Bosco, Keith golden to set the tone for seven-medal day for Team USA at Huntsville world cup

Samantha Bosco competes at the 2023 UCI Para-Cycling Road World Cup in Huntsville, presented by Toyota. (Photo: Casey Gibson)

HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA – On the winningest day of the 2023 UCI Para-Cycling World Cup season thus far for Team USA, Samantha Bosco (Claremont, California) and Aaron Keith (Woodinville, Washington) led a seven-medal haul for the Americans on day two of racing in Huntsville. Saturday’s competition marked the second and final day of time trial racing, and the more than 350 athletes are set to return for road racing and team relays Sunday and Monday to round out the four-day competition.

Team USA also received podium performances from Brandon Lyons (St. Augustine, Florida) and Clara Brown (Falmouth, Maine), who each earned a silver medal in their time trials, as well as a trio of bronzes from Jamie Whitmore (Somerset, California), Allison Jones (Colorado Springs, Colorado) and Shawn Morelli (Meadville, Pennsylvania).

In two days of competition, Team USA has amassed 12 medals, four of which have been gold. It is the first time that U.S. Paralympics Cycling athletes have been able to compete on home soil in a world cup event, and Team USA leads the overall medal count.  

Bosco and Keith made the most of the home field advantage, surging to victories in the WC4 and MC1 time trial races. For the two-time Paralympian Bosco, it was her third gold medal on the year, having won both her time trial and road race in Maniago, Italy.

“I say this word a lot, but it still feels surreal,” she said. “I don’t know that I’ve let the first two sink in yet, but to get one here, and to get one where there’s a bunch of people that I know that have come to watch, it feels even better.”

Bosco remains undefeated in her 2023 campaign to continue a win streak that dates back to 2021 and includes both road world cups and world championships. It has been a period of dominance that has allowed Bosco to reset her mentality.

“For me, starting last year with the very first race of the year, I went into it with the idea of ‘Each race is a new race,’” Bosco said. “I’ve been carrying that mentality and going into each race having some sort of goal to focus on for that individual race. Today, I had so many strategies going through my mind. It took me a minute to settle down and focus.

Bosco and Morelli were one of two Team USA double podiums on the day, going 1-3 in the WC4 race, while Brown and Whitmore combined for a 2-3 finish in the WC3 competition.

Keith, meanwhile, is coming off a 2022 season that saw him win multiple world championships medals in both track and road disciplines. The Tokyo Paralympic silver medalist topped the MC1 time trial field today with a time of 20:39.69, beating out the next finisher by just over 15 seconds.

A 10-time world championships medalist, Keith said his win in Huntsville was made extra special by having his family in attendance and the significance of it being the first Para-cycling world cup hosted in the United States.

“I settled in pretty well after a bit of a frantic start and kept fighting to the finish line,” Keith said. “My brother actually came up and told me that I possibly won, and I thought he was messing with me. It feels really good, I’m super satisfied with the gold.”

Brown’s silver medal was the fourth of her 2023 season. In one of the tightest results of the day, the defending WC3 time trial world champion took to the familiar Huntsville course and finished the 14.6-kilometer race in 21:16.93, just 3 seconds behind Anna Beck of Sweden.

Like Keith, the 2020 Paralympian credited a portion of today’s success to the comfort of competing in her home country.

“I thought the race went incredibly well today,” Brown said. “I’m really, really proud with how I performed. It’s incredible to have the home crowd, and it’s so nice to have family here, to be a little more familiar. I love this place.”

Lyons brought home the second medal of his 2023 season, placing second in the MH3 race for his second world cup silver medal on the year. His first, which was also the first international medal of his career, came in Belgium as part of a 1-2 Team USA finish.

After his podium finish in Belgium, Lyons said he came into the Huntsville races with confidence. While he said he had no expectations for his first international competition on home soil, to end up on the podium for the second time in his career at an American venue, he said, was especially meaningful.

“I was excited to come back to a place I was familiar with and that suits my style of racing,” he said. “To be back on the podium is very exciting. When I crossed the finish line, I knew I had a fast time because I had almost caught my minuteman, but to come through with a second place is extremely exciting. It’s just amazing to be able to represent Team USA in the USA.”

Rounding out the medal performances for Team USA were Paralympic medalists Jones, Morelli and Whitmore, all of whom have earned at least one other world cup podium this season. The experienced trio of Para-cycling veterans has combined for 14 career Paralympic medals (Jones: 8; Morelli: 4; Whitmore: 2) and today proved themselves among the best in the world once again in their classes.

Jones completed the WC2 time trial in 23:05.12, while Whitmore’s time of 22:04.38 was third-best in the WC3 race. Morelli rounded out the WC4 podium alongside Bosco with a time of 21:50.06.

Other standout Team USA performances included national team members Freddie De Los Santos (Hopewell Junction, New York) and Elizabeth Mis (Medina, Ohio), who just missed the podium and took fourth in the MH5 and WC5 races. Paralympian Travis Gaertner (Burien, Washington) and national team athletes Owen Daniels (Fontana, California) and Kyle Pitman (Denver, Colorado) each placed fifth in their MH4, MH3 and MC5 competitions to round out top-five results for the Americans. Including medalists, 22 U.S. athletes recorded top-10 finishes on the day.

Cyclists will return to competition Sunday morning for the third day of the event, which will feature road racing competition beginning at 9 a.m. CDT.  Sunday and Monday’s road races will be streamed live on the U.S. Paralympics Cycling Facebook page and website. Follow U.S. Paralympics Cycling on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for updates and results from Huntsville.

For full results from the 2023 UCI Para-Cycling Road World Cup – Huntsville, presented by Toyota, please click here.

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

U.S. Results

GOLD
Aaron Keith – MC1
Samantha Bosco – WC4

SILVER
Brandon Lyons – MH3
Clara Brown – WC3

BRONZE
Shawn Morelli – WC4
Jamie Whitmore – WC3
Allison Jones – WC2

Other results:
Freddie De Los Santos – 4th, MH5
Elizabeth Mis – 4th, WC5
Travis Gaertner – 5th, MH4
Kyle Pitman – 5th, MC5
Owen Daniels – 5th, MH3
David Berling – 6th, MH5
Christina Truesdale – 7th, WC3
John Terrell – 7th, MC4
Jose Ivan Perez – 8th, MH5
Ryan Pinney – 9th, MH3

Josue Barron – 9th, MH5
Todd Key – 9th, MC1
Matt Tingley – 10th, MH4

Oz Sanchez – 10th, MH5
Noah Middlestaedt – 10th, MC3
Andrew Blackburn – 11th, MC5
C.J. Howard – 11th, MC4
Zachary Stinson – 11th, MH4
Jennifer Schuble – 12th, WC5
Francis Reilly – 14th, MC4
Chester Triplett (with pilot Joseph Matta) – 16th, MB
James Moreno – 16th, MH5
Roderick Sewell – 18th, MH5
Dustin Baker – 19th, MH4
Stanley Moore (with pilot David Gulick) – 19th, MB
John Masson – 20th, MH4
Abdul Redzuan Razak – 21st, MH4
Steve Chapman – 22nd, MH3
Jeremy Van Tress – 26th, MH3
Stephen Zuravel – 28th, MH3