Collegiate Road Nationals begin May 3 in Ogden

The 2013 USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships will roll through Ogden, Utah, from Friday, May 3, until Sunday, May 5.

Hundreds of collegiate athletes are expected to represent 100 colleges and universities around the country to vie for 20 national championships.

A new competition in this year's event is the individual time trial. Riders will have the opportunity to represent their schools in a race against the clock in a team time trial as well as an individual time trial. Competitors will also attempt to earn a national championship and points toward individual and team omnium awards in the road race and criterium.

Riders to Watch: Marian University will look to defend its national title in the Division I team omnium against stiff competition from perennial powers Fort Lewis College, University of Colorado-Boulder, Lindenwood University and University of California-Davis. Similarly, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is looking to defend its national title in the Division II team omnium. It will have to overcome talented teams from Mars Hill College and Colorado Mesa. The riders from Duke University and the U.S. Air Force Academy are poised to vie for the Division II crown as well.

The 2012 Division I men's omnium winner, Josh Yeaton (Boulder, Colo./University of Colorado-Boulder), graduated and will not defend his Stars-and-Stripes jersey, leaving that mantle up for grabs. The runner-up in the Division I men's road race in 2012, David Novak (Tunkhannock, Pa./Lindsey Wilson College), is a bonafide threat to ride away with not only the road race, but also the individual omnium to cap a strong season. On April 14, Novak won the criterium at the Notre Dame Cycling Classic after finishing fourth in the road race at the Purdue University TTT/Road Race the day before. John Tomlinson (Chicago, Ill./University of Southern California) has held his conference's leader's jersey for the entire road season. On April 20, Tomlinson won the road race before placing third in the criterium the next day at the UC Davis Road Race and Criterium.

With Cumberland University moving to Division I, Ryan Sullivan (Nashville, Tenn./Cumberland University) cannot defend his title as Division II men's individual omnium winner. Michael Mulvihill (San Francisco, Calif./Duke University) is among the favorites to claim the Division II men's omnium after winning both the road race and criterium at the US Naval Academy races this spring and claiming the pink jersey of his conference title with consistent finishes all season.

The women's individual omnium winners will each defend her national title. In 2012, Kaitlin Antonneau (Racine, Wis./Marian University) won the criterium and placed second in the road race to help her secure the top step of the podium. Antonneau is racing well after winning the road race at the Purdue University TTT/Road Race and the criterium at the Notre Dame Cycling Classic in mid-April. Antonneau's primary competition may come from her own teammate, Coryn Rivera (Tustin, Calif.). Rivera has been stacking up podium performances recently, including winning the women's race at the Sunny King Criterium on April 20. She also topped the podium at the Foothills Road Race on April 21. Abigail Mickey (Aspen, Colo./University of Colorado-Boulder) has been nearly unbeatable in 2013. She won the Front Range Classic criterium on April 13 before besting the road race field at the Maverick Classics the following weekend.

Also returning to defend her individual omnium national title is Katie Quinn (Cambridge, Mass./MIT). Quinn won the road race and placed second in the criterium in 2012 to earn her spot atop the podium. She is also displaying strong form this season, recording three top-10 results at the Army Spring Classic in mid-April. Quinn is sure to face stiff opposition from her teammate Laura Ralston (Cambridge, Mass./MIT), who won the criterium in 2012. Quinn's fellow Eastern Conference racer, Rose Long (New York, N.Y./Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai), is a strong contender as well. Last weekend, Long finished third in both the road race and criterium at the Rhode Race.

There are several local riders to monitor through the weekend. Cortlan Brown (Bountiful, Utah/University), who won the Division II men's road race in 2012, now leads the University of Utah's program along with teammates Mitchell Peterson (Salt Lake City, Utah), Scott Bauer (Salt Lake City, Utah) and Connor Johnson (Sandy, Utah). Kodey Myers (Logan, Utah) and Tanner Robison (Logan Utah) form the men's side of the team from Utah State University. Joan Meiners (Logan, Utah) is the lone Utah woman registered to compete in Ogden. Teal Buchi (Salt Lake City, Utah/Utah Valley University), Mike Trussell (West Jordan, Utah/Salt Lake Community College) and Nathan Asay (Cedar City, Utah/Southern Utah University) will also represent Utah schools throughout the event.

Schedule: Racing begins on Friday when the Division II women toe the line for the team time trial at Antelope Island. Teams will start their team time trials in two-minute intervals. Upon completion of the Division II women, the Division I women will begin their team time trial. The Division II men will follow the Division I women before the Division I men are the last to tangle with the 33-kilometer course.

Following a break in the schedule, the riders will contest the individual time trial in 30-second intervals. The Division II women are slated to begin the individual time trial, followed by the Division I women. The men's racing begins with the Division II men followed by the Division I men.

Saturday's racing features the criterium in downtown Ogden. The Division II women will begin the day's racing at 1 p.m. with a 60-minute race. The Division I women are also scheduled to race for an hour beginning at 2:15 p.m. The Division II men's criterium spans 75 minutes beginning at 3:30 p.m. The Division I men's race caps the day's racing with a 75-minute contest beginning at 5 p.m. An awards banquet is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. before the event's first awards ceremony, which is slated to begin at 8:30 p.m.

The event's third and final day features the road races at Pineview Reservoir. The 101-kilometer women's races begin with the Division I women at 8 a.m. The Division II women will begin their contest at 8:10 a.m. The men's races span 125 kilometers and will begin with the Division I men's race at 12:30 p.m., followed by the Division II men's race beginning at 12:40 p.m. The event's final awards ceremony will crown the country's best collegiate road racers as well as the individual and team omnium winners.

Course Preview: Competition begins Friday with the team and individual time trials on Antelope Island. Set in the middle of the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island features an abundance of wildlife and scenic views of the mainland. Team time trial riders will contest a 33-kilometer, out-and-back course that features a mix of rolling terrain and steady climbs. The individual time trial spans 20 kilometers.

On May 4, Collegiate Road Nationals will be the center of attention in Ogden as riders head downtown to compete in the criterium. The 1.6-kilometer course features eight corners per lap, passing landmarks such as City Hall Park and the Ogden Amphitheater.

Concluding the three-day event is the road race on Sunday, May 5. The roads around Pineview Reservoir in Ogden Valley will play host to these races, which consist of a 101-kilometer course for women and a 125-kilometer course for men. Each race starts with several small loops around the reservoir before descending into Ogden Canyon and toward the city in a larger loop.

As the race nears the finish, however, the road begins to go up. A category 5 climb (1.5 miles at three percent grade) is followed shortly after by a category 1 climb (four miles averaging 7.3 percent grade). The last several miles will be a heart-pounding descent as riders head back down toward the reservoir and the final finish line of the event.

Collegiate All-Stars Selection: For the seventh consecutive year, a team of the top six women in collegiate cycling will be selected from the final individual omnium standings at the Collegiate Road National Championship. Dubbed the Collegiate All-Stars, this team will compete in the Nature Valley Grand Prix, June 12-16, in Minnesota. Part of the USA Cycling’s National Racing Calendar (NRC), the Nature Valley Grand Prix features some of the top professional road cyclists in the country. Nearly half of the Collegiate All-Stars alumnae have gone on to ride for professional teams over the past five years.

Additionally, the Primal Pro Women’s racing team will be awarding two talented female athletes the opportunity to race with the team during the Saint Francis Tulsa Tough, from June 7-9 in Oklahoma. The top amateur Division I and Division II riders in the championship criteriums will be selected to participate. The Saint Francis Tulsa Tough is part of USA Cycling’s National Criterium Calendar (NCC), with three consecutive days of criterium racing.

More Information: For updated news, course maps, a schedule of events, and more visit the 2013 USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships page. You can also follow the event on Twitter using the hashtag #CollNats, or visit the Collegiate Road Nationals Facebook page for information on the races as well as ancillary events in Ogden.

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 74,400+ licensees; 2,750+ clubs and teams; and 34 local associations. The national governing body sanctions 3,130+ 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.