While the competition, also sponsored by The Hartford, did not find the Americans on the podium, U.S. Director, High Performance, Paralympic Cycling Craig Griffin was encouraged by his riders’ performances.

“We had a pretty solid day today,” Griffin said. “The competition is so deep, it’s hard to break into the medal round, but they’re getting close. The gap between the podium and where they qualified is getting closer. I’m excited about their progression.”

That gap was extremely slim in the men’s B one-kilometer time trial as two different American tandems held the fast time during the course of the event. The fourth team to start the event was Chester Triplett (Mooresville, N.C.) and Pete Billington (San Rafael, Calif.). That duo recorded a fast time of 1:06.858 which stood until the 14th team, Bryce Lindores and Scott McPhee of Australia, overtook them.

The second American twosome to compete in the event was Clark Rachfal (Annapolis, Md.) and Dave Swanson (Tucson, Ariz.). That duo recorded a fast time of 1:05.150, but they would place fifth overall. Triplett and Billington finished in ninth. Great Britain’s Craig MacLean and Anthony Kappes collected the gold medal after registering a 1:03.013, edging their compatriots and silver medalists Neil Fachie and Barney Storey, who finished in 1:03.112. Rinne Oost and Patrick Bos of the Netherlands earned the bronze medal with a time of 1:04.183.

In the women’s B one-kilometer time trial, the American pair of Karissa Whitsell (Eugene, Ore.) and Lisa Turnbull (Springfield, Ore.) placed ninth with a 1:14.834. The Australian duo of Felicity Johnson and Stephanie Morton unofficially recorded a world record by finishing in 1:08.714. The tandem from Great Britain, Aileen McGlynn and Helen Scott collected its second silver medal in as many days after completing the one kilometer in 1:10.154. Kathrin Goeken and Kim Van Dijk of the Netherlands earned the bronze medal after clocking in at 1:12.248.

Americans Sam Kavanagh (Bozeman, Mont.) and Aaron Trent (Colorado Springs, Colo.) placed seventh and eighth, respectively in the men’s C4 four-kilometer pursuit. Carol-Eduard Novak (ROU), who qualified with the second-best time, rode four kilometers in 4:47.927 to earn the gold medal. Jiri Jezek (CZE) won the silver medal while Jody Cundy (GBR) overtook Roberto Alcaide Garcia (ESP) to win the bronze.

In the men’s C1 three-kilometer pursuit, Mark Lee Colbourne (GBR) overtook Spain’s Juan Jose Mendez Fernandez in the gold medal race while Rodrigo Fernand Lopez caught Germany’s Erich Winkler to secure the bronze. The two American entries, Matthew Bigos (Cardiff by the Sea, Calif.) and Anthony Zahn (Riverside, Calif.), qualified in 10th and 11th positions with respective times of 4:33.860 and 4:38.245.

In the men’s C3 three-kilometer pursuit, Michael Farrell (Colorado Springs, Colo.) qualified in 12th with a time of 3:59.329. David Nicholas (AUS) overtook silver medalist Darren Kenny (GBR) in the gold medal race while Juan Emilio Gutierrez Berenguel (ESP) was a half-second faster than Shaun McKeown (GBR) to secure the bronze medal.

The winner of the men’s C5 four-kilometer world championship race, Michael T. Gallagher (AUS), who qualified in second place earlier in the day, edged Xinyang Liu (CHN) in the gold medal race. Andrea Tarlao (ITA) was just over three seconds faster than Yehor Dementyev (UKR) in the bronze medal race. The American entry in the competition, Mark Gyulafia (Portland, Ore.), posted a 5:04.039 to finish 11th.

In the men’s C2 three-kilometer contest, Colin Lynch (IRL) finished the gold medal race nearly six seconds faster than silver medalist Gui Hua Liang (CHN). Fabrizio Macchi (ITA) overtook Alvaro Galvis Becerra (COL) to earn the bronze medal.

The competition continues Saturday with the women’s three-kilometer pursuit and the men’s one-kilometer time trial.

Complete competition results, race schedule and live streaming information can be found on the event’s web page, http://www.paracyclingla2012.com.

