It was a question that wasn't exactly answered at cyclo-cross nationals in Overland Park, Kansas. There were a few automatic slots opened for the winners, but a lot of it rests on that ever-popular "coach's discretion," and this year, more than usual, a lot seems to depend on rider's discretion.

As newly crowned men's elite champion, Tim Johnson is a shoo-in for a trip to Tabor in the Czech Republic in February. The man from Middleton, Massachusetts, has been a fixture on the world's squad ever since he first qualified in 1995, even showing up to lend a hand to the team last year when a broken collarbone kept him from competing. But Saturn's newest pro shook his head sadly, when asked if he was going in 2001.

"I can't. I can't," Johnson said. "We have a team training camp that ends a few days before and then we're going to [the Tour de] Langkawi [in Malaysia] a few days after world's. You know, that's where I made my mark and I really want to go, but I have to pay my dues ... this has a lot more to do with where I hope to be in five years than it does with where I hope to be next year."

Alison Dunlap (GT) said she needs to focus on another world championship, the 2001 mountain-bike world's in Vail, Colorado. The same emphasis will keep 2000 junior silver medalist Walker Ferguson in the U.S. in February. Ferguson is set to make the move from junior to the under-23 ranks and wants to make a good effort to score a world mountain-bike title, which he won as a junior in 2000. Junior winner Josh Anthony is facing the age upgrade as well, and U.S. 'cross coach Clark Natwick says that winning the junior title doesn't necessarily make one a shoo-in for a spot on the under-23 team.

"Things have changed on the American cyclo-cross scene," Natwick said. "It's much, much more competitive than it was a few years ago. We need to put together a team that can medal. We can't just put together a team to give people international experience at world's. World's is not the place for people to get international experience. We want a team that can medal."

It's a good thing that wasn't the policy in, say late 1996, when a young Tim Johnson was selected for the 1997 world's team. Johnson's big reason to celebrate was that he avoided getting lapped by a hard-charging Sven Njis in Munich's Olympic stadium. And you can guess where 1999 world junior cyclo-cross champion Matt Kelly got his first brush with the international scene.