USA Cycling on Thursday announced the five-rider roster of Americans slated to ride in the elite men’s category at the 2007 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, on January 28 in Hooglede-Gits, Belgium.

Three of those riders met automatic qualification criteria, while the remaining trio earned discretionary picks. Ryan Trebon (Kona), Tim Johnson (Cyclocrossworld.com) and Barry Wicks (Kona) met the requirements for automatic qualification having earned a top-50 spot on the UCI’s international cyclo-cross rankings. Trebon also captured the national title at last month’s national championship event and won the overall Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclo-cross series. Ranked 19th in the world, Trebon joins Johnson and Wicks who are ranked 31st and 47th respectively.

International regulations require a governing body to announce the names of automatic qualifiers, although that does not necessarily mean that riders will opt to compete at world’s. Johnson has already indicated that he has conflicting obligations and will likely not compete in Belgium. Trebon and Wicks, however, have both expressed an interest in attending. European-based pro Jonathan Page (Morgan Blue), Erik Tonkin (Kona) and Tristan Schouten (Trek-Volkswagen) earned the three remaining discretionary spots

Page and Tonkin have each posted impressive results in Europe this season with Page scoring a second-place finish at Nordzeecross, a UCI category-two race in Middelekerke, Belgium, last month, with Tonkin placing 16th at a similar event in St. Niklaas, Belgium.

Assuming Johnson does not attend, his spot will be filled by Schouten, who was picked as the team's first alternate. Schouten’s season was U.S. based with a 15th-place finish at the national championships and several top-ten finishes in UCI-sanctioned races throughout America.

Riders are required to apply for discretionary spots and each of those named is likely to compete at world’s. In the event that any other riders decline invitations, USA Cycling can make an additional discretionary pick. As of Thursday, the top alternate for that spot, according to USA Cycling officials, is Justin Spinelli (Richard Sachs).