Olympian Kristin Armstrong Sets Course Record; Talansky Is Men's Winner

  • Saturday, May 23, 2015
Race announcer interviews para-cycling athletes
Race announcer interviews para-cycling athletes

Two-time Olympic goal medal winner Kristin Armstrong won the USA Cycling Professional Time Trial Championship in a record time at the Volkswagen course on Saturday morning. She finished the 19.2-mile course in 42 minutes, 8 seconds.

The time trial victory assures the 41-year-old Armstrong of a spot as one of three American women to compete in the world championship time trial on Sept. 22 in Richmond. Winners there can clinch a 2016 Olympic berth.

Armstrong, who is from Idaho,  won a gold medal in the time trial in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London before retiring. She announced in April that she was returning to competition.

Carman Small was 13 seconds off the pace, and Amber Neben was third.

Andrew Talansky of California won for the men in a time of 38:48. He was ahead of teammate Ben King by 10 seconds. David Williams was third at 39 minutes.

The national championship bicycling racing got underway in Chattanooga on Saturday morning under glorious Memorial Day weekend weather.

Individual Time Trial Para-Cycling began at 8 a.m. at the Volkswagen facility.

Individual Time Trial Female was at 11 a.m. and for the men was at 2 p.m.

The Para-Cycling road race is Sunday at Volkswagen.

The female road race kicks off on Memorial Day at 9 a.m. followed by the Criterium Para-Cycling at 12:30 p.m. The men's race that is a big step on the "Road to Rio" starts at 1:30 p.m.

It is the third year in Chattanooga for the Volkswagen USA Cycling Professional Road & Time Trial National Championships.

An announcement is set soon that will determine whether Chattanooga keeps the national event. There are several other contenders.

Crowds once again are set to line the race route from downtown to Lookout Mountain. This year, every loop will include the daunting Kent Street climb in North Chattanooga. The route this year is along Market Street, instead of Broad Street, to help with traffic flow to Lookout Mountain. CARTA buses will be running shuttles up the mountain.

The road races will showcase downtown Chattanooga along with the tough climb up Lookout. 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 men and women will face the Kent Street challenge on each of the “long laps” as well as on three shorter 5.4-mile finishing circuits. 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.

Eric Marcotte, who came out of nowhere to win last year's men's race, is back.

Alison Powers was the first rider ever to win both the professional road race and time trial in the same year. However, she has retired.

Kristin Armstrong, the two-time Olympic gold medalist who came out of retirement, is in Chattanooga looking for another Olympic appearance.

 

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