History
2025
Sweet Sixteen.
The US Pro Cup turned sweet 16 in 2025. Now the established place where today’s Olympians and tomorrow’s aspiring amateur chose to race cross-country mountain bikes, the US Pro Cup truly is the United State premiere cross-country and short track scene.
For 2025, the US XC Open series is in its second year and expands to six rounds. With the goal of trying to create a cohesive series for teams, riders and industry, the US Cup again forges the way.
2024
Road To Paris
Game on!
It's game on in 2024, as the summer olympics in Paris are on the horizon. Athlete's and countries will be going all in on trying to get as many last minute U.C.I. XCO points so they can realize their dream of toeing the line in Paris for their country.
The US Pro Cup's in California and Arkansas have been the early season springboard for athlete's fine tuning their fitness and equipment for the last 14 seasons, but this year the stakes are a bit higher. Through massive team work and hitting early season events like the US Pro Cup, USA sends two men to the Paris Olympics for the first time in history. Chris Blevins and Riley Amos check their ticket to the games.
2023
West Coast Return
The US Cup is back in 2023!
With two events on the race calendar, we return to Vail Lake resort for the first time since the 2020 pandemic cancelled the event and put the world on hold.
We were proud to be returning to Fayetteville, Arkansas and the Centennial Park venue for our third year of racing.
2022
Return To Oz
2022 was our sophomore year in Fayetteville, Arkansas and the competition didn't disappoint.
With nearly 1600 race starts over four days of racing, we had multiple world champions, olympians and national champions attend the Moosejaw U.S. Pro Cup p/b OZ trails. But the US Cup isn't a pro only event, and we saw increased turnout from Amateur cross-country mountain bikers as we joined forces with the AMBCS calendar to bring in more local and regional riders.
2021
Welcome To Oz
After COVID 19 halted the two US Cup's in 2020, the U.S. Cup looked outside of it's California base in the first time in many years.
Ty Kady, U.S. Cup event director had been consulting with the Walton Foundation, OZ Trails and Rock Solid Construction in Fayetteville Arkansas on bringing a legit World Cup cross-country layout to the United States. With Centennial Park now almost complete, and the status of events in California still looking shaky, Kady decided to partner up with OZ Trails and Experience Fayetteville to bring the U.S. Cup to Arkansas for the first time ever.
And in the first time in 10 years, the US Cup announced that it would not be involved with the local California mountain bike series, run by long time partner Team Big Bear.
"With the loss of title sponsor Sho-Air International at the end of 2019, it is just not financially possible to fund the long running seven round series. I want to focus on quality over quantity for this year," stated US Cup event director Ty Kady. "OZ Trails was just a natural fit to take our high powered Olympic level cross-country UCI events."
On April 9th-11th and April 16th-18th, the US Cup is proud to welcome both pro and amateur racers to arguably the best cross-country course in America.
2020
COVID Strikes.
The road to Tokyo put on hold!
As we all know, in March 2020, the world came to a stand still as COVID 19 spread across the globe. All activities as we knew them were put into question, including the cancellation of the 2020 Olympic games.
In the 11th hour on Saturday evening, we were informed the UCI XCO would not be allowed to take place, given the rapidly changing situation.
We put our two UCI HC events on hold for the year and refocused on what was important till racing came back online.
2019
End Of A Decade
2019 marked the end of a decade.
Long time title sponsor Sho-Air International announced it would be stepping back from the US Cup as title sponsor to focus on it's core business. After 10 years Scott Tedro, president of Sho-Air and one of the founding members of the U.S. Cup, turned over the series into the hands of Ty Kady.
No longer a Sho-Air employee, in a "sink or swim" moment, Kady took the reins and tried to rally the industry for support to fill the void that Sho-Air had left after it's announcement in December of 2019.
The industry responded and the U.S. Cup was going to bring two UCI HC events to Bonelli Park and Vail Lake in 2020 just ahead of the Tokyo games.
2018
Keeping It Simple
For 2018, SCG’s mission was to get more people experiencing the fun of bicycle racing. We feel this healthy, family oriented sport should be on everyone’s radar!
With the help from industry leader Specialized bicycles, the Charged series was born.
The evolution of electric pedal assist bikes into the market place has seen rapid growth over the past year. This niche is allowing more people to get out on trails and ride with cyclists that may be above their ability level or simply allow someone to cover more ground than a conventional bicycle.
The three round Charged series presented by Specialized gives people a chance to test the newest Specialized pedal assist line up at no obligation, in a low key, fun race environment and see what these bikes are all about. And if you already have an E-Bike, this race is open to you as well.
We have also created a true “first timer” class for someone that has never lined up for a race, or has maybe been too intimidated to try. This new addition to the Gold State series will allow someone to test the waters of mountain bike racing in a non-pressure race environment and hopefully catch the racing bug and join us for more.
In order to insure there’s absolutely no barrier to racing with the Gold State series, our partner Specialized bicycles has agreed to comp every first-time racers entry into their very first race with us. There’s literally no cost, no obligation and no excuse not to come on out and race a round of the Gold State series on us.
2017
Keeping It Simple
For 2017 SCG has stripped things back to it roots and is focused on US cycling events. With a country-wide reach the US Cup and Kenda Cup East and West series are experiencing record participation and it is a very good sign of things to come.
The US Cup is again producing must attend events offering top UCI points with HC level events at both Bonelli Park and the Boston Rebellion.
2016
Building On Success
Building on past success the US Cup offers a complete calendar of HC races with Bonelli Park, Sea Otter, Missoula and the Boston Rebellion. This was again run in conjunction with the Kenda Cup East and West as well as the Catalina Island Gran Fondo.
Back at home with Rock N' Road Cyclery, Ridebiker Alliance signs on as title sponsor of Team Velosport to help support the community as well as youth cycling.
2016 was the year focused on the Ridebiker Team and empowering athletes to create their own personal teams. The Ridebiker Alliance was able to help subsidize 16 athletes, which enabled them to gather their own sponsorships and compete at the national level.
2015
The Mountie Returns
The US Cup hosted six UCI events in 2015 with three HCs, a C1 and a C3. With the success of the first HC in Bonelli Park in 2013 Sho-Air Cycling Group was granted two more making it the most UCI points ever offered by a since series. The Kenda Cup East and West were ran in conjunction with the US Cup giving amateurs the opportunity to compete on the highest level.
The Catalina Island Gran Fondo in its third year was rated one of the countries top Gran Fondos and attendance supported the claim.
Canadian National Champion Max Plaxton returns to Team Sho-Air/Cannondale after being on loan to Cannondale Factory Racing during the 2014 season. In addition, up and coming women’s athlete Evelyn Dong also joins the team along with 2014 cross-country national champion, Steven Ettinger. The complete 2015 squad consisted of Jeremiah Bishop, Max Plaxton, Alex Grant, Steven Ettinger and Evelyn Dong.
On the retail front a partnership is made with Incycle Bicycles and Sho-Air Cyclery to help them expand into the Orange County market.
Ridebiker Alliance is it's second year supported National Professional Representatives, Tinker Juarez, Alex Grant, Larissa Connors, and Sam Schultz who would click off some top performances.
2014
Passion To Do More
Sho-Air Cycling Group announces world-class cross country mountain bike series in partnership with USA Cycling. A four-race series, which would be known as the USA Cycling US Cup Pro Series presented by Sho-Air Cycling Group. The USA Cycling US Cup Pro Series included the Mellow Johnny's Classic in Texas; Bonelli Park in California(2014 marked the first time an HC-category mountain bike race was held in North America.); Fontana in California; and a final round in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Along with this amazing new series came elite competition, first of its kind live streaming and the most UCI points ever offered on US soil.
Even with the addition of the Pro Series the Sho-Air Cycling Group was still able to keep the Kenda Cup and Catalina Island Gran Fondo thriving with record attendance.
Sho-Air Cyclery is born, a flagship retailer for Dorel's Cycling Sports Group brands in Orange, California, at the intersection of Santiago Canyon Rd. and Jamboree Rd., a popular cycling route in Orange County.
2014 marked the second year of Team Sho-Air/Cannondale this year with a new addition, Sam Schultz. With his motivation higher than ever Sam made a comeback to professional cycling after sitting out the 2013 season with back problems. Also new to the roster was Ryan Trebon splitting his time between Cyclocross and Cross Country.
New for 2014 was the Ridebiker Alliance, a national club team lead by professional national representatives Alex Grant, Sam Schultz, Tinker Juarez and Larissa Connors.
2013
New Colors
With new support of Cannonade the US Cup hosts two stops of the Pro XCT calendar as part of the 2013 Triple Crown Series. After a sold out Catalina Island Gran Fondo it would return for 2013 as one of the premier events. And for the fifth year straight the Kenda Cup East and West were the nations premier amateur race series with record attendance.
Team Sho-Air announces a partnership with Cannondale forming Team Sho-Air/Cannondale for 2013 season and beyond. The team represented Cannondale’s factory mountain bike effort in North America with an all new roster of Max Plaxton, Pua Mata, Alex Grant, Jeremiah Bishop, Tinker Juarez.
2012
Continued Growth
Following a successful 2011 the Triple Crown would invest in having a East and West series for 2012. The US Cup's East Coast Triple Crown would include events in Alabama, North Carolina and Virginia. On the west the US Cup Triple Crown would feature a C3 event at both Bonelli Park, followed by Fontana with the final in Santa Ynez, CA. The Rock N Road Cup West Series presented by Specialized would feature a seven round series based on the west coast giving amateurs the opportunity to compete at the highest level.
Finally, the addition of the Catalina Island MTB Grand Fondo on May 12th. This would be the first time in the island's history it had hosted a mountain bike event, and gave riders a special one-time access to sections of the TCT (Trans Catalina trail).
