December 20, 2007 – Here is the lastest news from USA Cycling, including the release of the 2008 XC, Gravity and Ultra-Endurance MTB calendars and the announcement of the 2008 U.S. Cyclocross Worlds Team.

2008 USA Cycling MTB Calendars Announced
With more than $150,000 on the line to off-road cyclists next season, the 2008 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Calendars were announced today by the national governing body.

After introducing the National Calendar concept in 2007, the 2008 edition once again recognizes three separate calendars in order to provide mountain bike athletes across the country with consistent national-level racing in their chosen discipline.

The 2008 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Cross Country Calendar welcomes eight new events and features four UCI-sanctioned races and the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships. The calendar begins in early spring with the 20th Annual Keyesville Classic in Lake Isabella, Calif., March 15-16 and concludes seven months later with the Piney Hills Fall Classic in Ruston, La., Oct. 25-26.

New events on the 24-race Cross Country Calendar include the Keyesville Classic as well as the Rabbit Valley Rampage in Fruita, Colo., the Massanutten Hoo-Ha in McGayhesville, Va., the East Coast National in Windham, N.Y., the Full Tilt in Telluride (Colo.), the Ladies Loppet in Callaway, Minn., the Tamarack (Idaho) National and the Fall Classic in Breckenridge, Colo.

Races that offer international ranking points as part of the UCI Calendar include the Fontana National in California and the Deer Valley National in Park City, Utah — both UCI Category-1 events. Category-2 UCI races in 2008 include the NOVA National in Fountain Hills, Ariz. and the Santa Ynez National in Southern California. Also recognized as a Category-1 event on the 2008 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Cross Country Calendar is next year’s USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships at Mount Snow Resort in West Dover, Vt. next July. The national championships also provide athletes with the opportunity to accumulate international ranking points.

Ten races are featured on the 2008 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Gravity Calendar — four of which are also on the UCI Calendar. Four of the ten races are also new to the National Calendar.

The National Gravity Calendar also opens with the Keyesville Classic in March before concluding with the Whiteface Third Annual 5k Downhill in Wilmington, N.Y. on Aug. 31. New events include the Keyesville Classic as well as the Sol Survivor in Sol Vista, Colo., the Third Annual Capital Cup at Wisp in McHenry, Md. and the Sol Squared, also in Sol Vista, Colo.

Three events — the Chile Challenge, the Blast the Mass and the Keystone Classic — are part of the UCI Calendar, while the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships also offer UCI points to competitors.

After featuring six events last season, the 2008 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Ultra-Endurance Calendar will include eight races. Added to the Calendar next season are two national championship events — the USA Cycling Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships in Breckenridge, Colo. on July 4 and the USA Cycling 24-Hour Mountain Bike National Championships in Wausau, Wis., Aug. 2-3. The last event on the Calendar — the Shannon Ridge Showdown in Clear Lake Oaks, Calif., Oct. 18-19 — is also new. Once again the Calendar begins with the Mas O Menos 100k in Terlingua, Texas, Feb. 14-16.

“The 42 events on next season’s National Calendars represent the best off-road races in the United States in terms of organization, prize lists and prestige,” explained Kelli Lusk, USA Cycling’s newly-appointed Mountain Bike Events and Program Director. “With races in 19 states and all regions of the country, we’ve managed to once again put together a sizeable series-long calendar that provides elite athletes with top-quality racing across all disciplines of competitive mountain biking.”

Once again, athletes will accumulate points over the course of the season as they pursue overall titles in six categories. The Cross Country Calendar will again feature traditional Olympic-style cross country races. Gravity Calendar events include downhill, 4-cross, super-D and dual slalom events. Ultra-Endurance calendar races will feature marathons, 100-kilometer, and 12- and 24-hour competitions.

In 2007, USA Cycling crowned Georgia Gould (Ketchum, Idaho/Luna) and Canadian Geoff Kabush overall champions of the National Cross Country Calendar. Melissa Buhl (Chandler, Ariz./KHS) and Australian Jared Graves took home National Gravity Calendar titles. Nat Ross (Golden, Colo./Subaru-Gary Fisher) and Rebecca Rusch (Ketchum, Idaho/Red Bull-Specialized) claimed overall victories in the National Ultra-Endurance Calendar.

For compete 2008 calendars, click on the corresponding links below:

USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Cross Country Calendar here
USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Gravity Calendar here
USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Ultra-Endurance Calendar here

2008 U.S. Cyclocross Worlds Team Announced

USA Cycling announced today its first lot of nominations to the U.S. National Team for the 2008 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Treviso, Italy, Jan. 26-27.

Sixteen athletes were nominated to the squad in the elite women’s, U23 men’s and junior men’s categories based on their competitive performance over the course of the last year.

After capturing a silver medal at the 2007 world championships, Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo./Spike Shooter) received an automatic nomination and will lead the elite women’s squad. Compton is currently ranked second in the world behind Dutchwoman Daphny van den Brand and earlier this year captured the biggest win of her career with a victory at the third round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in the Netherlands.

Discretionary nominations to the elite women’s team went to Rachel Lloyd (Fairfax, Calif./Proman-Paradigm), Kerry Barnholt (Boulder, Colo./Tokyo Joe’s-Van Dessel), Sue Butler (Portland, Ore./River City Bicycles) and Amy Dombroski (Boulder, Colo./Velo Bella-Kona).

As the highest-ranked American in the final overall U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclo-cross standings, Georgia Gould (Ketchum, Idaho/Luna) also received an automatic nomination but declined participation.

In the U23 men’s division, Bjorn Selander (Hudson, Wis./VMG Racing) earned the only automatic nomination to the team with his victory last weekend at the USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships.

Discretionary selections to the men’s U23 team went to last year’s world championship silver medalist in the junior men’s category, Daniel Summerhill (Centennial, Colo./Clif Bar Development), as well as collegiate national champion Jamie Driscoll (Jericho, Vt./Fiordifrutta), Chance Noble (Camarillo, Calif./California Giant) and Nichloas Weighall (Mill Creek, Wash./Rad Racing Northwest).

As the junior men’s national champion, Luke Keough (Sandwich, Mass./CL Noonan) earned the sole automatic nomination to the junior men’s team.

Steve Fisher (Lynwood, Wash./Rad Racing Northwest), Eric Emsky (Fall City, Wash./Rad Racing Northwest), Gavin Mannion (Dedham, Mass./Hot Tubes) and Zach McDonald (Bainbridge, Island, Wash./Oh Boy Oberto-Redline) earned discretionary nominations to the junior men’s squad.

The elite men’s nominations will be announced on January 14 following the next two rounds of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Belgium and France.

2008 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships – Treviso, Italy – January 26-27

U.S. Nominations:

Elite Women
– Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
– Georgia Gould (Ketchum, Idaho)*
– Rachel Lloyd (Fairfax, Calif.)
– Kerry Barnholt (Boulder, Colo.)
– Sue Butler (Portland, Ore.)
– Amy Dombroski (Boulder, Colo.)

U23 Men
– Bjorn Selander (Hudson, Wis.)
– Jamie Driscoll (Jericho, Vt.)
– Daniel Summerhill (Centennial, Colo.)
– Chance Noble (Camarillo, Calif.)
– Nick Weighall (Mill Creek, Wash.)

Junior Men
– Luke Keough (Sandwich, Mass.)
– Steve Fisher (Lynwood, Wash.)
– Eric Emsky (Fall City, Wash.)
– Gavin Mannion (Dedham, Mass.)
– Zach McDonald (Bainbridge Island, Wash.)

*declined nomination