About the USA Cycling National Development Team
The USA Cycling National Development Team was created in 1999 by USA Cycling, the governing body for the sport of cycling in the United States, as a means of providing young American cyclists with all the tools necessary to excel at their chosen sport.
Supported heavily by AMD, Specialized, the USA Cycling Development Foundation and VMG Racing, the 2007 USA Cycling National Development Team includes a roster of 18 riders aged 25 or younger who have been identified by competitive results as the next potential crop of professional, Olympic, or otherwise world-class cyclists. These cyclists are given the opportunity to race against some of the best talent across the globe while receiving support from a variety of individuals who play a key role in their development.
A dedicated staff of program directors, coaches, mechanics, trainers and sports scientists works year round to give these young athletes the best chance at success in the grueling and competitive sport of cycling.
Because cycling is traditionally a Eurocentric sport and most of the top world-class races take place across the Atlantic, USA Cycling maintains a house in Izegem, Belgium under the watchful eye of National Development Team Director Noel Dejonckheere, a former elite cyclist. It’s here in Izegem where many national team riders live, train and compete in a structured environment. A base in Izegem means the team is only a day’s drive from some of the world’s toughest and most prestigious races in Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands and other Western European destinations.
One of the primary goals of the USA Cycling National Development Team is to graduate its members into the UCI ProTour ranks – the highest level of professional road cycling. Since the team’s inception, eight athletes have gone on to compete for UCI ProTour squads. Perhaps the most successful is David Zabriskie, the only American to win a stage in each of cycling’s three grand tours – the Tour de France, the Giro d’ Italia, and the Vuelta a España. Zabriskie is also one of only five Americans to wear the coveted yellow jersey at the Tour de France, joining three-time Tour winner Greg LeMond, seven-time victor Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie and 2006 race winner Floyd Landis to earn arguably the sport’s greatest honor.
Other USA Cycling National Development Team graduates currently on UCI ProTour rosters include Saul Raisin, who rides with the French-based Credit Agricole squad, Tyler Farrar of the French Cofidis Team and Aaron Olson, who competes on the German-based T-Mobile squad. Additional riders fostered by the development team model who have gone onto compete for ProTour teams include Michael Creed who rode for the U.S. Postal Service and Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Teams, Patrick McCarty who raced with the U.S. Postal Service, Discovery Channel and the Swiss-based Phonak Team and Damon Kluck, who rode for the U.S. Postal squad.
The most recent graduate to ascend to the UCI ProTour ranks is John Devine. Originally a member of USA Cycling’s U23 National Mountian Bike Team, Devine just signed a contract to ride for Discovery Channel beginning in July of 2007
It’s likely that the next American UCI ProTour rider, Olympic or World Championship medalist or Tour de France winner will come from the 2007 USA Cycling National Development Team. The 18 riders on the squad this season are: John Devine (Dixon, Ill.), Brent Bookwalter (Comstock Park, Mich.), Chris Stockburger (Boulder, Colo.), Tejay Van Garderen (Fort Collins, Colo.), Zack Grabowski (Longmont, Colo.), Daniel Holloway (Morgan Hill, Calif.), Sheldon Deeny (Fort Collins, Colo.), Chad Beyer (Phoenix, Ariz.), Alex Boyd (Papillion, Neb.), Spencer Beamer (Knoxville, Tenn.), Caleb Fairly (Durango, Colo.), Eric Riggs (Antelope, Calif.), Scott Stewart (Oxford, Mich.), Ben Bradshaw (Winchester, Calif.), Peter Salon (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Walker Savidge (Frisco, Colo.), Bjorn Selander (Hudson, Wis.) and Kevin Soller.
The Belgian-based accommodations not only provide the young cyclists with a central hub in which to train and compete, but it also provides them with missed comforts of home. As a young athlete focused solely on performance, they’re often faced with challenges their European counterparts don’t have to deal with. Living on another continent, eating strange food, immersed in a foreign culture, speaking a different language and spending inordinate amounts of time away from home, friends and family are all factors that can negatively impact an athlete’s performance and are challenges these young Americans face. With a family-like atmosphere at the Development House in Belgium, these young men are afforded a sense of comfort that helps to alleviate those distractions.
In 2007, The USA Cycling National Development Team teamed up with VMG Racing to maximize the potential of these athletes and further provide them with the support necessary to succeed. By sharing the same crop of 18 riders, the USA Cycling National Development Team will focus primarily on USA Cycling Professional Tour races and National Championship events in the United States and major European and other international races. Those same 18 riders will ride under the VMG Racing banner at USA Cycling National Calendar races and UCI America Tour events in Central and South America. The partnership allows a national team model to co-exist with a professional team model while coordinating athletes’ training and racing schedules.
In February, the AMGEN Tour of California will pose an interesting challenge for eight of these young aspiring pros as they compete head to head against some of the top UCI ProTour squads in the world and U.S.-based professional teams. Success here isn’t measured by a stage win, a yellow jersey or even a spot on the podium. Instead, success is measured by future development, a pro contract, or an Olympic or World Championship medal years down the road.
