Madison gears up for USA Cycling Collegiate Road Nationals

Colorado Springs, Colo. (May 4, 2010) - The USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships will head to Madison, Wis. for the first time since the event was held there in 2004. Nearly 500 student-athletes representing almost 100 colleges and universities from across the country will compete to win one of 18 national titles, May 7-9. Read more about the riders to watch and a special insider preview of the event on the USA Cycling Collegiate webpage.  
 
The USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships, hosted by the Wisconsin University Badgers in partnership with Team Sports, Inc. will see hundreds of men and women from Division I and Division II institutions compete for individual championships in three categories – criterium, road race and individual omnium. The collegiate squads will also fight for team titles in both the team time trial event and the prestigious overall team omnium classification, which combines results from all three races, both male and female. After emerging victorious in the tight DI team omnium contest last year, the University of California-Davis will head to Madison looking to defend their trophy. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology will be looking to take back the DII road omnium title from Whitman College after the Fighting Missionaries strong-armed last year’s DII field for the team victory.
 
Competition will begin Friday, May 7 with the road race beginning at 8:30 a.m. at Blue Mound State Park. A highlight of the weekend’s racing, Saturday’s criterium competition will take place in the Capitol Square in downtown Madison. Racing is set to begin at 3:00 p.m. with the DII women starting things off and the DI men wrapping up Saturday’s action at 6:15 p.m. The USA Cycling Collegiate Awards Banquet will then take place at the Monona Terrace at 8:00 p.m. The three-day competition will wrap up with Sunday’s team time trial; starting and finishing at the Trek Bicycle Headquarters in Waterloo, Wisc. For a complete schedule of the weekend’s events, click here or visit the event webpage, here for complete info.
 
Cycling is one of few collegiate sports to equally weigh the male and female performances to determine an overall, season-long team winner across all disciplines. The road national championships mark the fourth and final event to be factored into the overall season tally. Last season’s overall defending champions Lees-McRae College and MIT will be looking to retain their overall team Division I and II season crowns next weekend in Madison. In Division I Lees-McRae will face stiff competition from both arch-rival Fort Lewis College who currently leads the 2010 team standings and DI newcomer Lindsey Wilson College. MIT will have some ground to make up in DII in order to defend their season omnium title as Mesa State holds a strong advantage heading into the season’s final national championship. Click here to view the complete DI team omnium season standings following three of four events and here for DII.
 
In addition to a national championship, the women’s competition in Madison will once again serve as a qualifier for the Ryan Collegiate All Stars – a female composite team of six student-athletes from six different schools who finish among the top of the final omnium standings. These select athletes will earn an invitation to the Nature Valley Grand Prix, one of the highest-ranked stage races on USA Cycling’s National Racing Calendar held in and around Minneapolis, Minn., June 16-20. The final individual omnium standings at the USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships will determine the all-star squad that will compete alongside some of the nation’s top pro women. In addition to an invitation to the Minnesota event, the team will receive housing, a travel stipend, clothing and the direction of a team manager throughout the week. For more information and complete qualification procedures, visit http://www.ryancollegiateallstars.com.   
 
As a part of the weekend’s activities, USA Cycling will also be hosting a clinic entitled Coaching the College Student-Athlete on Saturday morning. The clinic is free for USA Cycling members but is limited to the first 15 registrants. Click here for more information.
 
*As a USA Cycling National Championship, all bicycles must comply with current UCI technical regulations. A copy of the USA Cycling Bike Measurement Guide is available HERE.  The UCI regulations are available at www.uci.ch and are found in Part 1, General Regulations under Section 1.3 beginning on page 54.
 
All USA Cycling members are also eligible to received special discounted bike shipping from High Country Shipping. Click here for more information.

Follow the event on Twitter using the hashtag #colnats.
  
