USA Cycling Development Wrap: National Development Programs Busy Gaining Experience All Over the World

USA Cycling’s Development Program schedule was packed with action the final week of July. Highlighted by a pair of BMX World Championship medals, the week contained U23 and junior road racing in France and Italy, top-level mountain bike racing experience in northern Italy and the final pair of USA Cycling Development Camps here at home.

Men’s Road development program

U23

Riding for the USA Cycling’s U 23 Development Program, Carson Miller (Bend, Oregon) finished 52nd overall at last week’s Tour of Alsace in France. He was joined in the UCI 2.2-rated race by Larry Warbasse (Traverse City, Mich./BMC) who finished 62nd in the general classification and Jacob Rathe (Portland, Ore./Jelly Belly) who completed the six-stage race in 103rd overall. Visit the event’s website for full results and more on the Tour of Alsace.

Juniors

In preparation for the upcoming UCI Junior Road World Championships, USA Cycling’s Junior Development Program fielded a squad in the Liege la Gleize in Belgium over the weekend. The highlight of the UCI 2.1-rated event came in Stage 2A where the young Americans earned third in the team time trial against many of the world’s top junior squads.

Overall Paul Lynch (Colchester, Conn./CL Noonan-Bay Hill Capital-Corner Cycle) turned in the top American result in 35th, +4:38 behind overall winner Samuel Spokes of Australia who finished the four-stage event in 7:40:47. Also finishing well for the U.S. squad, Ryan Eastman (Petaluma, Calif./All Sport-Team Swift) was 38th overall, Nathaniel Geoffrion (Petaluma, Calif./All Sport-Team Swift) 61st, Anders Newbury (Fairfield, Vt./Hot Tubes) 81st and Lawson Craddock (Houston, Texas/Hot Tubes) 86th. Eamon Lucas (Pacific Grove, Calif./Specialized) was unable to finish the contest. Full results are available here, under the Men Juniors tab.

This group will go on to contest the UCI Junior Road World Championships, Aug. 5-8 in Offida, Italy.

Mountain Bike development program

USA Cycling also fielded a group of five riders for the eighth round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Val di Sole, Italy over the weekend. USA Cycling Mountain Development Programs Director Marc Gullickson guided the group of youngsters in one of the world’s toughest races.

The sole female development program rider, Chloe Forsman (Tucson, Ariz./Specialized Designs for Women-Bicycle Haus) added to a strong showing for the U.S. ladies coming in 41st in the elite women’s cross country field. Stephen Ettinger (Cashmere, Wash./Arlberg Sports) led the young U.S. men finishing on the lead lap in the six-plus lap affair for 86th place. Eighteen-year-old Russell Finsterwald (Colorado Springs, Colo./Subaru-Trek) was one-lap down in 120th place, while Jack Hinkens (Edenprairie, Minn./Trek Co-op) and Kerry Werner (Banner Elk, N.C./Christiana Cycling) finished 146th, 158th and 159 respectively.

More on the Val di Sole World Cup here.

women’s development program

BMX

Nineteen-year-old Alise Post (Saint Cloud, Minn./Redline Bicycles) earned the bronze medal in the elite women’s contest at the UCI BMX World Championships on Saturday, while Brooke Crain (Visalia, Calif./Clayborn-Monster Energy) just missed the junior women’s world title finishing second.

The medals marked the first major success for USA Cycling’s newly implemented BMX Women’s Development Program.

development camps

USA Cycling’s final pair of Development Camps, the Northwest Regional Road Development Camp and the Northcentral Regional Road Development Camp, are wrapping up this week. The invite-only National Development Camp set for Oct. 7-11 in Colorado Springs is the last of USA Cyclng’s Development Camps this year.

Click here for more information about USA Cycling’s Athlete Development Camps.

coming up

ROAD

The next event on tap for USA Cycling’s U23 National Development Program is the Tour de Namur, Aug. 7-11. Finsterwald will temporarily trade in his mountain bike to join the group of rider that contested Alsace last week.

Twenty-two American junior athletes are set to represent the United States at the upcoming UCI Junior Road and Track World Championships in Italy coming up Aug. 5-15.

USA Cycling’s Women’s Development Program will return to action at the end of August at the Holland Ladies Tour.

Mountain Bike

Mountain Bike Development Programs will continue at the UCI World Cup finale in Windham, N.Y. later this month.

Photos from top to bottom: Young USA Cycling Mountain Bike Development Program riders Kerry Werner and Jack Hinkens rest after contesting a fierce World Cup race in Val di Sole. (courtesy Marc Gullickson); At only 19-years-old Alise Post scored a bronze medal in the elite women’s contest at the UCI BMX World Championships on Saturday. (Courtesy Jerry Landrum)

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SOURCE: USA Cycling

One of USA Cycling’s dual missions is to achieve sustained success in international cycling competition. To that end, USA Cycling maintains development programs for all disciplines of competitive cycling, including men’s and women’s U25 and junior road; mountain bike; track(endurance and sprint) and BMX development programs. These programs provide a structured pathway to the top tier of the sport through athlete development that begins with Junior racing series, Regional Development Camps and racing and moves through to international competition. For more about USA Cycling’s Athlete Development Programs, click here.