Originally Posted by
gattm99
...
Any advice for how to figure what races, teams, and riders to follow?
Don't.
A serious racer races in Europe. USA racing is recreation reguardless of what the license says. There is no real way to figure USA racing out. Some may be good enough to race in Europe,but choose not to. It is a hard job.
If you want to follow the best in the US, follow juniors. Juniors may be World Tour Pros give them a few years. The rest are just out there having fun.