Zabriskie rides to national time trial title
 Zabriskie had better luck in Redlands this time around Photo Casey B. Gibson |
Following the elite women’s time trial in which Christine Thorburn (Davenport, Iowa) earned a nomination to the U.S. Olympic cycling team, the men took the stage with only a national title on the line. Several favorites entered the day as top seeds including defending national champion, Chris Baldwin (Boulder, Colo.), Jason McCartney (Coralville, Iowa), and Danny Pate (Colorado Springs, Colo.), but an evenly paced Zabriskie outrode them all en route to the stars and stripes jersey.
Contested over two laps of a 24km out-and-back circuit, the hilly terrain, hot temperatures, and traditionally smoggy conditions all contributed to the challenging task of earning a national title. And with many of the teams taking it easy for Saturday’s road race where the winner does earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic team, several other riders new to the top-ten had a better opportunity to compete for a win. Bronze medalist, the relatively unheralded 37-year-old Kenny Williams (Kirkland, Wash.), was a perfect example, taking third ahead of Baldwin, and fifth place finisher, Adam Bergman (Lino Lakes, Minn.).
 Zabriskie in the stars and stripes. Photo Casey B. Gibson |
Originally on the start list was Chris Horner (Bend, Ore.) one of the favorites for Saturday’s road race, but he ended up being an eleventh hour withdrawl after recovering from a recent cold. Horner has yet to win a national title of any kind, but the bigger prize is an Olympic nomination on Saturday.
“I didn’t really have too many problems today, said Zabriskie. “I even came down a couple of weeks ago to adapt to the environment. To be honest I’m not too happy with my endurance right now, but it worked out all right.” Zabriskie’s victory marked a long awaited successful return to Redlands after suffering a horrible crash at the Redlands Bicycle Classic Stage Race in March.
Fourth place finisher and defending champion Baldwin rode below his own expectations. “I’m really disappointed in myself, “he said. I just went out too fast. After the first turn I had the fastest time and I knew right then that I went out too hard. After that, I just kept losing time.”
Earlier in the day, Adam Switters (Folsom, Calif.) bested runner-up Chris Stockburger (Fort Collins, Colo.) in the junior men’s time trial. The event was one of a series that is factored into selection of the team that will represent the United States at the 2004 UCI Junior World Championships in October. Switters clocked a time of 33:25.73 over the 24km course while Stockburger posted a 33:54.49.
Yesterday’s winner in the junior selection series road race, Zach Taylor (Marietta, Ga.) placed third.
Complete Results Here
 Switters led the junior men with a TT win. Photo Casey B. Gibson |
This Article Published June 17, 2004 For more information contact:
