Last we saw Magnus Sheffield, he was busy winning the 2018 Junior Men’s Pan-American Championships and finishing 3rd at Louisville Nationals. An unfortunate broken collarbone kept him from racing Cyclocross Worlds in Bogense, but he has recovered and was representing Team USA in today’s Junior Road World Championships in Yorkshire, Great Britain.
Represent the U.S. he did in a big way.
Sheffield was aggressive throughout the 148km race, attacking early to get in a 2-man break and then joining a split of 5 that included his teammate Quinn Simmons.
Simmons attacked on the Oak Beck climb with 33km to go and went solo from his breakmates. Sheffield dropped back and helped control the front of the peloton while his Team USA teammate extended his advantage.
Simmons stayed solo to win the rainbow stripes, and Sheffield won a four-up sprint to take the Junior Worlds bronze medal.
The sprint for 🥉!@MagnusSheffield takes it for USA 🇺🇸. #Yorkshire2019 pic.twitter.com/4XBITJNInF
— UCI (@UCI_cycling) September 26, 2019
Simmons’ win was the first Junior Worlds win for the U.S. since Tuesday’s Elite Women’s Time Trial crusher Chloe Dygert-Owen won in Richmond in 2015 this week. Megan Jastrab won the second U.S. title of the week when she sprinted to the Junior Women’s win on Friday.
🥇🌈🥇🌈
It’s GOLD for Megan Jastrab 🇺🇸 in Junior Women’s Road Race!! #Yorkshire2019 pic.twitter.com/RXiglxutKs
— UCI (@UCI_cycling) September 27, 2019
He joins Greg LeMond (1979), Deirdre Demet-Berry (1989), Jeff Evanshine (1991), Chloe Dygert-Owen (2015) and Jastrab (2019) as Americans who have won Junior Road Worlds.
Sheffield is just the fifth-ever American male to podium at Junior Men’s Road Worlds since the race was first held in 1975.