JUNIOR XCO/XCC QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
Cross-Country Qualifications
For both the 15-16 and 17-18 age categories, there are 120 spots available for the Cross-Country (XC) National Championship final in each respective category. Call-up procedures for the on-site qualifier and championship final will be posted by May 10th, 2024.
The first 100 spots are earned through podium placings at the 2023 USA Cycling Cross-Country National Championship, performance in the Cross-Country National Series, as well as UCI rankings (for the 17-18 category only) and USA Cycling XC rankings.
The allocation of these spots works as follows:
The defending & aged-up 2023 National Champions for XCO.
The 2023 remaining podium places in the specific age group:
Junior 17-18 (2nd – 3rd places)
Junior 15-16 (2nd – 5th places)
In each age group, the top five junior riders from every Cross-Country event in the National Series secure an automatic spot in the Nationals finals.
For events with over 100 participants, this extends to the top 10 riders.
If spots remain, the remaining positions are filled based on UCI rankings (for the 17-18 category), followed by USA Cycling XC rankings points.
Lastly, the final 20 spots are determined through an on-site qualifier.
Short Track Qualification
For both the 15-16 and 17-18 age categories, there are 75 spots available for the Short Track Cross-Country (STXC) National Championship final in each respective category. Call-up procedures for the on-site qualifier and championship final will be posted by May 10th, 2024.
The first 55 spots are earned through podium placings at the 2023 USA Cycling Cross-Country National Championship, performance in the Cross-Country National Series, as well as UCI rankings (for the 17-18 category only), USA Cycling STXC rankings, and USA Cycling XC ranking.
The allocation of these spots works as follows:
The defending & aged-up 2023 National Champions for XCO.
The 2023 remaining podium places in the specific age group:
Junior 17-18 (2nd – 3rd places)
Junior 15-16 (2nd – 5th places)
In each age group, the top five junior riders from every Cross-Country Short Track event in the National Series secure an automatic spot in the Nationals finals. For events with over 100 participants, this extends to the top 10 riders.
In the event an event runs qualifiers due to field limits, the number of riders on the combined start list will be used to determine the number of riders allocated automatic qualifying berths.
If spots remain, the remaining positions are filled based on UCI rankings (for the 17-18 category), followed by USA Cycling STXC rankings, and then by USA Cycling XC rankings.
Lastly, the final 20 spots are determined through an on-site qualifier.
NOTE: Qualifications do not have an implication on the actual call-up positions for the finals.
*UCI rankings are based on the last published rankings as of July 16th, 2024, and USA Cycling rankings are pulled as of July 16th, 2024, at 8 am ET.
Current rankings can be found using the following links: