Race
Preview
PARK
CITY
CYCLING FESTIVAL FEATURES NATION’S TOP RIDERS
12-Day
Cycling Festival Begins June 21, 125 National Titles, World Championship
Selection on the Line
All
levels of competitive cycling head to Park City, Utah next week for the
Park City Cycling Festival, USA Cycling’s designated event for national
championship road cycling competition.
Scheduled for June 21-July 2, the Park City Cycling Festival will feature
the nation’s top riders at the junior, U23, elite, master and paralympic
levels as they battle it out for national titles in road racing, time
trials and criterium events throughout the 12-day span. As the epicenter
of competitive cycling in
America
during this time, the resort town will play host to Olympic and world
championship medalists, Pan American and national champions, and a
collection of world-class riders in the elite divisions.
Competition
opens Tuesday on
Antelope
Island
State Park
where many of the nation’s top athletes will compete in the time trial
events. The elite women’s field features even more depth as 2004
Olympian and defending champion Christine
Thorburn (
Menlo Park
,
Calif.
) highlights a list of distinguished riders that also includes perennial
favorites Kristin
Armstrong (Boise, Idaho), Kimberly
Baldwin (Boulder, Colo.) and Amber
Neben (Irvine, Calif.).
In
the Paralympic events, the duo of Karissa
Whitsell (
Springfield
,
Ore.
) and Katie Compton
(
Colorado Springs
,
Colo.
) will compete in the tandem class. The pair captured four medals at
last year’s Paralympic Games in
Athens
, including a gold medal in the 3km pursuit.
On
Wednesday, the action shifts to road racing as elite women and U23 women
will ride 77 miles for the right to wear the stars and stripes jersey that
goes to the national champion.
Given the altitude and terrain of
Park
City
, the climbers will likely have the upper hand in the elite women’s race
leaving Thorburn, Armstrong, Baldwin and Neben as the favorites and
opening the door for a possible dual national champion in both the time
trial and the road race.
The
first week of competition also features the cycling stars of tomorrow as
junior and U23 riders compete in time trial, road race and criterium
events.
During the second week, the attention turns to master categories where
amateur riders between the ages of 30 and 99 will compete for one of the
125 total national championship jerseys available.
“For
12 days,
Park
City
will again be the hub of competitive cycling here in the
United States
,” commented USA Cycling chief executive officer Gerard Bisceglia.
“To bring 1,600 athletes together from every level of competitive
cycling to compete for one of the most prestigious titles in athletics is
unique to our sport and provides the ideal atmosphere for cyclists, their
families and enthusiasts of the sport.”
The
Park City Cycling Festival also holds special significance as several
automatic nominations to represent the
United States
at this summer’s World Championships are on the line. The winner
of the elite women’s time trial and road race will earn nominations as
will the winner of the men’s U23 time trial. The winner of the
junior men’s 17-18 road race will earn a nomination to the long team
from which the final roster will eventually be selected. Automatic
nominations will also go to the winners of the junior women’s 17-18 road
race and time trial and the junior men’s 17-18 time trial.
As
a lead-in to the road cycling festival, USA Cycling is also hosting a
world-class mountain bike event as round three of the Shimano NORBA
National Mountain Bike Series gets underway at Deer Valley Resort in
Park
City
June 16-19. As the premier off-road cycling series in the Unites
States, the Shimano NORBA National Mountain Bike Series is also used for
selection of American athletes in all disciplines for the 2005 Mountain
Bike World Championships set for
Livingo
,
Italy
August 30-Sept. 4.
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