COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Jan. 13) – USA Cycling announced Monday the appointment of Matt Cramer as the Mountain Bike Development Director. Cramer has an extensive background as an exercise physiologist and as a cycling coach, and first worked for USA Cycling in 1999 as a coach in the resident program.

USA Cycling is implementing this new position as part of their on-going efforts to identify top talent among young mountain bike riders. Cramer's responsibilities will include developing programs to identify sponsors and other business partners for mountain biking.

“We're really excited to have Matt join our coaching team,” said USA Cycling Athletic Director Steve Johnson. “He's going to be challenged to create a development program for the best young American mountain biking talent, and also to create a program that will allow us to leverage other opportunities, like sponsorship, for mountain biking.

“Although the initial budget will be limited, I wanted to get the program up and running as soon as possible,” said Johnson. “I also think that the effort to secure sponsorship will be more effective with a viable program already in place.”

Cramer has a Bachelor's Degree in exercise physiology from Penn State ('98). He has worked with the U.S. Olympic Committee's Sport Science and Technology Department, and was formerly the sports science manager for the U.S. Women's Rowing Team. In '99 he was hired by USA Cycling as the Resident Cycling Coach at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Since then he has served as assistant coach for USA Cycling's World Championships Mountain Bike Teams from 1999 thru 2002.

“My vision for this new position as Mountain Bike Development Director is to provide junior and espoir [under age 23] athletes with a clearly-defined roadmap they can follow to reach the top of their sport, and achieve a lifetime goal of becoming an elite cyclist,” said Cramer. “I want to help develop a more distinct connection between the USA Cycling Development Camp Program and the National Team Program, as well as create a more objective method of talent identification of young athletes in the United States.”

Cramer, who currently resides in Gig Harbor, Wash., will relocate to Colorado Springs with his wife Jenny, a high school science teacher, later this month.