a Para-cyclist.

Strong performances throughout 2023 also propelled men’s handcyclists Brandon Lyons (St. Augustine, Florida), Owen Daniels (Fontana, California), Barry Wilcox (West Jordan, Utah), Cody Wills (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) and Zachary Stinson (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania) to the 22-athlete roster.

Lyons won the first two international medals of his Para-cycling career this season, finishing the season ranked fifth in the UCI’s MH3 standings. He also won the MH3 world championships selection race over Pinney and Daniels, who came second and third, respectively. Daniels’ season was highlighted by a world cup win in the road race in Ostend, Belgium, where he went 1-2 with Lyons. Lyons and Daniels are both set for their world championships debuts.

Wilcox and Wills both stood out in the Huntsville stop on the world cup circuit, each picking up two medals and also winning the MH1 and MH2 selection races, respectively, to earn the nomination to their first world championships team. Stinson, also in his world championships debut, will make his first career international trip as a Para-cyclist. A former U.S. Marine, Stinson is also a national champion in paratriathlon.

Rounding out the roster are four men’s bicyclists, led by Paralympic silver medalist Aaron Keith (Woodinville, Washington). A 10-time world championships medalist, Keith makes his 13th worlds roster across road and track cycling. He is joined by MC4 athletes John Terrell (Converse, Texas) and C.J. Howard (Sacramento, California) as well as MC3 racer Noah Middlestaedt (Saint Cloud, Minnesota).

Already a track cycling world championships medalist, Terrell makes his second road roster seeking his first worlds medal in the discipline. Howard and Middlestaedt are each set for their second road world championships, while Middlestaedt also competed at the 2019 track world championships.

For updates from the 2023 UCI Para-Cycling Road World Championships, follow U.S. Paralympics Cycling on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For media requests and photo inquiries, please contact Kristen Gowdy at Kristen.Gowdy@usopc.org.

2023 U.S. Paralympics Cycling Road World Championships Roster

Men

Dennis Connors

Owen Daniels

Freddie De Los Santos

Travis Gaertner

C.J. Howard

Aaron Keith

Brandon Lyons

Noah Middlestaedt

Ryan Pinney

Zachary Stinson

John Terrell

Barry Wilcox

Cody Wills

Women

Samantha Bosco

Clara Brown

Alicia Dana

Allison Jones

Oksana Masters

Elizabeth Mis

Shawn Morelli

Jenna Rollman

Jamie Whitmore

In the 2023 UCI Para‐cycling Road World Championships Selection Procedures, the maximum team size is twenty-two athletes and U.S. Paralympics Cycling desires to fill all available spots to enhance its ability to obtain country quota slots for the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games. After U.S. Paralympics Cycling followed the criteria in the selection procedures, with the fact that an athlete who is an outgoing Road World Champion (an automatic qualification spot) will not be able to compete, an open spot has been left. Although the Replacement Procedures in Section 4.1.1 do not specifically contemplate replacement for an automatic qualification spot, the Replacement Procedures do utilize discretionary selection as the only method to fill slots. To support an athlete’s opportunity to participate and fill all available spots, U.S. Paralympics Cycling has filled the remaining spot through the discretionary selection process.