August 12, 2025 • 17 mins
Team USA Cycling announced its 2025 Worlds Mountain Bike team today, and we are bringing you a behind-the-scenes conversation on this partnership, riders to watch, and why Bentonville remains the MTB Capital.
Hear from Team USA on why our trails, community, and fan base are what make Bentonville the perfect home base.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Welcome to A New American Town.
I'm your host, nat Ross.
Today we're joined by AlecPasqualina, from USA Cycling, a
key voice behind the momentumbuilding around the US mountain
bike team, and more so.
Bentonville is the home basefor elite training and high
stakes competition.
We're talking about what itmeans for riders, fans and
visitors, from Olympic athletesto nationals and worlds.
(00:33):
We'll cover what's up with USACycling and the world of
mountain biking.
So, alec, welcome to thepodcast New American Town.
Thanks, nat, thanks for havingme.
Well, I know you're wellintegrated into Bentonville and,
speaking of USA Cycling, sinceyou've been part of the USA
Cycling performance staff,especially coaching the mountain
biking.
Being over in Europe, comingback to Bentonville, going back
(00:57):
over for every campaign, you'vebeen a big part of the mountain
bike program for the past coupleof years.
What's that feel like?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
It's really, really exciting.
Honestly, I joke all the timethat I inherited the most
perfect scenario.
I got the job right before theParis Olympics and then, all of
a sudden, the athletes performedat some of the best levels that
we've ever had, and so I'vereally just inherited a
beautiful situation and I'mreally excited to be a part of
(01:24):
it.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Well, it helps coming from the athletic background
yourself, and then it helpshaving training grounds like
Bentonville.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
So we're going to dive into that.
Why Bentonville?
What made Bentonville the rightchoice for the Team USA
mountain bike and why is it home?
This is a really good questionactually.
I think what initiallyattracted?
I see this question kind of intwo parts what initially
attracted USA Cycling's mountainbike national team to
Bentonville has slightly evolved.
A lot of the same themes thatinitially attracted us here have
become even bigger for us nowthat we've been based here for a
(02:00):
few years.
So really what we initiallynoticed is that Bentonville was
leading the charge in investmentin mountain bike trails and
infrastructure.
Like that was the immediatedraw for us, like oh, wow, a
place and a town can invest ininfrastructure like this in the
US.
We need to go check that out,we need to see what that's all
about, and so that was kind ofinitially what drew us in.
(02:22):
And ultimately, when we visitedand saw what was happening here
, it was kind of a no brainerfor the program to decide to
call this place home and thishappened, I think, in late 2022.
So it's been almost three fullyears now evolved.
(02:45):
The three things that I reallytell people why Bentonville is
so important for the success ofUSA Cycling's mountain bike
national team is is first of all, the trails.
But the trails have an evolvedunderstanding for us.
So we knew that when we we knewthat when we moved the team
here, that the trails were goingto be a big asset for us.
But what we didn't know was howthe trails would continue to
evolve and how the trails weregoing to be maintained.
Right last year we had atornado in may and and that
(03:08):
tornado took out, took downtrees, took out a lot of houses,
but but you know, in a wayclosed down many of the trails
here in bentonville.
What was amazing to see was theresponse from that and that
just reaffirmed, uh, for us thislike investment in bentonville
as our home, like why it all wasimportant because all those
(03:28):
trails were back up and runningby a combination of volunteers,
professional trail staff and andand everyone to just bring them
back in a couple short months.
So that was really exciting.
The other part of the trails forme, of kind of our more evolved
understanding of the area, wasthe investment hasn't stopped,
like right now we're we're verypatiently awaiting this new bike
(03:51):
park in Bella Vista, and to methat this is like how the
evolution of trail and trailaccess just continues to get
better and better.
If you visited Bentonville lastyear, your understanding and
and your your fun on the trailsis going to continue to be blown
out of the water every singletime you come back.
And for us, as a program, wecan have a camp here in 2025.
(04:14):
And then in 2026, that campmight get better and our access
to terrain and trails might geteven better because of just the
continual investment in the area.
So, first and foremost, that'swhy it's so meaningful to have a
home here.
The second piece that we'vereally noticed, as we've been
here for three years, is is thecommunity.
The community mobilizes tosupport cycling in kind of the
(04:37):
coolest ways, and I have twoexamples of that.
Uh, the first was last yearcollegiate mountain bike
nationals, umals.
So after the hurricane,obviously we had to for those
who don't know, we had to cancelCollegiate Mountain Bike
Nationals in the fall of lastyear.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
So there was a different venue, different state
, everything.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Yeah, everything was ready to go in a completely
different place.
And in less than 30 days,bentonville raised their hand to
say hey, we think we could pulloff a collegiate national so
that these graduating seniorscould have something to race.
And not only that what a lot ofpeople don't realize is to pull
that event off in 30 days fromzero readiness.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
The disciplines, the disciplines alone.
Like what disciplines were theyracing?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Totally.
It's not like you're justholding one bike race.
You're holding a short track,you're holding a cross country
event, you're holding a teamrelay, you're holding a downhill
event, you're holding a dualslalom.
Am I missing anything that?
Speaker 1 (05:33):
No, those are the disciplines.
That's a lot.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
And that's a lot of different trails.
And so seeing what VisitBentonville and the entire
Bentonville community did tobuild trails, put pieces
together, make sure athletesafety was at the forefront and
just honestly give give thisrace a fair shot, give these
graduating college seniors anevent, um like, just watching
(05:56):
the way that Bentonvillecommunity supported cycling in
that way was unbelievable froman event that was canceled.
The other cool thing that I'vegotten to be a part of and the
team has gotten to be a part ofhere is like a local town series
Seeing the way that thecommunity can engage in local
bike racing and really come outand support each other and
(06:17):
support the growth of the sportin an area Everyone has their
own version of like WednesdayNight Worlds where they're from.
But to see the way that can beprofessionalized here and and
still have that fun localatmosphere but also be a
platform where riders can earnUSA cycling points for better
start position at nationals.
Just the way that the communityfully embraces the sport and
(06:40):
the support of the athletestrying to grow and progress.
The sport has been really cooland you know not to be too
long-winded.
But the third piece of whatreally makes Bentonville the
right choice for Team USAmountain bike is the fandom and
interest.
Like, let's be honest, in the USmountain biking is kind of a
(07:01):
niche sport.
Right, when we go to Europe inyears past, we're going to
represent more or less our ownathletes and ourselves.
Right, it's an individual sportwhere, yes, we might come from
different hometowns but we'rekind of competing in this less
known, less popular sport.
What Bentonville has reallygiven us that we were beyond
(07:23):
surprised about is they've givenus like a collective group to
represent and as athletesperforming on the highest stage.
You know, watching some of ourathletes compete, knowing what's
at home, cheering for them, canbe incredibly motivating and
inspiring.
Right, it's kind of a two-waystreet.
Our biggest hero athletesinspire us at home, but actually
(07:46):
our biggest hero athletes areinspired by everyone at home
cheering for them.
And so to create a home wherewe know that we have a community
of people that, like, has agenuine interest in how well
they're doing and and you know,is really inspired by what
they're doing, gives us evenmore motivation to compete at
the highest level.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
And it came full circle with the parade, the
welcome parade.
That happened downtown, wherethe athletes were kind of blown
away with all the reception whenthey came back to Bentonville
after a successful campaign.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Yeah, that was inspiring for us all to see how
invested the community was inthe success that we had at the
Olympics and World Championshipslast year.
It was the most inspiring thingfor us.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
I love it.
Well, just to circle back tothe kind of campground, the
trails, why the mountain biketeam is set up here.
What are some of the featuresthat this terrain offers?
Or the Ozarks, or NorthwestArkansas, bentonville, riding up
into Bella Vista, what?
How do the athletes benefitfrom the terrain here?
Or the trails?
What's like a really goodtakeaway that someone else
(08:53):
listening to this podcast couldcome here and get value out of
as well, just the same way theathletes do.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Totally.
I think about this questionoften, actually, and for me you
know every area of the country,kind of every place that we
visit to go race, you know everyarea of the country, kind of
every place that we visit to gorace you know, not just in the
country but around the world tome has like a defining feature,
right.
The thing I really like abouthosting camps in Bentonville and
just like encouraging people tovisit, is there really is
(09:21):
something for everyone here.
We have like amazing wetweather riding here and that's
like sometimes often missed, andwhen I'm trying to host camps
in January and February, I can'tbe worried about programming if
it's going to rain or dry andhaving multiple different
schedules.
You know, just having a placewhere we know, okay, we have our
wet weather route and that'sready to go and we know we can
(09:43):
do skills here, we have thejumps that we need to practice
that, we have the technicaltrails, you know we have the
right, the right features fortraining that we need.
