Meg Roussos / The BulletinLance Haidet and Cameron Beard, both of Bend, pictured before heading to USA Cycling's EuroCrossCamp in Belgium last December. The junior cyclists have both been named to the U.S. national team ahead of the Cyclocross World Championships in Tabor, Czech Republic on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.

Lance Haidet and Cameron Beard, both of Bend, were named to the United States Cyclocross World Championship team announced Tuesday afternoon by USA Cycling.

Both cyclists will compete in the junior division at the championship, which will be held in Tabor, Czech Republic on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.

Haidet automatically qualified for the team based on previous race results, but Beard, a 16-year-old sophomore at Summit High School, said he was a little surprised by Tuesday’s announcement, which came the day after he finished third in the junior 17-18 division at the Cyclocross National Championships in Austin, Texas.

“I knew I was in the running for it, but the way I saw it and the way I’d been told, I wasn’t an automatic qualifer,” Beard said of the six-person team, four of which qualified automatically based on previous results. “There were three kids fighting for two sports, and I think my race at nationals put me over the top.”

Haidet, who also attends Summit, finished 19th at the national championships Monday.

Haidet and Beard both have traveled to Europe to train and race, but Haidet said this will be his first time visiting the Czech Republic.

“I’ve only raced in Belgium and the Netherlands, so this will be new,” Beard said, adding that cyclocross receives much more attention in certain parts of Europe than it does in the U.S. “Over here, if you ask 10 people what cyclocross is, maybe one would know. All 10 would know over there, and they could tell you the top five from last weekend’s race.”

Beard said he will keep his visit to the Czech Republic short — after all, he’s already missing part of midterms week to compete at the World Championship.

“It’s hard, I’ve missed a lot of days,” Beard said. “But I got lucky with my teachers; they work with me and really help me out when I miss class.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0305, vjacobsen@bendbulletin.com.