August 30, 2009 (Greenville, S.C.) – One of the most decorated American cyclists of his generation, George Hincapie (Greenville, S.C./Columbia-High Road) added a third Stars-and-Stripes jersey to his collection, winning the Greenville Hospital Systems USA Cycling Professional Road Race Championship in front of his hometown crowd. Hincapie jumped on a late race break on the last climb over Paris Mountain and outsprinted Andrew Bajadali (Boulder, Colo./Kelly Benefit Strategies) and Ken Louder (Salt Lake City, Utah/BMC) to earn the Stars-and-Stripes following three finishing circuits in downtown Greenville on Sunday.

“This one is special because I haven’t raced in five weeks so I wasn’t really sure how I would feel,” commented Hincapie. “It was a ton of pressure, but it was a very special day for my family and the city of Greenville.”

The trio out sprinted five additional breakaway companions to the line in the final stretch of the 115-mile affair. The only riders with teammates in the final break, BMC’s Brent Bookwalter (Banner Elk, N.C.) finished fourth while Matthew Busche (Wauwatosa, Wis./Kelly Benefit Strategies) was fifth.

To the delight of the crowd in downtown Greenville, yesterday’s USA Cycling Professional Time Trial national champion David Zabriskie (Salt Lake City, Utah/Garmin-Slipstream) made a break for it off the line leading the group through the three small opening downtown circuits. The only American to win a stage of all three Grand Tours grew his lead to nearly four minutes before being absorbed by the charging peloton nearly halfway through the 115-mile affair.

After a bit of disorganization, it was Chris Jones (Auburn, Calif./Team Type I) who finally got away up the final of four ascents up Paris Mountain. He was soon however caught by several riders who worked together to take a small lead descending the mountain. Despite a strong chase, the lead group of eight riders looked to be in control through the final three downtown circuits and after a surge by Ian McKissick (Everett, Wash./BMC), “Big George” timed the sprint perfectly and grabbed his first national title since the debut of the event in Greenville in 2006.

Thousands of fans lined the course for the finish as well as all of the day’s festivities, including 750 charity riders participating in the Stars-and-Stripes Challenge, more than 150 in the kid’s race and dozens contesting the U.S. Handcycling Series Criterium.

“Up on the climb, it was pretty amazing,” said Bajadali of the crowds. “It was super loud. It was kind of deafening in the finish circuits, right through the start/finish. It was like wow, this is awesome. There’s always a great crowd here, really supportive of the race. I love racing here, I love the South and it’s a great course.”

After four years in Greenville and the expiration of its commitment to hold its pro championships there, USA Cycling announced after the race that the event would return to the city in 2010.

“The support from the city and community of Greenville has been truly exceptional for the USA Cycling Professional Championships for four years. And we are truly excited to announce our return to Greenville for 2010,” added Steve Johnson, CEO of USA Cycling, Inc. The announcement about the Championships returning to Greenville was made after the race by USA Cycling in partnership with Medalist Sports and The City of Greenville.

