This weekend's US National Championships in Greenville, SC, will pit Levi Leipheimer and George Hincapie against some new faces, as the old guard of American cycling tries to hang on to their stars and stripes for one more season.
Starting with tomorrow's time trial, it's 33km around Greenville in three 11km laps, of what looks like gently undulating terrain.
With Dave Zabriskie at the Vuelta a Espana, the time trial title is open for the taking, but if Leipheimer isn't up to the task, wunderkind Taylor Phinney almost certainly will be. It's Phinney's debut in Greenville, but he has been hanging out at Hincapie's house all week getting ready, and is using this as a springboard to an assault on the worlds U23 time trial. Scott Zwizanski (Kelly Benefits) was third last year and figures to be in the mix again. Zabriskie is the only rider to ever win on the Greenville course, however, so his absence looms large over the race. Full lineup on the flip.
On the road side, look for the climb up Paris Mountain to break things up, as usual, but the competition to succeed Hincapie in stars and stripes, which will certainly include George himself, should be pretty heated as always. Chris Horner will come to town to challenge (or help) his teammate Leipheimer, who looked strong in Quebec and has to rate as a favorite. Phil Zajicek, the Jacques-Mayne Brothers, and Andrew Bajadali are likely protagonists, though I'm not an expert on the domestic scene so don't take my word for it. Full 87 rider lineup on the flip.
Please send in your pics from the sideline, it should be a raucous good ol time down in Dixie!
The 19 registered ITT combatants:
Matthew Busche | UCI PT: Team RadioShack |
Timothy (Timmy) Duggan | UCI PT: Garmin-Transitions |
Caleb Fairly | UCI PT: Garmin-Transitions |
Nicolas Frey | UCI CT: Jamis/Sutter Home presented by Colavita |
Michael Friedman | UCI CT: Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda |
Adrian Hegyvary | UCI CT: UnitedHealthcare presented by Maxxis |
Charles Huff | UCI CT: Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda |
Carter Jones | UCI CT: Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda |
Benjamin King | UCI CT: Trek Livestrong U23 |
Levi Leipheimer | UCI PT: Team RadioShack |
Paul Mach | UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team |
Jonathan Mumford | UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies |
Taylor Phinney | UCI CT: Trek Livestrong U23 |
Jeremy Powers | UCI CT: Jelly Belly Cycling Team |
Peter Stetina | UCI PT: Garmin-Transitions |
Scott Tietzel | UCI CT: Mountain Khakis Fueled by Jittery Joes |
Bernard VanUlden | UCI CT: Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda |
David Williams | UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team |
Scott Zwizanski |
UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies |
And the 87 registrants for the road race:
Jesse Anthony | UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies |
Andrew Bajadali | UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies |
Andrew Baker | UCI CT: Mountain Khakis Fueled by Jittery Joes |
Christopher Baldwin | UCI CT: UnitedHealthcare presented by Maxxis |
Chris Barton | UCI PCT: BMC Racing Team |
Eric Bennett | UCI CT: Adageo Energy Pro Cycling |
Chad Beyer | UCI PCT: BMC Racing Team |
Neil Bezdek | UCI CT: Mountain Khakis Fueled by Jittery Joes |
Brent Bookwalter | UCI PCT: BMC Racing Team |
Ian Boswell | UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team |
Alex Bowden | UCI CT: Team Type 1 |
Daniel Bowman | UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies |
Thomas Brown | UCI CT: Mountain Khakis Fueled by Jittery Joes |
Matthew Busche | UCI PT: Team RadioShack |
Robert Bush | UCI CT: KENDA Pro Cycling presented by GEARGRINDER |
Christopher Butler | UCI PCT: BMC Racing Team |
Alexander Candelario | UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies |
Adam Carr | UCI CT: Adageo Energy |
Oscar Clark | UCI CT: Mountain Khakis Fueled by Jittery Joes |
Matthew Cooke | UCI CT: Mountain Khakis Fueled by Jittery Joes |
Steven Cozza | UCI PT: Garmin-Transitions |
