# US Pro National Championships



## bigmig19 (Jun 27, 2008)

Every year I feel compelled to remind people that this event, held in greenville SC, is an excellent way to see great racing up close. If you want to see Levi leiheimer, Taylor Phinney and others, this race is organized very well. A couple strange things i noticed about this years race:
1) TT has a _handful_ (maybe 15?) people entered as of 9/10. Dave Z, who has won the event like 4 times in row, is not entered. However, Taylor Phinney is! Levi vs Taylor should be cool. But no Dave Z, even Chris Baldwin is only entered in the RR. Do people feel with levi there (in the TT) the chances of winning are zero?
2) This is the 5th year in a row in George's hometown, but i dont see his name on the roster for the road race?
3) Chris Horner is coming, 1st time i will get to see him race!
4) I wish Phinney was entered in the RR as well.


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## tthome (May 12, 2008)

Hincapie isn't on the regisration list either but he'll be there so will Zabriske I bet. He's the 4 time champ, but not this year. I think Phinney will beat Levi in the TT. I don't think Phinney and Levi have been head to head in any TT. Plus I think Phinney wants to win the TT and take it with him to whatever team he signs with. I think it will come down to Levi and Phinney for the TT, but phinney will takeit. I feel he's just a bit better than Levi, we'll see.

As for the RR. I see BMC has a good group (5 riders I think) so Big George will be fully supported on this race finally. Usually he's alone or only has one guy with him like he did last with with Craig Lewis and HTC. If it wasn't for Craig last year I don't think George would have won. Craig crucified himself on the last two circuits over Paris Mountain. Also, RadioShack has a strong group coming too with Levi and Horner as the top tier guys. It will come down to those two guys for TRS. I think Horner will blow the group up over the last 2 circuits over Paris Mountain and Levi will finish off everyone else. Don't count big George out he'll fight for it but I think TRS wants the stars and strips jersey on their team next year.

I ride about 95% of this race course every Friday and it's tough. If you want to ride the actual course before the start of the race you can for $50. Starts at 7:30am sharp and you can ride it as many times as you like. I'll probably do 2 circuits up Paris Mountain. It's cool because the spectators are already on the mountain with their cowbells and they cheers everyone they see. It's as if you're in the race, only difference is I'm doing 6/7/8mph up and the pros go up it around 11/12/13mph. I'll have some video and pictures of it posted on my blog sometime later in the week.

if you want to know just how close you can get to the riders here are pictures from the 2009 RR and TT.

not a bad seat in the house. Going to be great!


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Zabriskie's riding the Vuelta... dunno if he plans to head home for Nationals but if so he better get on a plane quick after today's TT


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## tthome (May 12, 2008)

forgot about that, maybe he's not going to defend his jersey this year. With Levi and Phinney in the TT, I really don't think his changes are that good anyway.


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## bmxhacksaw (Mar 26, 2008)

tthome said:


> I don't think Phinney and Levi have been head to head in any TT.


Didn't they go head to head at the Tour of Utah with Phinney winning it? Or does a Prologue not qualify as a TT?


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## bigmig19 (Jun 27, 2008)

Woops, forgot about the Vuelta, sorry Dave. I do feel everyone forgets that levi is a great TT guy, not just good. He will never beat fabian on a good day but thats a pretty high bar. Levi seems to get better with age at the TT. Now, I dont know if he will sand bag or not with the RR the next day, but ill take him over TP for now.
Indeed if anyone is within driving distance, this is an opportunity to stand right next to the pros! I show up at the start of the TT and still stand right at the ramp. There is NOBODY there. You can stand next to the "on deck" riders at the start house and check out all the gear. The RR is somewhat crowded at the finish but thats about it. They do a lot of circuits for the RR so you get to see everyone a lot.
The ride before hand is great as tthome says. The course is already closed and barriers up, but you get to ride it as much as you want. I want to say there was a maybe 300 last year?
I remember George sacrificing himself for levi (when on Disco) about 3 years ago. Horner still has the goods, why does he have to do the scut work for Levi? I have always looked at "support" differently ever since Tyler Hamilton was literally ganged up on by 6 or 7 Garmin (slipstream) guys in the closing circuits about 2 years ago and he just shreaded all of them by himself, ultimately winning at the line by less than a millimeter.


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## Mootsie (Feb 4, 2004)

bigmig19 said:


> Woops, forgot about the Vuelta, sorry Dave. I do feel everyone forgets that levi is a great TT guy, not just good. He will never beat fabian on a good day but thats a pretty high bar. Levi seems to get better with age at the TT. Now, I dont know if he will sand bag or not with the RR the next day, but ill take him over TP for now.
> Indeed if anyone is within driving distance, this is an opportunity to stand right next to the pros! I show up at the start of the TT and still stand right at the ramp. There is NOBODY there. You can stand next to the "on deck" riders at the start house and check out all the gear. The RR is somewhat crowded at the finish but thats about it. They do a lot of circuits for the RR so you get to see everyone a lot.
> The ride before hand is great as tthome says. The course is already closed and barriers up, but you get to ride it as much as you want. I want to say there was a maybe 300 last year?
> I remember George sacrificing himself for levi (when on Disco) about 3 years ago. Horner still has the goods, why does he have to do the scut work for Levi? I have always looked at "support" differently ever since Tyler Hamilton was literally ganged up on by 6 or 7 Garmin (slipstream) guys in the closing circuits about 2 years ago and he just shreaded all of them by himself,* ultimately winning at the line by less than a millimeter.[/*QUOTE]
> That reminds me, what happened to to the guy that finished second that day. Blake Caldwell?


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

bmxhacksaw said:


> Didn't they go head to head at the Tour of Utah prologue with Phinney winning it?


yep and also the longer TT later in the race that Levi won.


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## 32and3cross (Feb 28, 2005)

Creakyknees said:


> yep and also the longer TT later in the race that Levi won.


Actually Phinney won both TTs

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/6th-tour-of-utah-ne/stage-3/results


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## tthome (May 12, 2008)

The TT is 3 laps of a 6.9 mile course (33km) It's going to be a great TT. I think we'll all agree here that it will come down to Levi or Phinney. Levi is a great TT guy, but I think Phinney has what it takes to beat him. 

The route isn't very hilly. It does have a few rollers but nothing I would call difficult. The cool thing is the start finish is at the base of a gradual downhill so when they finish their screaming through the start / finish.

Below is the map for the TT.

http://www.usacyclingchampionships.com/forms/media2010/10_US_PRO_TT_Map_v2.pdf


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

Mootsie said:


> bigmig19 said:
> 
> 
> > That reminds me, what happened to to the guy that finished second that day. Blake Caldwell?
> ...


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## Eric_H (Feb 5, 2004)

spade2you said:


> Mootsie said:
> 
> 
> > Apparently having issues with osteoporosis.
> ...


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## spookyload (Jan 30, 2004)

Give big George a break. He is still recovering from a wicked crash. He wasn't even sure if he was going to get to ride in Canada.


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## moonmoth (Nov 8, 2008)

Looks like you can watch the road race on Sunday live via the event's website:

Watch live video coverage and live blogs of the race, right here! The broadcast schedule includes live blogging of the Time Trial Championships at 11:30 AM EST on Saturday, Sept. 18, and livestream coverage of the Road Race Championships beginning at 1 PM EST on Sunday, Sept. 18.​
As it says, no broadcast of the TT.


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## 32and3cross (Feb 28, 2005)

And Phinny does it once again beating Levi by 100s http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/usa-cycling-professional-championships-cn/time-trial/results


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## 32and3cross (Feb 28, 2005)

double post


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## Mootsie (Feb 4, 2004)

32and3cross said:


> And Phinny does it once again beating Levi by 100s http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/usa-cycling-professional-championships-cn/time-trial/results


He is the real deal, isn't he.


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## upstateSC-rider (Aug 21, 2004)

Mootsie said:


> He is the real deal, isn't he.


That's definitely what it looks like...One of many Championships to come.
Should be a great race. 
I'm liking Hincapie, Horner, Busche, Bajadali, and Lewis. I know, way to go out on a limb.


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## Tugboat (Jul 17, 2006)

WTF... wasn't this supposed to be for a national championship?

A country the size of the USA only gets 15 starters and the TT is only 33km long... what a joke.


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## 32and3cross (Feb 28, 2005)

Tugboat said:


> WTF... wasn't this supposed to be for a national championship?
> 
> A country the size of the USA only gets 15 starters and the TT is only 33km long... what a joke.


Yeah my wife commented that her TT at masters nats 2 years ago was longer that the one in Greenville.


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## tthome (May 12, 2008)

FWIW, the TT field was smaller than the previous year I believe but these professionals also serve on other teams during other events regardless of their nationality and can't always make their countries National Championships. Dave Z was committed to doing the Vuelta and couldn't defend. It really all depends on the teams strategic plays throughout the year. There were many good names missing from the TT list. It's easier for us "regular" folks who race to make plans to attend bigger racers and events than it is for the pros. They're pretty much told what to do and where they need to be to support the team as a whole. Bottom line two of the best TT'ers were there yesterday in Levi and Taylor and believe me you could tell they both wanted the title badly. Levi looked like he was about to explode on the podium with his mouth clinched shut, not a smile, not a word. When he popped the cork on the champagne he went directly at Taylor and only then did he crack a smile and a quick comment and then left the podium shortly after. I don't know what happened on that first lap for him to lose 15 seconds, but Levi was reeling Taylor in quickly by picking up 8 seconds on the second lap and then 7 on the 3rd. Maybe taylor was fading a bit or maybe Levi had quickened the pace to catch. Hard to tell which order it happened but if it were 4 laps Levi wins hands down. I think maybe taylor lost the first laps speed he started with and faded. Levi looked as if he was on cruise control each time he past the start / finish. When Taylor went through start / finish it appeared he didn't go through nearly as fast during lap 2 that he did in lap 1. Lap 1 he was screaming! These guys have enormous motors. When you see it up close it's humbling. Alot like going to see your first Nascar race and realize that those cars shake the earth. You can't experience these things on TV.

Was able to ride with Big George this past Friday with a group of about 30 and also was able to get some pictures with Craig Lewis at the top of Paris Mountain.

Yesterday went to the TT. Got a picture with Allen Lim and took many of Levi and Taylor. Had some outstanding places to view the race and take some pictures. Once I get them up on picasa i'll post a linke. Road Race today @ 1pm, so will have plenty more pictures to add.


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## alexb618 (Aug 24, 2006)

its great to see the shack bringing their A GAME against some powerhouses of pro cycling, the USPRO TT is the REAL DEAL!


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

heck of a ride for Ben King... chapeau sir!

http://velonews.competitor.com/2010...-a-trek-livestrong-sweep-in-greenville_141676


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## Coolhand (Jul 28, 2002)

Creakyknees said:


> heck of a ride for Ben King... chapeau sir!
> 
> http://velonews.competitor.com/2010...-a-trek-livestrong-sweep-in-greenville_141676


He's a *great* kid. Moving up to the ProTour team next year.

Maybe Velonews will figure out there is a U25 other than Phinney now. . . .


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## soup67 (Feb 26, 2004)

Coolhand said:


> Maybe Velonews will figure out there is a U23 other than Phinney now. . . .


FIFY :thumbsup: 

I caught the last hour live downtown. King went with the first (and only) break and rode those guys off his wheel Merckx style. It was awesome to watch.


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## akrafty1 (Apr 10, 2006)

Man a great race!! We were there all weekend riding and racing. Masters racing on a fantastic coarse on Sat then off to the TT, then a great time on Sunday. If you haven't been GO!

Congrats to Mr. King!! That was one fekin great ride!


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## AdamM (Jul 9, 2008)

Great effort by King. A well deserved win. 

That said, imo, moving the race away from Philly hasn't turned out all that well. Philly had double the field size, more teams and a lot more spectators. I know they wanted to get away from including international riders in the race, but it doesn't appear the domestic teams are that commmitted to filling the gap.


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## bigmig19 (Jun 27, 2008)

Ive been there 4 years now, I always wondered when a breakaway would nulify all the favorites! Guess this was the year. 
Developemental squad seems "developed". Two champs, wow. 
But 15 riders in the TT is still weak. Even baldwin didnt race the TT.


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## litespeedchick (Sep 9, 2003)

I don't think it was the move away from Philly so much as the exclusion of international riders that narrowed the field, true?

My understanding is that the move to Memorial Day weekend next year is supposed to bring more US Pros since many of them will already be in the states racing Tour of CA right beforehand. Also, I think they are planning to leave a rest day between the TT and the RR, to hopefully encourange more riders to do both.

Those of us on top of Paris Mountain were awfully confused when we saw the MASSIVE time gap the breakaway was given almost immediately. We debated whether there had been a big crash in the field. It's not that far from downtown to the base of the mountain and the break already had like 12 minutes or something by the time they crested the hill the first time.


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## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

Horner convinced them all to stop for cheesburgers downtown.


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## bigmig19 (Jun 27, 2008)

Memorial day next year? Is it still in greenville? My understanding is that when it was in Philly, there may have been more riders, but the environment wasnt nearly as good. Basically a cavernous downtown in a large city with very few people at the start finish. Not sure if thats true.


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## lightplay (Aug 3, 2004)

*Us pro championships*

Some pics of a really good time!


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## soup67 (Feb 26, 2004)

http://www.chilkatphotography.com/C...-Championship/13861938_8jp5H#1016616477_5XtHW


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## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

It's going to be weird to see George in a standard kit...


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