Team Sho-Air/Specialized signed African continental cross-country junior champion Brendon Davids for the 2012 season. Davids ranked as the number six junior in the UCI World Rankings would have his team debut at the Mountain Mike World Championships in Champéry, Switzerland. Manny Prado would retire from professional racing and Pua Mata would continue her endurance dominance.
2011
Taking It Nation Wide
After a successful year one, the Triple Crown expands East, adding stand-alone events in Massanutten, VA and Bear Creek Mountain Resort in Macungie, PA. Also an addition for 2011 would be the US Cup East Series featuring nine events partnering with the already established SERC Series. Now hosting over 25 events the US Cup would be a true national effort to support US mountain biking.
Pua returns home to the Sho-Air/Specialized squad to focus on US Pro Ultra Endurance Tour (US Pro UET). "Scott Tedro signed me to my first pro deal and he has consistently been there for me over the years, and it feels great to come home," said Mata. "I get to return to my true passion and concentrate on endurance based racing, and I know with the backing that I will get from my teammates at Team Sho-Air, I will be back on the podium and having a great time doing so." Also making a summer debut would be Brendon Davids. Newly added to the team for the 2012 season Brendon would fly the Sho-Air flag for the latter parts of the 2011 summer adding to the strong efforts of Manny Prado and Ty Kady.
2010
A Proven Concept
With now a proven concept and a successful team, Scott decided to keep the progress moving in a positive direction. For 2010 the US Cup would further support US pro riders by stepping up to host a UCI sanctioned C1 round of the Pro XCT in Fontana. Also new for 2010 would be the Triple Crown All Mountain Series, which included three American mountain bike races for 2010 with a $35,000 pro purse. The events would consist of super D, short track and cross-country racing and riders would have to compete in a minimum of two events to win.
The US Cup would continue as a network of Kenda Cups, that acted as local and regional qualifiers for the shootout at the end of the season at the Massanutten HooHa. The Kenda Cups featured over 15-race venues across the US, from Ashland, Oregon to French Lick, Indiana.
Cemented as one of the strongest US domestic professional cross-country mountain bike teams around in 2009 Specialized stepped up with factory support for 2010. Sid Taberlay, Manny Prado and Max Plaxton would be a strong arsenal focused on the US Pro XCT and the Triple Crown series.
2009
A New Chapter
The US Cup kicked off at Bonelli Park for the 2009 season, hosting the opening round of the Pro XCT Presented by Sho-Air. Tedro put up the lion’s share of the cash for the US Cup series alongside Specialized and Kenda. The series would include 13 races across the United States, and would be split into two regional sub series, the Kenda Cup West and Kenda Cup East. The two dueling series were designed for aspiring regional pros and weekend warriors alike. USA Cycling, along with Tedro, singled out seven of the US Cup events for the ProXCT. The pro category at these events would offer UCI points, and would be aimed at attracting the continent’s best riders.
Also put into action was the newly formed Sho-Air/Specialized Pro team. The team would be managed by Ty Kady and its main function was to provide opportunity for more professional cross-country riders to enter the sport. The team would take to the road with Sid Taberlay, Manny Prado and Max Plaxton to challenge the best established factory teams, racing the full Pro XCT calendar. With great success that no one could have predicted, Sid Taberlay and Max Paxton would go on to finish second and third overall in the Pro XCT series along with the team capturing the Pro XCT team title.
2008
The Beginning
Scott Tedro president of Sho-Air International, a freight company located in Huntington Beach, California agreed to come on board and help jump-start the NMBS at the end of 2008. The long standing National Mountain Bike Series was struggling financially and it appeared the former version of the iconic NORBA series would not be returning 2009 due to lack of industry interest and support.
During the months-long discussions there were times when it appeared no top-tier racing would exist in the US in 2009. But the parties involved eventually rallied around Tedro’s US Cup model and with that the US Cup was born. 2009 would kick off at Bonelli Park for newly formed t Pro XCT series presented by Sho-Air.
Tedro leaned heavily on Ty Kady, a former A.M.A. SX/MX racer and a member of his Sho-Air amateur cross-country team to help him navigate the murky waters that were elite national racing and event promotion. Ty would take over as the new US Cup series manager.
Tedro worked along side USA Cycling to develop the Pro XCT presented by Sho-Air. The Pro XCT would act as a calendar of events awarding UCI points. The series would be a seven-race collection of UCI-sanctioned events replacing the National Mountain Bike Series (NMBS) as the premier cross-country series in North America.
The new organization of cross-country racing would mark a union between the movers and shakers of elite racing: USA Cycling, the elite racing teams and Scott Tedro, owner of Sho Air International, a SoCal-based shipping company. Throughout late 2008 and early ‘09, all three would engage in discussion on how top-tier mountain bike racing should progress following the demise of the NMBS and what mountain bike racing would look like moving forward.
