Prairie Cycle Club – Bicycle Club for Champaign County, Illinois

The USA Cycling National Development Teamandrsquo;s Peter Stetina recorded another strong performance, finishing ninth in the first stage of the Tour de Landrsquo;Avenir on September 6. After two days of competition in the premier espoir contest, the USA Cycling National Development Team currently sits in sixth place overall as a team.

The USA Cycling National Development Teamandrsquo;s Peter Stetina took 10th-place in the opening 7.5-kilometer prologue time trial of the Tour de Landrsquo;Avenir on September 5 in Challette-sur-Loing, France. Three of his teammates also placed within the top 25, putting the National Development Team amongst the top squads in the early going of the contest easily considered the worldandrsquo;s most prestigious multi-day race for riders under the age of 23.

The Versus Network will air the 2008 USA Cycling Professional Road and Time Trial Championships as part of its andldquo;Cyclysm Sundaysandrdquo; programming this Sunday, September 7 at 4:30 p.m. EDT. Held for the third straight year over Labor Day weekend in Greenville, S.C., the time trial featured a pro-only field who rode in pursuit of a national title over three laps of a technical, 11.1-kilometer flat to rolling circuit. The following day, the all-American peloton saddled up for the 177-kilometer road race that was defined by four ascents up Paris Mountain.

Following the 2008 USA Cycling elections, the USPRO Board of Trustees has voted to rerun the election for the two athlete representatives. A special election will be held from Sept. 15 through Sept. 30 to determine the two athletes who will sit on the USPRO Board of Trustees andndash; one of which will also be seated on the USA Cycling Board of Directors. Eligible athletes holding a valid professional road license with USA Cycling can begin voting online via their My USA Cycling accounts at 12:00 a.m. on Sept. 15.

Another 11 national titles were decided on Thursday at the 2008 USA Cycling Masters Track National Championships in San Jose, Calif. as competitors competed in the head-to-head sprints and mass-start points races at the Hellyer Park Velodrome. A total of 46 national titles have now been determined as amateur riders age 30 and up continue to compete for Stars-and-Stripes jerseys on the track. Friday will feature the remainder of the sprints and points race competitions.

After winning all three downhill races at the ninth event on the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Gravity Calendar, the Sol Squared G3, Aaron Gwin won the overall pro men's competition in Granby, Colo. Rachel Bauer earned the overall women's victory. The final race on the 2008 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Gravity Calendar went off in Wilmington, N.Y. on Aug. 31. Geritt Beytagh earned the pro men's victory and Dawn Bourque won the final pro women's race on the 2008 calendar.

The future of American cycling will be on display in France as some of the world's top developmental athletes and aspiring professionals ready themselves for Le Tour de L'Avenir, Sept. 5-14. Easily considered the most prestigious multi-day race for riders under the age of 23, Le Tour de L'Avenir, which translates to 'Tour of the Future', will feature six Americans who will be racing for USA Cycling's National Development Team. Winning is tough there - a feat accomplished by an American only once since 1961, by Greg LeMond in 1982.

Day two of the 2008 USA Cycling Masters Track National Championships crowned another 17 national champions as athletes contested the endurance-based time trials and a couple of points races. After capturing 500-meter time trial victories on Tuesday, some returned to the track on Wednesday to claim their second Stars-and-Stripes jerseys of the week, including Lawence Nolan, Victor Copeland, Jane Rinard and Bonnie Woodbury. The national championships continue on Thursday with 200-meter time trials, sprints and points race competitions.

The first 17 national titles were awarded on Tuesday as the 2008 USA Cycling Masters Track National Championships kicked off at the Hellyer Park Velodrome in San Jose. Awarded on opening day were Stars-and-Stripes jerseys in the time trial sprint events - the kilometer time trial and 500-meter time trial. Local athletes took home 13 of the first 17 championships awarded as amateur athletes age 30 and up will compete throughout the week for one of 164 national titles on the line.

Americans captured four medals and one world title last weekend at the 2008 UCI Masters Road World Championships in St. Johaan, Austria - the annual gathering of the top amateur racers age 30 and up. Kenny Fuller won the world title in the men's 60-64 time trial by a slim 2-second margin over Norwegian Kare Christoffersen. Richard Feldman and Cynthia Swain won silver medals for the United States - Feldman in the men's 35-39 time trial and Swain in the women's 55-59 time trial. As the only medalist in the road race events, Michael Carter won a bronze in the men's 45-49 category.

