Nebraska Cycling News

USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships Open at Mount Snow Resort in Vermont

West Dover, Vt. -The USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships opened on Thursday with Tad Elliott (Durango, Colo.) and Chloe Forsman (Boulder, Colo.) riding to respective victories in the U23 men's and women's cross country contests. With her win, Forsman successfully defended her Stars-and-Stripes from a year ago at Southern Vermont's Mount Snow Resort while the 20-year old Elliott earned his first national title. 

Elliott, stepped up to take advantage of a wide open men's race after an early crash by defending national champion and heavy pre-race favorite, Sam Jurekovic (Colorado Springs, Colo.). Elliott rode a strong fourth and final lap to take the title with a winning time of 1:48:57, while Mitchell Peterson (Sandy, Utah) took the silver and last year's third-place-finisher Colin Cares (Boulder, Colo.) repeated his bronze-medal performance.

"I've never been a national champion in anything before, so this is huge for me," said Elliott, an accomplished nordic ski racer. "I was really nervous, so I was just trying to keep it smooth."

Jurekovic pushed the 32-rider field men's field up the first climb, but suffered from an unfortunate crash halfway down the initial descent. After attempting to re-enter the race, the defending national champion was forced to drop out due to injuries suffered in the devastating crash.

"I just glanced off at a practicing downhiller, hit a water bar and went down so fast," explained Jurekovic. "I'm pretty banged up and going to be really sore, but racing on Sunday is still a possibility,"

With the 20+ mile race only just underway, the road to the Stars-and-Stripes was wide open for the deep field. By the second lap several riders had set themselves apart, including Peterson and Elliott.  It wasn't until the fourth lap on the fast, dry course that Elliott surged to overtake Peterson and earn the national title.

Faced with three laps on the five-mile circuit, the women's race played out quite differently with the lead pair of Forsman and Jamie Dinkins (Powell, Tenn.) taking off from the start and never looking back. The small, but talented field didn't let the pair get too far away however with most riders finishing within 20 minutes of Forsman's mark of 1:41:02.

"It's a bit of a relief to defend the title," said Forsman. "There was definitely strong competition this year, so that makes it special."

Fresh off a trip to the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, Dinkins improved upon last year's fourth-place national championship finish, around a minute behind Forsman, while 2007 USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike Cross Country Champion Kylie Krauss (Asheville, N.C.) crossed the line in third.

The USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships will continue on Friday with the semi-pro, junior, sport and beginner cross country contests as well as the beginner, sport and expert dual slalom national championship races. Saturday's full slate of competition will feature both the men's and women's pro cross country contests as well as the pro dual slalom national championships.

For complete results, click here <https://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=3730> .

To view photos from the event, click here <http://www.usacycling.org/gallery/album294> .

U23 Men's Cross Country

1. Tad Elliott (Durango, Colo.) 1:48:57

2. Mitchell Peterson (Sandy, Utah) 1:50:59

3. Colin Cares (Boulder, Colo.) 1:52:43

4. Travis Livermon (Winterville, N.C.) 1:53:07

5. Tim Allen (Flagstaff, Ariz.) 1:54:45

U23 Women's Cross Country

1. Chloe Forsman (Boulder, Colo.) 1:41:02

2. Jamie Dinkins (Powell, Tenn.) 1:42:37

3. Kylie Krauss (Asheville, N.C.) 1:50:27

4. Lydia Tanner (Boulder, Colo.) 1:50:33

5. Amanda Miller (Fort Collins, Colo.) 1:55:30