USA Cycling Names 2007 Mountain Bike Development Team
Colorado Springs, Colo. (February 14, 2007)—Sam Jurekovic (Colorado Springs, Colo.), 21 and Colin Cares (Boulder, Colo.), 19, return for their second and third seasons respectively with the USA Cycling U23 National Mountain Bike Team while 18-year-old Tad Elliott (Durango, Colo.), will join the squad in May as the newest recruit.
Jurekovic and Cares both experienced successful seasons with the team last year, representing the U.S. at the World Championships and claiming second and third respectively at the USA Cycling U23 Mountain Bike National Championships behind 2006 teammate Sam Schultz (Missoula, Mont.).
Jurekovic further illustrated his progression by placing 13th overall in the 2006 National Mountain Bike Series pro men’s rankings.
The newest member, 18-year-old Elliott, is also one of the nation’s top junior Nordic athletes and was chosen by the U.S. Ski Association to represent the U.S. at the Nordic Junior World Championships in the Italian Alps next month. The recent high school graduate intends to turn his focus to mountain biking as the Nordic season comes to an end and the cycling season gets underway.
Elliott spent the 2006 mountain bike season racing the junior circuit with the Durango, Colo.-based Devo squad and came to the attention of USA Cycling National Mountain Bike Coach Matt Cramer when he posted impressive domestic results last season.
“Tad is a very well-rounded athlete who performed well in 2006 domestic events and I have a feeling that his personality will mesh well with the team.” Cramer said. “He wants to focus on mountain biking after his Nordic season is over, and hopefully if his season goes well, we can give him a reason to stick with it.”
Elliott joins the program as a project athlete, meaning he will ride with the team part-time at domestic events, but won’t be a resident athlete at the Olympic Training Center and won’t travel with the team abroad for World Cup events.
“Tad’s focus will be at North American races,” explained Cramer. “Competing against the pros in top domestic events will assimilate him into the pro field without any pressure on results or performance.”
Another notable change to the 2007 roster is the absence of Schultz, one of the squad’s original members. After a successful 2006 season, the 21-year-old Schultz was recruited to ride with pro mountain bike team Subaru/Gary Fisher in 2007. Schultz is the fourth graduate to secure sponsorship since the program’s inception in 2004. He joins Nick Waite, who will ride for Kelly Benefit Strategies in 2007, Alan Obye sponsored by Jamis in 2006, and John Devine, a recent addition to the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team.
“The domestic and international experience the riders receive at the U23 age helps them make the transition to the top level and it makes them more attractive to pro teams,” Cramer explained about how the program successfully prepared its first four graduates to take the next steps in their cycling careers.
Before Schultz moves on for good, he’ll join Jurekovic and Cares for the team’s first event of the 2007 season – the Continental Championships in the Patagonia region of Argentina during the second weekend of March.
2007 U23 National Mountain Bike Team Race Calendar
3/8 – Continental Championships - Argentina
3/31– NMBS #1 – Phoenix, Ariz.
4/15– Sea Otter Classic – Monterey, Calif.
4/21– World Cup – Houffalize, Belgium
5/5 – NMBS #2 – Fontana, Calif.
5/26 –World Cup – Offenburg, Germany
6/16 – NMBS #3 – Park City, Utah
6/23 – World Cup – Mont Saint Anne, Canada
7/17 – USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships – Mount Snow, Vt.
7/28 – NMBS #5 – Banner Elk, N.C.
8/11–NMBS #6 – Snowmass Village, Colo.
9/3 – UCI Mountain Bike World Championships – Fort William, Scotland