Bernard VanUlden rode to the win in the men's race at the 100K Classic in downtown Atlanta on Sept. 1, while Lauren Franges took the victory in the women's contest. With only one event remaining on the 2008 NRC next weekend, Rory Sutherland continues to hold a commanding lead in the overall individual standings on the men's side while Tina Pic is the current womenandrsquo;s leader. The teams currently atop the standings include the Health Net Pro Cycling Team presented by Maxxis in the menandrsquo;s rankings and the Cheerwine Professional Cycling Team in the womenandrsquo;s.

One of the most decorated American cyclists of his generation, Tyler Hamilton can now add the title of USA Cycling Professional Champion to a randeacute;sumandeacute; that also boasts an Olympic gold medal and Tour de France stage win. The 37-year-old pro on the verge of retirement outsprinted Blake Caldwell in a photo finish, claiming the Stars-and-Stripes jersey by mere centimeters after 177 kilometers and four-and-a-half hours of racing. For the fifth time in the last seven years, Danny Pate recorded a top-five finish, placing third to round out the podium.

David Zabriskie remains the only athlete to win a USA Cycling professional time trial championship after successfully defending his national title on Saturday - his third straight since the event's inception in 2006. Zabriskie edged runner-up Tom Zirbel by just five seconds to maintain his monopoly on the stars-and-stripes jersey, completing the 33.4-kilometer course in 40 minutes, 39.40 seconds. Christian Vande Velde took home the bronze medal in third.

Over the past two weeks in American cycling the United States gathered five medals at the Olympic Games in Beijing, USA Cycling members elected several new representatives to the various Boards of Trustees, with only two events remaining the National Racing Calendar standings heated up, the USA Cycling Junior National and Development Teams continued racing in Europe, the Mountain Bike National Ultra Eudurance Calendar continued with stage racing in Utah, the Junior Track National Championships went off at the ADT Event Center, Collegiate Cycling began heating up and much more....

Attention all mountain bike promoters: Bid applications for the 2009 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Calendars and the American Mountain Bike Challenge (AMBC) are now available for download from the USA Cycling website. Any promoter who wishes to be a part of the 2009 Mountain Bike National Calendar or the AMBC can submit bids through September 15.

The penultimate race on the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Ultra Endurance Calendar went off in Brian Head, Utah with Jeremiah Bishop and Pua Sawicki grabbing overall wins at the American Mountain Classic. With only a single event remaining on the 2008 calendar, Joshua Tostada holds a narrow lead in the men's standings, while Pua Sawicki leads on the women's side.

Hilton Clarke won the 25th Annual Chris Thater Memorial Criterium in Binghamton, N.Y. on Aug. 25, while Tina Pic took the victory in the 1.2-rated women's contest. With only two events remaining on the 2008 NRC, Rory Sutherland continues to hold a commanding lead in the overall individual standings on the men's side while Pic is the current womenandrsquo;s leader. The teams currently atop the standings include the Health Net Pro Cycling Team presented by Maxxis in the menandrsquo;s rankings and the Cheerwine Professional Cycling Team in the womenandrsquo;s.

The United States Cycling Team closed out its 2008 Olympic Games campaign on Saturday with mixed results as it claimed a pair of top-ten finishes in the women's cross country mountain bike race, but failed to earn a placing in the men's event. Mary McConneloug placed seventh to lead all Americans on the day while compatriot Georgia Gould finished eighth. On the men's side, both Adam Craig and Todd Wells were pulled from the race after being lapped by the lead riders.

The United States collected three more medals in the sport of cycling on Friday when Americans Mike Day, Donny Robinson and Jill Kintner were among the first athletes to grace the podium in the newest Olympic sport of Bicycle Motocross (BMX). Day and Robinson won the silver and bronze medals in the men's contest, while Kintner added a bronze in the women's race. Their contributions brought the U.S. medal count in cycling events to five - the most by a U.S. Olympic Team since the 1984 Los Angeles Games and the second-most ever

The 2008 USA Cycling elections concluded on Aug. 15 and after record voter turnout, USA Cycling members elected several representatives to thier respective Boards of Trustees which comprise the political structure of USA Cycling. The 2008 election saw a record number of 3,852 votes cast as USA Cycling announced elected trustees to the BMXA, NCCA, NORBA, USCF and USPRO boards.