Chattanooga, Tennessee, is once again the epicenter of American cycling this weekend.
The 2015 Volkswagen USA Cycling Professional Road and Time Trial National Championships return to the Scenic City for the third consecutive year May 23-25.
“It is fantastic to be back in Chattanooga and the home of Volkswagen USA again for these championships,” said USA Cycling Vice-President of National Events Micah Rice. “Between the outstanding fans and the challenging course, which will again include Lookout Mountain and the Volkswagen Kent Street Climb, we couldn’t be more excited to award the Stars-and-Stripes jerseys here.”
The event will showcase the top American road cyclists with the May 23 men’s and women’s individual time trials and the May 25 men’s and women’s road races. For a full schedule breakdown, click here.
The time trial course will be held adjacent to the Volkswagen Chattanooga Plant in Hamilton County and features rolling terrain with few turns. Riders will complete two out-and-back runs of 9.5 miles each for a total of 19 miles. The course layout has four turnarounds and will allow spectators to see each rider multiple times.
The road races will showcase downtown Chattanooga, along with the tough climb up Lookout Mountain. The men’s and women’s races will begin with a 5.1-mile start circuit — three circuits for the women and four for the men. The same circuit will be used for the finish of each race. The course then takes the riders on a relatively flat run along Market Street to begin the climb up Ochs Highway, which is approximately three miles and climbs 1,150 feet each lap. The race will pass through Lookout Mountain to Scenic Highway, and return to downtown via Market Street. Men will complete four laps up the climb, while the women will do two laps. The “long lap” is 16.5 miles in distance. The men and women will complete the start/finish circuits each lap of the “long lap” and will finish the race with three 5.1-mile circuits each.
The North Chattanooga Kent Street Climb is back in 2015, again punishing riders with grades of up to 20 percent. The men and women will face this challenge on all circuits and “long laps” this year. The course will cross the Market Street Bridge and Veterans Bridge each lap, and spectators will see the riders cross through the start/finish line 11 times during the men’s race and eight times during the women’s race.
In addition to Stars-and-Stripes jerseys, the road race winners will also receive a one-year lease of the new 2015 Volkswagen Golf SportWagen.
“As the title sponsor of the Volkswagen USA Cycling Professional Road & Time Trial National Championships, we are pleased to present the winners of the men’s and women’s road races with a one-year loan of a 2015 Golf SportWagen,” said Vinay Shahani, Vice-President of Marketing, Volkswagen Group of America. “Volkswagen is thrilled to have this cycling event return to the hometown of our U.S. manufacturing, Chattanooga, Tenn.”
The all-new Golf SportWagen is offered with 1.8-liter turbocharged TSI® gasoline and 2.0-liter TDI Clean Diesel engines and an available roof rack for cyclists.
For more information on the 2015 Volkswagen USA Cycling Professional Road and Time Trial National Championships, including technical guide, course maps, ticket sales, past results and more, click here.
Over 100 para-cyclists will vie for more than 20 national titles as the 2015 U.S. Para-cycling Road National Championships return to Chattanooga from May 23-25, as time trial, road race and handcycle criterium competition will sort out who goes to the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships and Parapan American Games this summer.
The largest domestic road para-cycling event of 2015, the U.S. Para-cycling National Championships will run in conjunction with the 2015 Volkswagen USA Cycling Professional Road and Time Trial National Championships. This year also marks the first time the event will serve as the national championships for all para-cycling classes.
“We are thrilled to continue our partnership with the Volkswagen USA Cycling Pro Road and Time Trial National Championships,” said Ian Lawless, high performance director of U.S. Paralympics cycling. “The events in Chattanooga are a great way to create awareness about the Paralympic Movement and showcase cyclists with and without disabilities together at a high-profile event.”
The U.S. team had a very successful 2014 road season with 18 medals won at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships to capture the overall and the gold medal count in Greenville, S.C. Top performers expected to compete in Chattanooga include world champions Allison Jones (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Aaron Keith (Woodinville, Wash.), Jamie Whitmore (Mount Aukum, Calif.) and Megan Fisher (Missoula, Mont.).
All para-cycling classes will be in action at the May 23 time trial and May 24 road race, while handcycle classes will close out the holiday weekend with the May 25 criterium in downtown Chattanooga.
The U.S. Para-Cycling National Championships are a selection event for the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Nottwil, Switzerland, and the Parapan Am Games in Toronto.
For more information on the event, visit the event website here.
For media inquiries, please contact U.S. Paralympics Communications Coordinator Brianna Tammaro at Brianna.Tammaro@usoc.org.
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 64,000 members; 2,700+ clubs and teams; and 34 local associations. The national governing body sanctions over 3,100 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 usacycling.org.
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