2010 USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships
Madison, Wisconsin
May 6-9
 
Date                      Time                      Event                                                     Location                               Length      
Thursday May 6 2:00-9:00 pm       Registration & Packet Pick-Up         Madison Concourse Hotel 
7:00 pm                Rider & Team Meeting                      Madison Concourse Hotel 
 
Friday May 7        7 am-12:00 pm  Packet Pick-Up˚                                  Madison Concourse Hotel 
                                8:30 am                Men’s Division I Road Race             Blue Mound State Park     72 miles (5 laps)
                                8:40 am                Men’s Division II Road Race            Blue Mound State Park     72 miles (5 laps)
                                1:00 pm                Women’s Division I Road Race       Blue Mound State Park     58 miles (4 laps)
                                1:10 pm                Women’s Division II Road Race      Blue Mound State Park     58 miles (4 laps)
                                6:00-8:00 pm       Registration and Packet Pick-Up     Madison Concourse Hotel 
 
Saturday May 8  8:45-10:45 am    Coaching Clinic and breakfast        Madison Concourse Hotel 
                                12:00-4:45 pm    Registration & Packet Pick-Up*       Madison Concourse Hotel 
                                3:00 pm                Women’s Division II Criterium         Capitol Square - Madison                 45 mins
                                4:00 pm                Women’s Division I Criterium          Capitol Square - Madison                 45 mins
                                5:00 pm                Men’s Division II Criterium               Capitol Square - Madison                 60 mins
                                6:15 pm                Men’s Division I Criterium                                Capitol Square - Madison                 60 mins
                                8:00-9:30 pm       Collegiate Awards Banquet             Monona Terrace - Madison 
 
Sunday May 9     9:30 am                Women’s Division II TTT                   Trek Bicycle HQ - Waterloo 19.2 miles
                                To Follow**          Women’s Division I TTT                    Trek Bicycle HQ - Waterloo 19.2 miles
                                To Follow             Men’s Division II TTT                         Trek Bicycle HQ - Waterloo 19.2 miles
                                To Follow             Men’s Division I TTT                          Trek Bicycle HQ - Waterloo 19.2 miles
                                To Follow†           Awards Ceremony                             Trek Bicycle HQ - Waterloo 40 mins‡
 
Individual National Championship Categories 
Men’s Division I Criterium
Men’s Division II Criterium
Men’s Division I Road Race
Men’s Division II Road Race
Men’s Division I Overall
Men’s Division II Overall
Women’s Division I Criterium
Women’s Division II Criterium
Women’s Division I Road Race
Women’s Division II Road Race
Women’s Division I Overall
Women’s Division II Overall
 
Team  National Championship Categories 
Men’s Division I Team Time Trial
Men’s Division II Team Time Trial
Women’s Division I Team Time Trial
Women’s Division II Team Time Trial
Division I Overall
Division II Overall
 
About Collegiate Cycling
Recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the Union Cycliste Internationale, USA Cycling is the official governing body for all disciplines of competitive cycling in the United States, including road, track, mountain bike, BMX, and cyclo-cross. With over 4,500 student athletes and 300 collegiate clubs and teams, Collegiate Cycling is the division of USA Cycling responsible for administering competitive bicycle racing in 11 unique collegiate conferences. Collegiate Cycling also oversees all four USA Cycling Collegiate National Championships: Track, Mountain Bike, Cyclo-cross, and Road, and recognizes collegiate club and athlete achievements with the Stenner and Kuck scholarships. To learn more about USA Cycling-Collegiate, visit www.usacycling.org/collegiate.
 
About USA Cycling   
Recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the Union Cycliste Internationale, USA Cycling is the official governing body for all disciplines of competitive cycling in the United States, including road, track, mountain bike, BMX and cyclo-cross. As a membership-based organization, USA Cycling comprises 66,500+ licensees; 2,200 clubs and teams; and 34 local associations. The national governing body sanctions 2,650 competitive and non-competitive events throughout the U.S. each year and is responsible for the identification, development, and support of American cyclists. To learn more about USA Cycling, visit www.usacycling.org.


This Article Published May 4, 2010 For more information contact: