Park City’s Dash Prigge repeats as National Gravel Champion

12-year-old cyclist wins his second consecutive USA Cycling Gravel National Championship while fellow Parkite Hudson Doetsch finishes 4th in the 13-14 group.

PARK CITY, Utah – Park City’s Dash Prigge added another national championship to an already impressive season Sunday, defending his USA Cycling Gravel National Championship title with a hard-fought victory in Minnesota.

Prigge, 12, won the 11-12 age-group title at the championship in La Crescent, Minnesota, the second consecutive year he has won the event. The race covered 32 miles through the hilly Driftless region near the Mississippi River, an area known for its rolling terrain, orchards and punchy climbs.

Fellow Parkite, Hudson Doetsch, finished 4th in the 13-14 year old group.

Unlike last year, when the 11-12 riders started alongside the 13-14 age group, the younger riders had their own field this year. About 15 riders started together, led out by a motorcycle escort.

Within the first five miles, Prigge and Owen Morozowich, a rider from Durango who finished second last year, had separated from the rest of the field on the first major climb.

The pair stayed together through much of the race, including a climb through one of the area’s apple orchards. They remained together over the final major climb before beginning a roughly 600-foot descent toward the finish.

That’s where the race nearly slipped away from Prigge.

On a steep section of farm roads, Prigge attempted to pass near the top of a hill and caught a small branch hidden by leaves. The impact forced him to unclip and run up part of the hill, giving Owen about a 10-second lead with roughly three miles remaining.

Prigge recovered on the descent, using his downhill skills to close the gap before the riders returned to the finishing road.

With about a half-mile to go, Owen made the first move. Prigge stayed patient, controlled the attack and waited for his chance.

With about 500 meters remaining, Prigge launched his own attack, opened a gap and held it to the finish to claim his second national title.

“He was definitely nervous going into it and wanted to repeat,” said his father, Jason Prigge.

The win also means Dash will wear the USA Cycling national champion’s jersey for another year at gravel races.

The national championship capped a busy year for the young cyclist, who competed across gravel, mountain biking and NICA racing.
One of his other gravel highlights came at the Dirty Dino in Vernal, part of the Utah Gravel Series and one of the races included in the U.S. Junior Gravel Series. Because the junior event offered only 15-16 and 17-18 categories, Prigge raced against older riders and finished third.

He also competed in three U.S. Pro Cup mountain bike races to qualify for the junior national championships in Roanoke, Virginia.
Prigge won at Soldier Hollow and Temecula, California, and finished second at Washougal, Washington.

At mountain bike nationals, he finished fourth in the short-track race. In the cross-country race, he lost several positions after clipping a tree with his handlebars on the first lap but fought his way back to finish sixth.

It was his first year competing in the full U.S. mountain bike junior series.

“He’s riding real super strong this year,” Jason said.

Prigge also competed in his first NICA season as part of the Advanced Devo program, adding another discipline to a season that has already produced multiple wins and a second national title.