Monster Army athletes will be heading to Auckland, New Zealand today, to compete at the UCI BMX World Championships!

USA Cycling on Tuesday announced its 19-rider team heading to Auckland, New Zealand, to compete at the UCI BMX World Championships, July 24-28. The squad representing the U.S. is stocked with talent. All five U.S. Olympic Team members who competed at the London Games are among the contingent that boasts 10 world championship medals, three of them gold..

Connor Fields (Henderson, N.V./Chase BMX), a 2012 Olympian and currently second in the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup rankings, will be defending his world championship title in the elite men's time trial in Auckland. He will be joined by his Olympic teammates from London, David Herman (Wheat Ridge, Colo./Free Agent-Rockstar) and Nic Long (Lakeside, Calif./Haro Bikes), who is coming off his elite national championships win in May. Rounding out the strong men's team are 2013 elite national bronze medalist Jared Garcia (Victorville, Calif./Speedline-Supercross), Barry Nobles (Wetumpka, Ala./DK Bicycles), Justin Posey (Winston Salem, N.C./Dan’s Competition) and Corben Sharrah (Tucson, Ariz./GT Redbull). www.usacycling.org/usacgallery/photo/2013/Jun/connor-fields-PapendalTT-med.jpg

The women's elite team is equally deep with talent as 2012 Olympians Brooke Crain (Visalia, Calif./Haro Bikes) and Alise Post (Saint Cloud, Minn./Redline) will be joined by 2012 Olympic qualifier Arielle Martin (Spanaway, Wash./Intense BMX). Crain won silver medals in the junior women's time trial at the world championships in 2011 and the junior women's supercross in 2010, as well as a bronze medal in the same event in 2011. Post and Martin (who qualified but could not compete at the London Games due to injury) each hold a bronze medal in the elite women's supercross world championships in 2010 and 2009, respectively.

Nine athletes, including defending world time trial and supercross champion Felicia Stancil (Lake Villa, Ill./GT Bicycles) will represent the U.S. in the juniors portion of the competition in Auckland. Stancil swept the juniors elite events at last year's world championships in Birmingham, England, and the 18-year-old will be looking for more hardware next month. She will be joined on the women's juniors team by Shealen Reno (Plano, Texas/Hyper Bicycles) and Shay Glynn (Norco, Calif./Profile-Monster).

The men's juniors team is led by defending silver medalist in the juniors world supercross, Maliek Byndloss (Cape Coral, Fla./Factory Ssquared), who is currently ranked fourth in the UCI juniors men's rankings. Joining Byndloss on the U.S. team is ninth-ranked Sean Gaian (Santee, Calif./Factory GT), 2013 juniors national silver medalist Alden Volle (Penryn, Calif./Dan's Comp), juniors bronze medalist at the 2013 USA Cycling Amateur BMX National Championships Hunter Pelham (Conroe, Texas/Haro-Promax), Bryce Betts (Brentwood, Calif.) and Cole Tesar (Huntersville, N.C./Factory Felt-SC ActionSP).

"This may be one of the strongest teams USA Cycling has ever fielded for a BMX World Championship," said U.S. National Team Coach James Herrera. "With our entire 2012 Olympic Team, an incredibly strong cadre of juniors, and Olympic qualifier Arielle Martin who's fresh off a supercross podium at a World Cup in Europe, we're in a prime position to bring home some medals. Arielle's 2013 season and current UCI #2 ranking, have been a testament to the discipline, professionalism, and work ethic she's always shown. We'll be looking for strong showings from last year's double world champion, Felicia Stancil, first-year junior Sean Gaian, and our entire elite squad."

The UCI BMX World Championships & Challenge are open only to qualified championship and challenge class riders. Competitors must hold a USA Cycling BMX international license and can find out more about qualification and registration on USA Cycling’s 2013 UCI BMX World Championships webpage.

Find out more information on the world championship event on the UCI BMX World Championships webpage.

2013 UCI BMX Supercross World Championships
Auckland, New Zealand – July 24-28

USA Cycling Team Roster:

Elite Men
Connor Fields (Henderson, Nev./Chase BMX)
David Herman (Wheat Ridge, Colo./Free Agent-Rockstar)
Nic Long (Lakeside, Calif./Haro Bikes)
Barry Nobles (Wetumpka, Ala./DK Bicycles)
Justin Posey (Winston Salem, N.C./Dan’s Competition)
Corben Sharrah (Tucson, Ariz./GT Redbull)
Jared Garcia (Victorville, Calif./Speedline-Supercross)

Elite Women
Brooke Crain (Visalia, Calif./Haro BMX)
Alise Post (Saint Cloud, Minn./Redline)
Arielle Martin (Spanaway, Wash./Intense BMX)

Juniors Men
Maliek Byndloss (Cape Coral, Fla./Factory Ssquared)
Sean Gaian (Santee, Calif./Factory GT)
Alden Volle (Penryn, Calif./Dan's Comp)
Hunter Pelham (Conroe, Texas/Haro-Promax)
Bryce Betts (Brentwood, Calif.)
Cole Tesar (Huntersville, N.C./Factory Felt-SC ActionSP)

Junior Women
Felicia Stancil (Lake Villa, Ill./GT Bicycles)
Shealen Reno (Plano, Texas/Hyper Bicycles)
Shay Glynn (Norco, Calif./Profile-Monster).