To me it's just kind of an allrounded package, right, and so
it's a place that we've come tobe able to depend on, and that's
that's what I always come backto when people ask that question
(10:05):
of like what is it about thetrain?
Here we kind of have everything.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Yeah, I mean you're nailing the foundation for what
the athletes need, and then alsojust the general public when
you come to ride a mountain biketrail.
This has got a little bit ofeverything.
So, I think, um, let's talkabout the Olympics, the Olympic
momentum and kind of what theseason looks like.
So typically, a lot of folks dounderstand that the Olympics
are the end all be all and someathletes that's what they train
(10:32):
for.
But you've got a lot ofathletes that build campaigns
around other than the Olympics,different goals and objectives.
You got back from Europe.
You had several campaigns ofWorld Cup races already, but
what does a race season looklike for these athletes?
What time of year does it start?
When do they get a break ifthey get a break at all and when
(10:54):
can we expect to host you guysagain in Bentonville?
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Yeah, totally.
We have a really, reallyexciting sport in the fact that
we do have an Olympic race, inthe fact that we do have an
Olympic race.
And so you know, most of ourathletes have dreams of and
ambitions to make the Olympicteam and to do well at the
Olympics.
But to put it in perspective,the maximum riders a country can
(11:20):
qualify for the Olympics is twoper gender and we have one
Olympic race every four years,right Like that.
That's a lofty bar and noteveryone will ever get to that
level.
So so kind of the way thatthat's broken down is every year
we have a world championshipevent in which we can qualify up
to seven riders per category,so that basically that's the
(11:42):
highest level of our sport.
Most years that aren't Olympicyears.
And then the way that tricklesdown is we have 10 World Cups
underneath that.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
And the.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
World Cups start in April and end in October, so
it's a long, long season andthere's a lot of travel.
It's not like we're going toUtah and we're going to another
place for World Cup, it's we'retransferring from Brazil to the
Czech Republic and then back toLake Placid, new York, across a
whole season.
So it's a long season and,quite honestly, it's impossible
(12:10):
to be good for 10 World Cups.
So then you build kind of aseason with other smaller events
of okay, how do you do well atthe World Cups, how do you
qualify for world championships,and you pick and choose kind of
from there.
So yeah, that's a bit of howour sport's set up.
It really gives us a cool piein the Um, but then the primary
(12:33):
viewership and the primary sportis is really hosted by those 10
world cups per year.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, and I feel like in Bentonville we can feed the
grassroots element with the townseries, like you were
mentioning, the short trackraces all the way to the
national championships which arein um the middle of the summer
for a lot of the athletes.
Some will come home um of theof your athletes on the national
team and race to try and winthat USA jersey to wear in the
(12:58):
entire year in the World Cupcampaign.
But others, depending on theirage category, can race to the
national championships and someof them are locals and even in
the marathon discipline we'vegot local from Bentonville male,
female juniors that are now thenational champions training on
these trails that will somedayaspire to be in your program.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Totally, totally yeah , and I actually saw a couple Oz
riders won the marathoncategory just the other day.
I mean, we've been waiting forthis to happen right, we've been
waiting for, okay, we'rebringing the most elite athletes
to this area because of all theresources and benefits here.
It's obviously going to takesome time for the young talent
(13:39):
to really grow up with it anduse it to their advantage.
I think that's already startingto happen in just a couple,
three short years.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
So you're feeling it with USA Cycling.
You can already see thebenefits.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Oh, absolutely, and I don't necessarily want to call
names out because they're youngjunior riders, but we do have a
lot of juniors on our radar thatare based here in Bentonville
that we as a national programare beyond excited about.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Yeah, I mean, the trails here are top notch,
they're world class, top caliber, and I think this just bodes to
the effect that if you trainand ride on these trails, you're
naturally and you put in theeffort, you're naturally going
to rise to the top, absolutely.
Yeah, great.
Well, I think we have to talkabout Christopher Blevins here
real quick, because I think wehave a rising American star.
(14:24):
That it was Haley Batten in theOlympics for the females last
year, but this year, out of thegun, christopher Blevins came
out swinging.
So fill us in on what that islike for USA Cycling that much
momentum leading the World Cups.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Absolutely.
Yeah, I mean, for some of us itwas hard.
It was hard to be a part ofChristopher's year last year
because he had a number ofsetbacks that we it was hard to
see him underperform to hispotential last year.
It was such a big and importantyear.
So to see him come out at thebeginning of this year
(14:59):
completely turning it around andwinning five short track World
Cups and also a number ofcross-country World Cups, I mean
it is beyond exciting to watchand he's giving us, for the
first time in a long time, anAmerican male like literally on
the top step of the podium atWorld Cups consistently.
(15:20):
I cannot wait to see what hedoes the next three years and
how he might bring that to theLA games.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Yeah, and it's not just all about Christopher
Blevins, but literally to havethat much success this year and
just be that far ahead of theelite world field, it's pretty
special.
Yeah, it's certainly ourbiggest story this year and just
be that far ahead of the eliteworld field, it's pretty special
.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Yeah, it's certainly our biggest story this year and
kudos to Christopher Love it.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Well, we're looking forward to seeing you guys in
the fall.
This is Team USA Cycling thatyou'll bring in the national
team to do some training here.
So what trails may we see youon?
When can we expect to like seeall the national team athletes
bouncing around Bentonville andriding the trails?
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Yeah, we're so excited.
Every year we've kind ofstarted this new tradition of
celebrating our season here inthe fall.
So unfortunately, mont St Anne,our final World Cup, is on the
same weekend as Little Sugar.
But as soon as that's over, onthat Monday, we plan to fly back
to Bentonville and spend theMonday through Monday that
encompasses the Big Sugarweekend to be here to engage
(16:22):
with the community, to ride withthe fans, tbd on exactly what's
on our calendar, but we willfor sure have some sort of
community race.
We'd love to get out there andsee how fast the youngsters are.
We'll also probably have a sitdown of some sort, a way that
the community can come askquestions For us.
(16:43):
We really feel Bentonville'ssupport.
So it's important in October tocome back when our season is
done and to give back in everyway that we can.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Well, this is huge.
We're honored that USA Cyclinghas an office in the ledger,
that you yourself live inBentonville and coach the
national team with the highcaliber athletes having this
much success.
It's very special.
All right, alec and I are goingto go hit the trails here
because they're primo right now,but if you want to learn more
about USA Cycling or any of thetrails, go to
(17:16):
visitbintonvillecom or follow uson social at BikeBintonville to
stay in the know.
Alec and I are on the trails.
We'll see you next time.
Welcome to A New American Town.
I'm your host, nat Ross.
Today we're joined by AlecPasqualina, from USA Cycling, a
key voice behind the momentumbuilding around the US mountain
bike team, and more so.
Bentonville is the home basefor elite training and high
stakes competition.
We're talking about what itmeans for riders, fans and
visitors, from Olympic athletesto nationals and worlds.
(00:33):
We'll cover what's up with USACycling and the world of
mountain biking.
So, alec, welcome to thepodcast New American Town.
Thanks, nat, thanks for havingme.
Well, I know you're wellintegrated into Bentonville and,
speaking of USA Cycling, sinceyou've been part of the USA
Cycling performance staff,especially coaching the mountain
biking.
Being over in Europe, comingback to Bentonville, going back
(00:57):
over for every campaign, you'vebeen a big part of the mountain
bike program for the past coupleof years.
What's that feel like?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
It's really, really exciting.
Honestly, I joke all the timethat I inherited the most
perfect scenario.
I got the job right before theParis Olympics and then, all of
a sudden, the athletes performedat some of the best levels that
we've ever had, and so I'vereally just inherited a
beautiful situation and I'mreally excited to be a part of
(01:24):
it.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Well, it helps coming from the athletic background
yourself, and then it helpshaving training grounds like
Bentonville.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
So we're going to dive into that.
Why Bentonville?
What made Bentonville the rightchoice for the Team USA
mountain bike and why is it home?
This is a really good questionactually.
I think what initiallyattracted?
I see this question kind of intwo parts what initially
attracted USA Cycling's mountainbike national team to
Bentonville has slightly evolved.
A lot of the same themes thatinitially attracted us here have
become even bigger for us nowthat we've been based here for a
(02:00):
few years.
So really what we initiallynoticed is that Bentonville was
leading the charge in investmentin mountain bike trails and
infrastructure.
Like that was the immediatedraw for us, like oh, wow, a
place and a town can invest ininfrastructure like this in the
US.
We need to go check that out,we need to see what that's all
about, and so that was kind ofinitially what drew us in.
(02:22):
And ultimately, when we visitedand saw what was happening here
, it was kind of a no brainerfor the program to decide to
call this place home and thishappened, I think, in late 2022.
So it's been almost three fullyears now evolved.
(02:45):
The three things that I reallytell people why Bentonville is
so important for the success ofUSA Cycling's mountain bike
national team is is first of all, the trails.
But the trails have an evolvedunderstanding for us.
So we knew that when we we knewthat when we moved the team
here, that the trails were goingto be a big asset for us.
But what we didn't know was howthe trails would continue to
evolve and how the trails weregoing to be maintained.
Right last year we had atornado in may and and that
(03:08):
tornado took out, took downtrees, took out a lot of houses,
but but you know, in a wayclosed down many of the trails
here in bentonville.
What was amazing to see was theresponse from that and that
just reaffirmed, uh, for us thislike investment in bentonville
as our home, like why it all wasimportant because all those
(03:28):
trails were back up and runningby a combination of volunteers,
professional trail staff and andand everyone to just bring them
back in a couple short months.
So that was really exciting.
The other part of the trails forme, of kind of our more evolved
understanding of the area, wasthe investment hasn't stopped,
like right now we're we're verypatiently awaiting this new bike
(03:51):
park in Bella Vista, and to methat this is like how the
evolution of trail and trailaccess just continues to get
better and better.
If you visited Bentonville lastyear, your understanding and
and your your fun on the trailsis going to continue to be blown
out of the water every singletime you come back.
And for us, as a program, wecan have a camp here in 2025.
(04:14):
And then in 2026, that campmight get better and our access
to terrain and trails might geteven better because of just the
continual investment in the area.
So, first and foremost, that'swhy it's so meaningful to have a
home here.
The second piece that we'vereally noticed, as we've been
here for three years, is is thecommunity.
The community mobilizes tosupport cycling in kind of the
(04:37):
coolest ways, and I have twoexamples of that.
Uh, the first was last yearcollegiate mountain bike
nationals, umals.
So after the hurricane,obviously we had to for those
who don't know, we had to cancelCollegiate Mountain Bike
Nationals in the fall of lastyear.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
So there was a different venue, different state
, everything.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Yeah, everything was ready to go in a completely
different place.
And in less than 30 days,bentonville raised their hand to
say hey, we think we could pulloff a collegiate national so
that these graduating seniorscould have something to race.
And not only that what a lot ofpeople don't realize is to pull
that event off in 30 days fromzero readiness.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
The disciplines, the disciplines alone.
Like what disciplines were theyracing?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Totally.
It's not like you're justholding one bike race.
You're holding a short track,you're holding a cross country
event, you're holding a teamrelay, you're holding a downhill
event, you're holding a dualslalom.
Am I missing anything that?
Speaker 1 (05:33):
No, those are the disciplines.
That's a lot.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
And that's a lot of different trails.
And so seeing what VisitBentonville and the entire
Bentonville community did tobuild trails, put pieces
together, make sure athletesafety was at the forefront and
just honestly give give thisrace a fair shot, give these
graduating college seniors anevent, um like, just watching
(05:56):
the way that Bentonvillecommunity supported cycling in
that way was unbelievable froman event that was canceled.
The other cool thing that I'vegotten to be a part of and the
team has gotten to be a part ofhere is like a local town series
Seeing the way that thecommunity can engage in local
bike racing and really come outand support each other and
(06:17):
support the growth of the sportin an area Everyone has their
own version of like WednesdayNight Worlds where they're from.
But to see the way that can beprofessionalized here and and
still have that fun localatmosphere but also be a
platform where riders can earnUSA cycling points for better
start position at nationals.
Just the way that the communityfully embraces the sport and
(06:40):
the support of the athletestrying to grow and progress.
The sport has been really cooland you know not to be too
long-winded.
But the third piece of whatreally makes Bentonville the
right choice for Team USAmountain bike is the fandom and
interest.
Like, let's be honest, in the USmountain biking is kind of a
(07:01):
niche sport.
Right, when we go to Europe inyears past, we're going to
represent more or less our ownathletes and ourselves.
Right, it's an individual sportwhere, yes, we might come from
different hometowns but we'rekind of competing in this less
known, less popular sport.
What Bentonville has reallygiven us that we were beyond
(07:23):
surprised about is they've givenus like a collective group to
represent and as athletesperforming on the highest stage.
You know, watching some of ourathletes compete, knowing what's
at home, cheering for them, canbe incredibly motivating and
inspiring.
Right, it's kind of a two-waystreet.
Our biggest hero athletesinspire us at home, but actually
(07:46):
our biggest hero athletes areinspired by everyone at home
cheering for them.
And so to create a home wherewe know that we have a community
of people that, like, has agenuine interest in how well
they're doing and and you know,is really inspired by what
they're doing, gives us evenmore motivation to compete at
the highest level.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
And it came full circle with the parade, the
welcome parade.
That happened downtown, wherethe athletes were kind of blown
away with all the reception whenthey came back to Bentonville
after a successful campaign.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Yeah, that was inspiring for us all to see how
invested the community was inthe success that we had at the
Olympics and World Championshipslast year.
It was the most inspiring thingfor us.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
I love it.
Well, just to circle back tothe kind of campground, the
trails, why the mountain biketeam is set up here.
What are some of the featuresthat this terrain offers?
Or the Ozarks, or NorthwestArkansas, bentonville, riding up
into Bella Vista, what?
How do the athletes benefitfrom the terrain here?
Or the trails?
What's like a really goodtakeaway that someone else
(08:53):
listening to this podcast couldcome here and get value out of
as well, just the same way theathletes do.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Totally.
I think about this questionoften, actually, and for me you
know every area of the country,kind of every place that we
visit to go race, you know everyarea of the country, kind of
every place that we visit to gorace you know, not just in the
country but around the world tome has like a defining feature,
right.
The thing I really like abouthosting camps in Bentonville and
just like encouraging people tovisit, is there really is
(09:21):
something for everyone here.
We have like amazing wetweather riding here and that's
like sometimes often missed, andwhen I'm trying to host camps
in January and February, I can'tbe worried about programming if
it's going to rain or dry andhaving multiple different
schedules.
You know, just having a placewhere we know, okay, we have our
wet weather route and that'sready to go and we know we can
(09:43):
do skills here, we have thejumps that we need to practice
that, we have the technicaltrails, you know we have the
right, the right features fortraining that we need.
To me it's just kind of an allrounded package, right, and so
it's a place that we've come tobe able to depend on, and that's
that's what I always come backto when people ask that question
(10:05):
of like what is it about thetrain?
Here we kind of have everything.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Yeah, I mean you're nailing the foundation for what
the athletes need, and then alsojust the general public when
you come to ride a mountain biketrail.
This has got a little bit ofeverything.
So, I think, um, let's talkabout the Olympics, the Olympic
momentum and kind of what theseason looks like.
So typically, a lot of folks dounderstand that the Olympics
are the end all be all and someathletes that's what they train
(10:32):
for.
But you've got a lot ofathletes that build campaigns
around other than the Olympics,different goals and objectives.
You got back from Europe.
You had several campaigns ofWorld Cup races already, but
what does a race season looklike for these athletes?
What time of year does it start?
When do they get a break ifthey get a break at all and when
(10:54):
can we expect to host you guysagain in Bentonville?
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Yeah, totally.
We have a really, reallyexciting sport in the fact that
we do have an Olympic race, inthe fact that we do have an
Olympic race.
And so you know, most of ourathletes have dreams of and
ambitions to make the Olympicteam and to do well at the
Olympics.
But to put it in perspective,the maximum riders a country can
(11:20):
qualify for the Olympics is twoper gender and we have one
Olympic race every four years,right Like that.
That's a lofty bar and noteveryone will ever get to that
level.
So so kind of the way thatthat's broken down is every year
we have a world championshipevent in which we can qualify up
to seven riders per category,so that basically that's the
(11:42):
highest level of our sport.
Most years that aren't Olympicyears.
And then the way that tricklesdown is we have 10 World Cups
underneath that.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
And the.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
World Cups start in April and end in October, so
it's a long, long season andthere's a lot of travel.
It's not like we're going toUtah and we're going to another
place for World Cup, it's we'retransferring from Brazil to the
Czech Republic and then back toLake Placid, new York, across a
whole season.
So it's a long season and,quite honestly, it's impossible
(12:10):
to be good for 10 World Cups.
So then you build kind of aseason with other smaller events
of okay, how do you do well atthe World Cups, how do you
qualify for world championships,and you pick and choose kind of
from there.
So yeah, that's a bit of howour sport's set up.