Matthew Crane | UCI CT: UnitedHealthcare presented by Maxxis |
Ivan Dominguez | UCI CT: Jamis/Sutter Home presented by Colavita |
James Driscoll | UCI CT: Jamis/Sutter Home presented by Colavita |
William Dugan | UCI CT: Team Type 1 |
Timothy (Timmy) Duggan | UCI PT: Garmin-Transitions |
Guy East | UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies |
Lucas Euser | SpiderTech presented by Planet Energy |
Caleb Fairly | UCI PT: Garmin-Transitions |
Timothy Farnham | UCI CT: Adageo Energy Pro Cycling |
Nicolas Frey | UCI CT: Jamis/Sutter Home presented by Colavita |
Michael Friedman | UCI CT: Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda |
Phillip Gaimon | UCI CT: KENDA Pro Cycling presented by GEARGRINDER |
Andrew Guptill | UCI CT: Jamis/Sutter Home presented by Colavita |
Kenneth Hanson | UCI CT: Team Type 1 |
Adrian Hegyvary | UCI CT: UnitedHealthcare presented by Maxxis |
Mark Hekman | UCI CT: Mountain Khakis Fueled by Jittery Joes |
Sergio Hernandez | UCI CT: Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda |
George Hincapie | UCI PCT: BMC Racing Team |
Cheyne Hoag | UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies |
Richard Hoffarth | UCI CT: Mountain Khakis Fueled by Jittery Joes |
Daniel Holloway | UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team |
Christopher Horner | UCI PT: Team RadioShack |
Charles Huff | UCI CT: Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda |
Andy Jacques-Maynes | UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team |
Benjamin Jacques-Maynes | UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team |
Maxim Jenkins | UCI CT: UnitedHealthcare presented by Maxxis |
Carter Jones | UCI CT: Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda |
Christopher Jones | UCI CT: Team Type 1 |
Benjamin King | UCI CT: Trek Livestrong U23 |
Ted King | UCI PCT: Cervelo Test Team |
Levi Leipheimer | UCI PT: Team RadioShack |
Craig Lewis | UCI PT: Team Columbia |
Jeff Louder | UCI PCT: BMC Racing Team |
Paul Mach | UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team |
Sean Mazich | UCI CT: Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda |
Jason McCartney | UCI PT: Team RadioShack |
Shawn Milne | UCI CT: Team Type 1 |
Christopher Monteleone | UCI CT: KENDA Pro Cycling presented by GEARGRINDER |
Jonathan Mumford | UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies |
John Murphy | UCI PCT: BMC Racing Team |
Cody O'Reilly | UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team |
Danny Pate | UCI PT: Garmin Slipstream |
K Frank Pipp | UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team |
Jeremy Powers | UCI CT: Jelly Belly Cycling Team |
Kiel Reijnen | UCI CT: Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda |
Joey Rosskopf | UCI CT: Mountain Khakis Fueled by Jittery Joes |
Jacob Rytlewski | UCI CT: KENDA Pro Cycling presented by GEARGRINDER |
Eric Schildge | UCI CT: Mountain Khakis Fueled by Jittery Joes |
Morgan Schmitt | UCI CT: UnitedHealthcare presented by Maxxis |
Bjorn Selander | UCI PT: Team RadioShack |
Neil Shirley | UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies |
John (Jackie) Simes | UCI CT: Jamis/Sutter Home presented by Colavita |
Peter Stetina | UCI PT: Garmin-Transitions |
Scott Stewart | UCI CT: Team Type 1 |
Andrew Talansky | UCI PT: Garmin-Transitions |
Scott Tietzel | UCI CT: Mountain Khakis Fueled by Jittery Joes |
Frank Travieso | UCI CT: Jamis/Sutter Home presented by Colavita |
Bernard VanUlden | UCI CT: Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda |
Nicholas Waite | UCI CT: KENDA Pro Cycling presented by GEARGRINDER |
Kyle Wamsley | UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team |
Scottie Weiss | UCI CT: KENDA Pro Cycling presented by GEARGRINDER |
Bradley White | UCI CT: UnitedHealthcare presented by Maxxis |
David Williams | UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team |
Tyler Wren | UCI CT: Jamis/Sutter Home presented by Colavita |
Philip Zajicek | UCI CT: Fly V Australia |
Scott Zwizanski | UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies |