Bike Kentucky

Day five of the 2008 USA Cycling Masters Road National Championships featured the first day of criterium racing as four women celebrated the Fourth of July with national titles. Local rider Tracy Tolson claimed her second Stars-and-Stripes jersey of the week when she added a women's 45-49 criterium championship to the road race title she won earlier in the week. Other winners on Friday included Betsy Galenti, Jane Evely and Kim Ciolli. Competition continues through the weekend at Churchill Downs as seven more criterium titles will de decided on Saturday.

More than 800 off-road racers gathered on a picturesque July 4th day to compete for one of a dozen stars-and-stripes jerseys awarded at the 50-mile marathon distance at the Firecracker 50. Last yearandrsquo;s national championship runner-up in Olympic-style cross country, Jeremiah Bishop came away with the overall victory after completing the marathon event in less than four hours. In the womenandrsquo;s pro/open category a relative newcomer to the mountain bike scene, Sari Anderson took home her first USA Cycling National Championship, besting a packed womenandrsquo;s field.

The last of 25 road race national titles were decided Thursday at the 2008 USA Cycling Masters Road National Championships in Louisville, Ky. Three individual winners were crowned, including Paul Martin, John Korioth and Thurlow Rogers, in addition to eight tandem pairs. With the time trial and road race events now in the books, criterium racing is set to take center stage Friday through Sunday at one of Louisville's most historic landmarks - Churchill Downs.

USA Cyclingandrsquo;s annual election is set to begin on Tuesday, July 15 and USA Cycling members are encouraged to vote online through their My USA Cycling account. The trustees are representatives of the USA Cycling membership whose mission is to help shape governance policy, association bylaws and racing rules. Voting will begin on July 15 and will remain open until August 15, 2008. Click on the story to read the complete list of candidates and open positions.

Day three of the 2008 USA Cycling Masters Road National Championships saw another 10 amateur cyclists claim national titles in the road race on Wednesday. Of the champions crowned, six were repeat winners after claiming time trial championships earlier in the week, including Anne Marie Miller, Elizabeth Tyrell, Julie Lockhart, Franz Hammer, Kent Bostick and Kenny Fuller. Only one more day of road racing remains before the master athletes head to Churchill Downs to compete in the criterium events over the weekend.

Over the past few weeks in American cycling USA Cycling announced its nominees to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team, the USA Cycling election process continued, the Masters Road National Championships kicked-off in Louisville, Melissa Buhl brought home a Four Cross World Title from the 2008 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, nine juniors began preparing for the 2008 UCI Junior Road and Track World Championships, endurance off-roaders are preparing for the upcoming Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships on July 4, all five national calendars rolled on and much more....

USA Cycling announced today 21 of its 24 nominees to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team, including all 16 men's athletes across the disciplines of road cycling, track cycling, mountain biking and bicycle motocross (BMX). Additionally, five automatic women's nominations across the four Olympic disciplines were announced. Included in the list of nominees is the United States' first five-time Olympic cyclist, George Hincapie, as well as several world champions and world championship medalists. Cycling events at the 2008 Beijing Games begin with the men's road race on Saturday, Aug. 9.

David Veilleux took home the overall win in the six-stage American Eagle Outfitters Tour of Pennsylvania, June 24-29. Following the completion of eight events on the USA Cycling Pro Tour, Levi Leipheimer remains atop the overall individual standings, while High Road is the current leader in the team rankings. Only six races remain on the 2008 USA Cycling Professional Tour.

After opening day of the 2008 USA Cycling Masters Road National Championships crowned 30 national champions on Monday in the time trial, a much shorter day on Tuesday saw four women's categories contest the road race. Three winners from Monday's race against the clock - AnnaJean Dallaire, Laura Igoe and Sonia Ross - all added a second national title to their list of accomplishments for the week, while local competitor Tracy Tolson captured a Stars-and-Stripes jersey in the 45-49 road race.

Both the cross country and short track races at the Deer Valley National made up the 16th event on the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Cross Country Calendar. Ryan Trebon took the win in the pro men's cross country contest, while Katerina Nash earned the victory in the pro women's race on June 28. In the short track contest, Geoff Kabush topped the pro men's field, while Nash repeated her top performance from the previous day. The cross country race at Blast the Mast will be the next race on the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Cross Country Calendar.

The opening day of the 2008 USA Cycling Masters Road National Championships featured time trial action as amateur cyclists age 30 and up contested the race against the clock. In all, 19 individual time trial titles were decided and 11 tandem national titles were won. Monday marked the first day of competition as competitive cyclists from around the country kicked off a week's worth of national championship racing in time trial, road race and criterium events.

Kyle Wamsley took home the victory in the 22nd race on the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar, the Cox Charities Cycling Classic, while Rashaan Bahati earned the win in the men's criterium contest at the Chevron Manhattan Beach Grand Prix and Brooke Miller won the pro women's race. The next race on the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar is the 2.3-rated Fitchburg Longsjo Classic in Fitchburg, Mass. which takes place July 3-6.

USA Cycling announced today the nine junior athletes that will represent the United States at the upcoming 2008 UCI Junior Road and Track World Championships in Cape Town, South Africa, July 12-20. Four junior men and two junior women will contest the road events scheduled for July 18-20, including defending junior world time trial champion Taylor Phinney, who will also compete in three events on the track. Joining Phinney on the track will be two men and one woman.

High school graduation brings many changes for young people and often the promise of new and exciting opportunities. There arenandrsquo;t too many graduates, though, who can look forward to racing their bikes on two new continents prior to enrolling in their first semester of college. That is however is exactly what Jerika Hutchinson and Sinead Miller, both 18 years-old, will do this summer: race with the U.S. Womenandrsquo;s National Team in Europe in early July and go from there to South Africa to compete at the Junior Road World Championships in Cape Town.

The 12-hour race at the Cowbell Challenge in Charlotte, N.C. marked the fourth event on the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Ultra-Endurance Calendar. Joshua Tostado came away with the men's pro victory while Rebecca Rusch won the women's pro race. The next event on the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Ultra-Endurance Calendar will be the USA Cycling Mountain Bike 24-Hour National Championships in Breckenridge, Colo. on July 4.

Aaron Olson rode to the overall win in the National Racing Calendar's 20th contest, the Tour de Nez, June 18-21 in Reno, Nevada. The ATandamp;T Austin Downtown Crit also took place on the NRC last week with Alejandro Borrajo earning the victory in the men's race while Kelly Benjamin took home the win in the women's criterium contest. The next race on the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar is the 1.5-rated Cox Charities Cycling Classic, a men's-only NRC event in Providence, RI on June 28.

The 15th race on the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Cross Country Calendar, the 3 Legged Dawg, took place June 22 in North Little Rock, Ark. Luke Porter took home the men's pro win in a sprint to the finish, while Suzanne Henne earned the women's victory. The Deer Valley National is the next contest on the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Cross Country Calendar. The category-one event will take place in Park City, Utah on June 29.

Elite menandrsquo;s and womenandrsquo;s Olympic-style Cross Country racing capped off the 2008 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships Sunday as Todd Wells and Georgia Gould recorded the top American finishes. Wells rode to a 15th-place-finish in the menandrsquo;s contest, while Gould finished ninth to lead the womenandrsquo;s squad. The U.S. National Team concluded the 2008 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships with a sole medal which came in the form of a gold by Melissa Buhl in Saturdayandrsquo;s Womenandrsquo;s Four Cross competition.

Melissa Buhl gave the United States its first medal of the 2008 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships on Saturday, winning the Womenandrsquo;s Four Cross contest in convincing fashion. Brian Lopes finished the Menandrsquo;s Four Cross event in the fifth spot after he and teammate Ross Milan were eliminated in the semi-final round. With all gravity finals contested on Saturday, Kathy Pruitt, Buhl and Cole Bangert also gave the U.S. a trio of top 25 finishes in downhill competition. The 2008 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships conclude on Sunday, as World Champions will be crowned in both Elite Menandrsquo;s and Womenandrsquo;s Cross Country.

Attention junior, U23 and elite road cyclists: Registration is currently open for the 2008 USA Cycling Junior, U23 and Elite Road National Championships at www.sportsbaseonline.com. All participants are encouraged to register online before Friday, July 18 when the registration fees increase by $25 per race. This year's edition is scheduled for July 6-10 in Anaheim, Calif. If you haven't yet registered for the event, you can quickly and easily do so online!