Categories/Upgrades

For a new rider licensing with USA Cycling for the first time, the Road Category starts at 5.
Guidelines and Notes by Category:

5-4:   Experience in 10 mass start races.
         Local Associations may also establish policies where upgrade credit is given for taking a sanctioned rider education clinic.

4-3:   20 points in any 12-month period; or experience in 25 races with a minimum of 10 top ten finishes with fields of 30 riders or more, or 20 pack finishes with fields over 50. 30 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade

3-2:   25 points in any 12-month period
         40 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade

2-1:   30 points in any 12-month period
         50 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade

Qualifying Distances for each category

To qualify for upgrading points, races must meet distance standards. Races shorter than the minimum distance do not qualify for upgrading. However, if a road race is less than the road race minimum but above the criterium minimum, it will count for upgrading using the criterium points schedule.

Category	Class	RR	Criterium and Circuit
5 – 4	Men	15 mi	10 mi
4 – 3	Men Women Junior	25 mi 25 mi 25 mi	20 mi 15 mi 15 mi
3 – 2	Men Women	50 mi 40 mi	20 mi 15 mi
2 – 1	Men Women	80 mi 50 mi	30 mi 20 mi

Points awarded for Criteriums and Circuit Races

Number of Starters

Placing	5-10	11-20	21-50	50+
1	3	4	5	7
2	2	3	4	5
3	1	2	3	4
4		1	2	3
5			1	2
6				1

Points awarded for Road Races

Number of Starters

Placing	5-10	11-20	21-50	50+
1	3	7	8	10
2	2	5	6	8
3	1	4	5	7
4		3	4	6
5		2	3	5
6		1	2	4
7			1	3
8				2
9				1

Points awarded for Stage Races (Cat 3 -> 2 and Cat 2 -> 1 upgrades only)*

Number of Starters

Placing	10-19	20-35	36-49	50+
1	5	7	10	20
2	3	5	8	19
3	2	3	6	16
4	1	2	5	14
5		1	4	12
6			3	10
7			2	9
8			1	8
9				7
10				6
11				5
12				4
13				3
14				2
15				1

* For points earned in stage races, GC and stage places both count for points, but only up to a maximum of 20 points for a cat 1 upgrade or 15 points for a cat 2 upgrade from a single stage race.

When deciding whether a rider qualifies for an upgrade, an administrator will take into account points earned in qualifying events per the table above. In the case of a rider who is marginally qualified, the quality of the events and the level of competition may be taken into account.

USA Cycling may add additional requirements for upgrading at their discretion. Any such changes shall be made available on the website.

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