Madison prepares for 2013 Amateur & Para-cycling Road Nationals

Madison, Wis. (July 1, 2013) — Nearly 1,000 of the nation’s best amateur cyclists and para-cyclists will put their wheel to the line this week in and around Madison, Wis., to compete for a coveted Stars-and-Stripes jersey at the 2013 USA Cycling Amateur & Para-cycling Road National Championships.

Five days of racing begin on Wednesday, July 3, at the Blue Mound State Park, west of Madison, with road races for under-23 men and junior women age 15-18. The Fourth of July will see 35 national titles awarded in the time trial, held east of Madison in Waterloo. The road races pick up again on Friday at Blue Mound State Park with the U23 women, men 15-18, and the category 1 men — who represent the top level of amateur men’s road cyclists in the nation. The action moves back to Waterloo on Saturday for road races in the para-cycling categories in addition to the junior men and women age 10-14. Sunday’s criteriums in downtown Madison conclude the event, where fast-paced racing will take riders around the Wisconsin state capitol on a four-corner, one-kilometer course.

“Madison is a perfect fit to host the 2013 USA Cycling Amateur & Para-cycling Road National Championships, not only geographically but particularly after hosting the 2013 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championship in January,” commented Rachel Leif, USA Cycling national events manager. “USA Cycling and The Madison Area Sports Commission have built a great relationship that we hope to continue to build for years to come.”

In addition to racing, this event will also see U.S. Paralympics announce their 2013 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships team on Friday, July 5. On Saturday, a collegiate recruitment fair will be held at the Madison Concourse Hotel from 6 to 9 p.m. Representatives from many of the top collegiate cycling teams in the country will be present to offer juniors and U23 riders the chance to learn more about these programs.

Riders to Watch

This event consistently showcases future American pro team riders and Olympic hopefuls, and nowhere is that more on display than in the U23 races. Many of the top contenders in the men’s and women’s U23 events compete internationally for the USA Cycling National Development Program.

Riders to keep an eye on in Madison on the men’s side include Nathan Brown (Covington, Tenn./Bontrager Cycling Team), who recently won the overall at the Tour de Beauce; T.J. Eisenhart (Lehi, Utah/BMC Development Team), who won the best young rider classification and finished sixth overall at the Internationale Thüringen-Rundfahrt U23 in Germany; best young rider winner at the 2013 Amgen Tour of California Lawson Craddock (Austin, Texas/Bontrager Cycling Team);  and reigning U23 criterium national champion Tyler Magner (Athens, Ga./Hincapie Sportswear Development Team).

In the women’s U23 races, reigning 17-18 road race champion Alexis Ryan (Ventura, Calif./ NOW and Novartis for MS) has aged up into the U23 field. Her competition will include Kaitlin Antonneau (Racine, Wisc./Exergy TWENTY16) who won the division 1 omnium at the 2013 Collegiate Road Nationals in May; Jennifer Valente (San Diego, Calif./Exergy TWENTY16), winner of criteriums at the Redlands Bicycle Classic and the Dana Point Grand Prix this year; and Jessica Prinner (South Elgin, Ill./CARE4CYCLING powered by Solomon Corp), who was runner-up to Antonneau in the U23 time trial national championship in 2012.

For more information on the event, including course maps, a schedule of each day’s races, results and photos, visit the 2013 USA Cycling Amateur & Para-cycling Road National Championships event page. Look for updates from Madison on the USA Cycling Facebook and Twitter channels, or follow on Twitter with the hashtag #RoadNats.