bryanhayes

I was wondering if anyone has been recently or knows how masters road world championships is done currently? Seems like it's not really a "thing" anymore?

shovelhd

Last I knew they turned it into a gran fondo championship.

Hermes

Is the question how to qualify and attend or just rap about masters road worlds?

bryanhayes

Hermes - I guess both.

From what I was finding it did seem to be more of a fondo sort of thing. Not as appealing as a traditional RR format...

Hermes

The actual world championship races to be held this year in Perth Australia are road race, criterium and time trial. They are run as age group races. UCI created a racing series of qualifying races they call Gran Fondos. Ostensibly, the top 25% of each age group receive an invitation to the world championships in Perth. The winner of the age group races in Perth are awarded the gold medal and rainbow jersey.

There are no qualifying races in the US with the closest one in Canada. This is somewhat annoying for US racers interested in attending the world championship race. IMO, it is about maximizing revenue for UCI and they want a substantial fee paid upfront by a promoter who wants to hold a qualifying race. Hence, a way to cover the cost is to make it part of a larger race such as a gran fondo.

I have friends who have qualified for, attended and won at UCI masters road worlds and plan on going to Perth.

If you want to attend the race in Perth, you will have to figure out how to qualify. IMO, the Gran Fondo part is a distraction. YMMV.

Racer Ex 

In the past you had to finish at least either 6th or 7th at Nats to qualify. As noted now you ride a fondo, or know someone's cousin. I have talked to a lot of racers who look at this as both diluting the fields and removing a lot of the former prestige that came with winning at world's. So yeah, not as much of a thing anymore.

shovelhd

One used to have to qualify for Nats as well. There are pros and cons to each approach.

Cleave

Hi, I can't remember any time where you had to qualify for Masters. I did Age Graded Nationals in NY in 1989 when I was 32 and all I had to do was register and pay entry fees. I also can't remember when USAC (USCF?) stopped having qualifying for Elite (Senior) categories.

Agree with shovelhd on pros and cons for both approaches.

From my observations, in the Masters ranks, the people who win would have qualified anyway through their district championships.

shovelhd

I was referring to USCF in general. I wouldn't have known about Veterans Nats.