It really gives us a cool piein the Um, but then the primary
(12:33):
viewership and the primary sportis is really hosted by those 10
world cups per year.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, and I feel like in Bentonville we can feed the
grassroots element with the townseries, like you were
mentioning, the short trackraces all the way to the
national championships which arein um the middle of the summer
for a lot of the athletes.
Some will come home um of theof your athletes on the national
team and race to try and winthat USA jersey to wear in the
(12:58):
entire year in the World Cupcampaign.
But others, depending on theirage category, can race to the
national championships and someof them are locals and even in
the marathon discipline we'vegot local from Bentonville male,
female juniors that are now thenational champions training on
these trails that will somedayaspire to be in your program.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Totally, totally yeah , and I actually saw a couple Oz
riders won the marathoncategory just the other day.
I mean, we've been waiting forthis to happen right, we've been
waiting for, okay, we'rebringing the most elite athletes
to this area because of all theresources and benefits here.
It's obviously going to takesome time for the young talent
(13:39):
to really grow up with it anduse it to their advantage.
I think that's already startingto happen in just a couple,
three short years.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
So you're feeling it with USA Cycling.
You can already see thebenefits.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Oh, absolutely, and I don't necessarily want to call
names out because they're youngjunior riders, but we do have a
lot of juniors on our radar thatare based here in Bentonville
that we as a national programare beyond excited about.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Yeah, I mean, the trails here are top notch,
they're world class, top caliber, and I think this just bodes to
the effect that if you trainand ride on these trails, you're
naturally and you put in theeffort, you're naturally going
to rise to the top, absolutely.
Yeah, great.
Well, I think we have to talkabout Christopher Blevins here
real quick, because I think wehave a rising American star.
(14:24):
That it was Haley Batten in theOlympics for the females last
year, but this year, out of thegun, christopher Blevins came
out swinging.
So fill us in on what that islike for USA Cycling that much
momentum leading the World Cups.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Absolutely.
Yeah, I mean, for some of us itwas hard.
It was hard to be a part ofChristopher's year last year
because he had a number ofsetbacks that we it was hard to
see him underperform to hispotential last year.
It was such a big and importantyear.
So to see him come out at thebeginning of this year
(14:59):
completely turning it around andwinning five short track World
Cups and also a number ofcross-country World Cups, I mean
it is beyond exciting to watchand he's giving us, for the
first time in a long time, anAmerican male like literally on
the top step of the podium atWorld Cups consistently.
(15:20):
I cannot wait to see what hedoes the next three years and
how he might bring that to theLA games.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Yeah, and it's not just all about Christopher
Blevins, but literally to havethat much success this year and
just be that far ahead of theelite world field, it's pretty
special.
Yeah, it's certainly ourbiggest story this year and just
be that far ahead of the eliteworld field, it's pretty special
.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Yeah, it's certainly our biggest story this year and
kudos to Christopher Love it.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Well, we're looking forward to seeing you guys in
the fall.
This is Team USA Cycling thatyou'll bring in the national
team to do some training here.
So what trails may we see youon?
When can we expect to like seeall the national team athletes
bouncing around Bentonville andriding the trails?
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Yeah, we're so excited.
Every year we've kind ofstarted this new tradition of
celebrating our season here inthe fall.
So unfortunately, mont St Anne,our final World Cup, is on the
same weekend as Little Sugar.
But as soon as that's over, onthat Monday, we plan to fly back
to Bentonville and spend theMonday through Monday that
encompasses the Big Sugarweekend to be here to engage
(16:22):
with the community, to ride withthe fans, tbd on exactly what's
on our calendar, but we willfor sure have some sort of
community race.
We'd love to get out there andsee how fast the youngsters are.
We'll also probably have a sitdown of some sort, a way that
the community can come askquestions For us.
(16:43):
We really feel Bentonville'ssupport.
So it's important in October tocome back when our season is
done and to give back in everyway that we can.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Well, this is huge.
We're honored that USA Cyclinghas an office in the ledger,
that you yourself live inBentonville and coach the
national team with the highcaliber athletes having this
much success.
It's very special.
All right, alec and I are goingto go hit the trails here
because they're primo right now,but if you want to learn more
about USA Cycling or any of thetrails, go to
(17:16):
visitbintonvillecom or follow uson social at BikeBintonville to
stay in the know.
Alec and I are on the trails.
We'll see you next time.
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