Stetina sixth in U23 time trial to open 2008 UCI Road World's
Varese, Italy (September 23, 2008)—The 2008 UCI Road World Championships began with the U23 time trial on Tuesday as Peter Stetina (Boulder, Colo.) placed sixth to give the United States its best finish in the event since 2003.Stetina recorded a time of 43:00.56 over the 33.5-kilometer course to finish 1:24.58 off the pace of winner Adriano Malori of Italy. His performance equaled the best by an American in five years, dating back to Michael Creed’s sixth-place performance in Canada in 2003. The last time an American placed higher than sixth was in 2001 when Danny Pate won the world title.
Completing the podium were silver medalist Patrick Gretsch (GER), who finished 49.57 seconds behind Malori, and bronze medalist Cameron Meyer (AUS), who was 1:04.36 back.
Starting 44th from a field of 64, Stetina crossed the finish line in third place before his mark was eclipsed by only three of the remaining 20 riders. Afterwards, his split times showed marked improvement over the final leg of the course as he narrowly missed a top-five finish by just 0.27 of a second. At the first intermediate time check, just 8.2 kilometers into the race, Stetina was on pace to finish ninth. After briefly running eighth at the 15.1-kilometer mark, Stetina remained consistent, crossing the 23.6-kilometer point, again in ninth. But over the course’s final 10 kilometers, he posted the day’s fourth-fastest split to improve three places and finish just a fraction of a second behind fifth-place finisher Stefano Borchi (ITA).
Despite not entering the race as one of the favorites to land on the podium, Stetina is one of the latest American U23 athletes to illustrate his potential at the world-class level. Just a couple of weeks prior, Stetina briefly wore the yellow leader’s jersey at the Tour de L’Avenir and finished in the top 10 overall as a member of USA Cycling’s National Development Team – an experience he credits with helping him achieve a significant result on Tuesday.
“L’Avenir was the perfect build up to World’s,” he said of the nine-day stage race. “I made a lot of gains during that race and it gave me the perfect amount of time to recover. Everyone’s been very supportive of me. My coach insisted that I could podium here, my pro team (Garmin-Chipotle) has supported me since I was 15 and USA Cycling has been supporting me since I was a junior. I didn’t come here with any specific expectations, I wasn’t nervous. I just wanted to come here and see what I could do.” The United States’ other entry in the U23 time trial, Tejay Van Garderen (Fort Collins, Colo.) struggled to a 42nd-place finish just one week after winning the final stage of the Tour de L’Avenir with the National Development squad. Van Garderen finished 3:21.06 off the winner’s pace. After posting the 18th-fastest mark at the first time check, he quickly lost ground, running 42nd by the second time check.
“It was really a great ride from Stetina,” said Noel Dejonckheere, USA Cycling’s National Development Team Director who runs the Belgium-based program for U25 athletes. “To make a top-10 finish at the world championships is always hard. The course was much harder than we expected and there are always some unknown riders that usually perform well at World’s.”
The 2008 UCI Road World Championships continue on Wednesday with the elite women's time trial. Olympic gold medalist and 2006 world champion Kristin Armstrong (Boise, Idaho) will look to win her fourth consecutive medal in the event. Complementing Armstrong on a deep U.S. team will be Amber Neben (Irvine, Calif.) and 2006 bronze medalist Christine Thorburn (Sunnyvale, Calif.).
2008 UCI Road World Championships
Verese, Italy
Sept. 23-28:
U23 Men’s Time Trial
1. Adriano Malori (ITA) 41:35.98
2. Patrick Gretsch (GER) +49.67
3. Cameron Meyer (AUS) +1:04.36
6. Peter Stetina (Boulder, Colo.) +1:24.58
42. Tejay Van Garderen (Fort Collins, Colo.) +3:21.06
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 and sanctioning body, USA Cycling consists of 64,000+ members, including 57,000 competitive cyclists, 1,500 coaches, 4,000 student-athletes, 2,200 officials, 350 professional cyclists, and 200 certified mechanics. USA Cycling also sanctions 2,500 competitive and non-competitive organized cycling events throughout the United States annually, as well as 1,800 clubs and teams. Associations of USA Cycling include the United States Cycling Federation (road, track & cyclo-cross), the National Off-Road Bicycle Association (mountain bike), the BMX Association, the National Collegiate Cycling Association and the United States Professional Racing Organization. USA Cycling is also responsible for the identification, development, support and promotion of American cyclists through various athletic initiatives and programs including the USA Cycling National Development Team, the USA Cycling Women’s National Team, the USA Cycling Junior Development Team, Talent Identification and Regional Development Camps, domestic and international race calendars, direct athlete funding and support programs, and educational camps and seminars. USA Cycling also fields and supports U.S. National Teams for various international events, including the Olympic Games, World Championships, Pan American Games, Continental Championship and World Cups across all levels and disciplines of competitive cycling. USA cycling further supports grass roots and locally-based initiatives through its 32 Local Associations and comprehensive network of licensed and certified coaches and officials. Additionally, USA Cycling conducts National Championship events for amateur and professional cyclists, awarding more than 600 national titles annually to men and women in junior, U23, masters, elite, professional and paralympic categories throughout the various disciplines of competitive cycling. To learn more about USA Cycling, visit www.usacycling.org. For media-related or general inquiries, please contact USA Cycling Director of Communications, Andy Lee at 719-866-4867 or alee@usacycling.org.
This Article Published September 23, 2008 For more information contact:
