"It's quite sad" - Magnus Sheffield rues lack of racing in the USA

Racing in the USA has over the past decade suffered quite a lot, with most of it's main events cancelled. Magnus Sheffield has in the meantime turned professional and one of the country's main figures, but rarely manages to compete in it.

"The Tour is the most important thing in sport. I think that would be the biggest goal in my career, but there are a lot of things that have to go right. There is a reason why this is the toughest competition. But that is a dream of mine." Sheffield said in an interview with Cyclist. There and outside, he continues to put a lot of focus into the time-trials. "I would say it is a completely separate discipline in cycling. But I like to climb and the one-day races also suit me very well. I also enjoy the really rough races. A big goal of mine is to win my first WorldTour race. I've been knocking on that door for a while and it keeps me hungry."

In the interview he was honest about how he wished there was more racing in the country. In the recent past the Tour of California was a World Tour event, but other races such as the Tour of Utah or the Colorado Classic brought several World Tour teams to the USA. Currently, the recently created Maryland Cycling Classic is the highest level event - although INEOS Grenadiers and Sheffield did not take part. "It's quite sad because some of my teammates say the Tour of California was the best race of the year, the one they were looking forward to the most," he tells.

As a time-trialist and quality climber he would've been a candidate if the race was still around. "It's a real shame that it's gone. The reason for this is, as with everything, popularity has ups and downs. The US has a very large bicycle industry. But the racing scene has certainly taken a hit in recent years.”

The Vuelta a Espana victory of the very popular Sepp Kuss may certainly help the racing scene in the USA, however Sheffield believes that it is gravel racing - which became a trend in the USA over the past few years - that can stimulate it the most. “It's hard to pinpoint one thing, but gravel has opened a lot of doors and the industry has followed suit. There used to be many criteria, but those have disappeared too."

"I'm not sure why that is, perhaps because of the cities having road closures. But we have a very exciting generation where you have guys like Neilson [Powless], Matteo [Jorgenson], Brandon [McNulty], Quinn [Simmons] and I see races in Europe. I hope this can bring the racing scene back to the US.”