The Road Toward Paris Begins Deep In The Heart Of Texas For U.S. Cyclists

More than 50 U.S. Para-cyclists will hit the roads of Texas this week in the opening stage of the journey toward the Paralympic Games Paris 2024.

Samantha Bosco, a 2016 Paralympian who has won four road world titles over the last two years in the WC4 class, three-time Paralympic gold medalist Shawn Morelli and 17-time Paralympic medalist Oksana Masters are among a stacked lineup of Americans competing in the U.S. Paralympics Cycling Road Open on Saturday and Sunday in Bryan, Texas.

Aaron Keith, a Paralympic silver medalist and 13-time world medalist, and four-time Paralympic medalist Joe Berenyi are among those on the men’s side.

The competition will determine 15 U.S. roster spots for two upcoming road world cup stops in Europe. Those two world cup events, which are scheduled for May in Ostend, Belgium, and Maniago, Italy, will offer qualification points toward landing berths on the 2024 Paralympic team and also help the U.S. secure quota spots.

“The team that we’re hoping to put together for the world cups in Belgium and Italy is going to be the team that can get high results because those results count toward our qualification spots for the Games,” said Ian Lawless, director of U.S. Paralympics Cycling.

“Simultaneously,” Lawless added, “the world cups are also selection events for Team USA for the Games. So, athletes have a double incentive to compete and do well at those world cups because they can help us earn slots and they can also hopefully earn spots for themselves.”

The U.S. selection races for Paris are set for July 7-8 in Loma Linda, California, but the Paralympic hopefuls from the road side must compete in world cups for consideration.

This week’s racing, which will take place on the Texas A&M-RELLIS campus in Bryan, features time trials Saturday ranging up to 32.4 kilometers and road races Sunday ranging up to 66 kilometers.

Bosco, whose path toward the Paralympic Games in Tokyo three years ago was derailed by a crash in training, has been virtually unbeatable on the road over the last two years. She has won every world cup and world championships race, as well as three medals at the 2023 Parapan American Games, including a bronze in the road race despite an early crash.

“Every race matters, but there’s always more athletes, more excitement and more emotions the year of the Games,” Bosco said. “Bryan will be a chance to just have some fun on the bike before the world cups and Paralympic trials get here.”

Bosco, who won a silver medal in the individual pursuit at the track world championships last month in Rio de Janeiro, is one of several U.S. riders attempting to make the Paralympic team in both road and track. Among those joining her in that quest are 2020 Paralympian Clara Brown, eight-time Paralympian Allison Jones, Morelli, Keith and Berenyi, all of whom competed in the track world championships.

“It’ll be interesting to see how they make that very quick transition and turn around from the track to the road,” Lawless said.

Also making a quick turnaround is Masters, a six-time Paralympian who recently completed her Nordic skiing season and won four medals at the Para biathlon world championships. She won two gold medals in the WH5 handcycling class three years ago at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

“I’m really excited to see how she does in a Games year,” Lawless said.

Morelli, a two-time Paralympian who had a pair of fourth-place finishes at the season-opening world cup stop in Adelaide, Australia, in January, will join Bosco in a highly competitive WC4 class.

Jamie Whitmore, a two-time Paralympic medalist, and Brown are leading contenders in WC3.

Kate Brim, a two-time world champion handcyclist, is coming off a season-opening performance in which she won in both the time trial and road race at Adelaide.

The women’s competition also includes Alicia Dana, a three-time Paralympian in the WH3 class who won two bronze medals in Adelaide, and Jones, an eight-time Paralympic medalist in two sports who won silver and bronze medals in WC2 in Adelaide.

Berenyi is attempting to make the Paralympic team for the fourth consecutive time in MC3, and he has competed in both road and track the last two Paralympic Games. Keith, competing in MC1, is coming off a 2023 season in which he won gold and silver medals at the world cup final in Huntsville, Alabama, then won a pair of world championships medals.

Freddie De Los Santos, a two-time Paralympian, began the year by winning a bronze medal in the road race MH5 in Adelaide.

The racing will feature the 2024 season debut of Dennis Connors, a U.S. Marine who won a gold medal in the trike class at the 2023 world championships.

“This will be the first time that we see him racing this year,” Lawless said. “I think it’ll be interesting to see where he lands.”

The competition will also feature a pair of visually impaired athletes, both of whom recently competed at track cycling world championships: Amy Dixon on the women’s side and Branden Walton on the men’s side.

Paul D. Bowker has been writing about Olympic sports since 1996, when he was an assistant bureau chief in Atlanta. He is a freelance contributor to USSpeedskating.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.