Hillcrest Academy junior Mason Wilson has been selected to represent the United States as part of the USA Cycling Junior National Team for two international stage races next month.

Wilson will head to the Czech Republic with the USA squad for two multi-stage races– the Grand Prix West Bohemia on May 2nd and 3rd, and the Junior Peace Race (Course de la Paix Juniors) May 7th through the 10th. Both races are a part of the UCI Men Junior Nations’ Cup.

Wilson currently races for two teams, Above + Beyond Cancer Cycling and Lunchbox Racing, the former for road racing and the latter for gravel. His selection for the national team comes after an impressive performance last year in the United States Cycling Junior National Gravel Series, through which he earned an invitation to train at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. 

Wilson says that connections he made while at that camp helped give him the motivation he needed to continue pushing toward his goals, “I was very happy with how I did at the camp. And I was told by some of the coaches at the camp that I have potential to make a true career out of this if I continue to pursue it and progress in the way that I have. And that was, that was very good to hear, just because it’s a lot of hard work that goes into all of this, and sometimes you feel like it doesn’t pay off all the time.”

After the camp, Wilson chose to focus on road racing for the current season, placing top 10 at several key races, and earning an invite to compete with the national team in the Czech Republic.

Wilson will leave for Brussels, Belgium on April 28th to begin training with the team.