March 7, 2005)””With the conclusion of the 2004/05 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics series, 33 countries have qualified to compete in the upcoming world championships at the ADT Event Center in suburban Los Angeles, Calif. March 24-27.

Perennial powerhouse Australia, whose nine track cycling medals at the 2004 Olympic Games led all nations, heads an impressive list of qualified countries. Germany, Great Britain and Spain, each with four Olympic medals to their credit last August, are also expected to be among the primary contenders.

The Netherlands and Russia, the two top-ranked countries in the overall world cup standings respectively, have also qualified and are expected to compete. The remaining countries that medaled in the Athens Olympics “” Canada, New Zealand, France, China, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland, Belarus and the United States “” further complement a world-class field.

“This is shaping up to be the most athletically gifted field assembled in the U.S. for a track cycling event in the last 20 years,” commented USA Cycling chief executive officer Gerard Bisceglia. “Whether you’re a cycling fanatic or a just a sports fan in general, it really is a must-see event not only because of the sheer talent that will be participating but also because of the frequency at which such a spectacle takes place in the United States.”

The complete list of qualified countries include: Argentina, Australia, Barbados, Belgium, Belarus, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Moldavia, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Paraguay, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Slovakia, Ukraine, United States

The complete U.S. National Team will be announced by USA Cycling on March 14.