Results

1. George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia-High Road 4:33:36
2. Andrew Bajadali (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies 0:00:01
3. Jeff Louder (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:03
4. Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:07
5. Matthew Busche (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies
6. Jonathan Mccarty (USA) OUCH Presented By Maxxis 0:00:13
7. Chris Jones (USA) Team Type 1
8. Phil Zajicek (USA) Fly V Australia 0:00:23
9. Daniel Bowman (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies 0:01:10
10. Shawn Milne (USA) Team Type 1 0:01:19
11. Neil Shirley (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies 0:01:25
12. Mike Creed (USA) Team Type 1 0:01:26
13. Jason Donald (USA) Garmin-Slipstream 0:01:27
14. Max Jenkins (USA) Glud & Marstrand Horsens 0:01:28
15. T Burke Swindlehurst (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling 0:01:29
16. Bradley White (USA) OUCH Presented By Maxxis 0:01:30
17. Danny Pate (USA) Garmin-Slipstream 0:02:09
18. Jason McCartney (USA) Saxo Bank
19. Jacob Rytlewski (USA) Kenda Pro Cycling p/b Spinergy 0:06:54
20. Andrew Guptill (USA) Colavita-Sutter Homes p/b Cooking Light
21. Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling 0:06:55
22. Timothy Johnson (USA) OUCH Presented By Maxxis
23. Antonio Cruz (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:06:56
24. Alexander Candelario (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies 0:06:57
25. John Murphy (USA) OUCH Presented By Maxxis
26. Timmy Duggan (USA) Garmin-Slipstream
27. Craig Lewis (USA) Team Columbia-High Road 0:06:58
28. Tom Peterson (USA) Garmin-Slipstream
29. Ted King (USA) Cervelo Test Team 0:08:19
30. Kiel Reijnen (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
31. Andrew Talansky (USA) Amore e Vita – Life Time Fitness 0:08:20
32. Jonathan Garcia (USA) BMC Racing Team
33. Floyd Landis (USA) OUCH Presented By Maxxis 0:08:21
34. Andy Jacques-Maynes (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling 0:37:22
35. Omer Kem (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
36. Morgan Schmitt (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
37. Roman Kilun (USA) OUCH Presented By Maxxis
38. Daniel Vaillancourt (USA) Colavita-Sutter Homes p/b Cooking Light
39. Tyler Wren (USA) Colavita-Sutter Homes p/b Cooking Light
40. Charles Marzot (USA) Team Mountain Khakis
41. William Dugan (USA) Team Type 1
42. Ivan Dominguez (USA) Rock Racing
43. James Camut (USA) Land Rover – ORBEA
DNF David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin-Slipstream
DNF Alex Howes (USA) Garmin-Slipstream
DNF Mike Friedman (USA) Garmin-Slipstream
DNF Steven Cozza (USA) Garmin-Slipstream
DNF Chad Beyer (USA) BMC Racing Team
DNF Ian Mckissick (USA) BMC Racing Team
DNF Jackson Stewart (USA) BMC Racing Team
DNF Tom Zirbel (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
DNF Sheldon Deeny (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
DNF Graham Howard (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
DNF Paul Mach (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
DNF K Pipp (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
DNF Christopher Baldwin (USA) OUCH Presented By Maxxis
DNF Jonathan Chodroff (USA) OUCH Presented By Maxxis
DNF Bobby Lea (USA) OUCH Presented By Maxxis
DNF Matthew Crane (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
DNF Phillip Gaimon (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
DNF Nicholas Reistad (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
DNF Bernard Vanulden (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
DNF Cheyne Hoag (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies
DNF Jonathan Mumford (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies
DNF Scott Zwizanski (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies
DNF Richard Harper (USA) Kenda Pro Cycling p/b Spinergy
DNF Christopher Monteleone (USA) Kenda Pro Cycling p/b Spinergy
DNF Jonathan Parrish (USA) Kenda Pro Cycling p/b Spinergy
DNF Justin Spinelli (USA) Kenda Pro Cycling p/b Spinergy
DNF Tyler Stanfield (USA) Kenda Pro Cycling p/b Spinergy
DNF Russell Stevenson (USA) Kenda Pro Cycling p/b Spinergy
DNF Tim Swain (USA) Kenda Pro Cycling p/b Spinergy
DNF Scottie Weiss (USA) Kenda Pro Cycling p/b Spinergy
DNF Matthew Winstead (USA) Kenda Pro Cycling p/b Spinergy
DNF Andy Baker (USA) Team Mountain Khakis
DNF Will Hoffarth (USA) Team Mountain Khakis
DNF Daniel Ramsey (USA) Team Mountain Khakis
DNF Thomas Soladay (USA) Team Mountain Khakis
DNF Spencer Beamer (USA) Team Mountain Khakis
DNF Charles Joe Eldridge (USA) Team Type 1
DNF Kenneth Hanson (USA) Team Type 1
DNF Daniel Holt (USA) Team Type 1
DNF Ian Macgregor (USA) Team Type 1
DNF Fred Rodriguez, (USA) Rock Racing
DNF Sergio Hernandez (USA) Rock Racing
DNF Jered Gruber (USA) DLP Racing
DNF Boyd Johnson (USA) DLP Racing
DNF Steven Gordon (USA) DLP Racing
DNF Jonathan Hamblen (USA) DLP Racing
DNF Timothy Henry (USA) DLP Racing
DNF Andrew Olson (USA) DLP Racing
DNF Joshua Bartlett (USA) Land Rover – ORBEA
DNF Bobby Sweeting (USA) Land Rover – ORBEA
DNF Wade Wolfenbarger (USA) Cinelli-Down Under
DNF Ben King (USA) Trek Livestrong