For more information about U.S. Paralympics, its athletes or programs, visit usparalympics.org.

Bauge will lose his individual sprint world title and the French team will lose the team sprint title, as a result of Bauge’s participation as one of the three riders in the event in the 2011 world track cycling championships.

Bauge will be handed a one-year, back-dated suspension for violating the rules. The issue was first brought to the UCI’s attention by the French cycling federation in November.

Here is the UCI communique in full:

Following the decision on November 8th of the Fédération Française de Cyclisme’s (FFC) National Disciplinary Commission to inflict a one-year backdated suspension — from December 23rd 2010 to December 22nd 2011 — on Grégory Baugé for violation of article 21.4 of the UCI Anti-doping Regulation (two breaches of applicable requirements regarding rider availability and one missed test in 18 months) the UCI today informed the FFC that all the results obtained by the rider and by any team of which he was a member during that period have been nullified by this decision (art. 12.1.032.1 and art. 12.1.035)

The UCI is therefore obliged to correct the results of the events in which Grégory Baugé participated during this period.

As a consequence, the rider and the French team lose their individual sprint and team sprint titles won at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in March 2011.

The Belgian outfit announced Tuesday that the Keisse will have freedom to mix his track racing with days on the road.

“Iljo’s contract renewal will allow the team to participate in one more prestigious discipline in cycling, that is track cycling, which attracts a significant level of fans,” said team manager Patrick Lefevere.

“We’re also convinced that Iljo can be useful to the team’s cause, even on road trials in which he’ll be called on to compete.”

Keisse, 28, joined Quick-Step in 2010 despite a long-running dispute over a positive test for cathine and a diuretic in a case dating back to 2009. He denied wrong-doing and later saw a ban handed down by the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned by a Belgian Court of Appeals.

“I’m very happy with the fact that the team, the sponsors and Lefevere have renewed their faith in me,” Keisse explains. “2012 will be an important year for me and I’m happy to be able to race in the same background I’ve spent the last few years in.

“In the upcoming weeks I’m going to continue my activities on the track with the Six Days races in Rotterdam, Bremen and Berlin. I’ll probably also be at the starting line in Copenhagen.

“As far as road racing goes, I still don’t have a schedule. In the next several weeks we’ll be working with the team’s technical staff to figure things out.”

ANGLIRU The Vuelta’s gnarliest climb produced one of its most decisive verdicts in September, when Team Sky’s race leader Brad Wiggins cracked on the steepest, 23-percent pitch and his teammate Chris Froome just failed to rein in the unexpectedly strong and aggressive attack from Juanjo Cobo — who held on to win the stage and ran out the overall champion by just 11 seconds over the equally unexpected Froome. Dramatic stuff!

Cadel Evans and BMC in the peloton at the 2011 USA Pro Cycling Challenge, stage 2. Photo: Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.com

BMC RACING Cadel Evans won the Tour de France, but it was his Swiss-sponsored, U.S.-registered, multinational team that allowed him to pull it off. Together with sponsor Andy Rihs, team manger Jim Ochowicz and sports director John Lelangue, Evans helped transform BMC Racing from a small start-up organization into one of the slickest ProTeams out there. Some of the original riders, notably American domestique Brent Bookwalter, have grown with the team, while others, including veterans George Hincapie, Marcus Burghardt and Manuel Quinziato, were judicious signings that brought Evans the solid base he needed. All the factors came together at the Tour, especially in the stage 2 team time trial when BMC came within four seconds of defeating the favored Garmin-Cervélo and put 20 seconds into what were regarded as more powerful squads: Sky, Leopard-Trek, HTC-Highroad and Team RadioShack.

CAVENDISH At 26, the Manx Missile showed great maturity in navigating his year to overcome two early-season crashes, win a semi-classic in April, take another two Giro stages, win some unexpected (as well as predicted) stages at the Tour, get HTC-Highroad’s help to win his first green jersey, and overcome poor health at the Vuelta with fighting form in the Tour of Britain before crowning his career with the rainbow jersey — 46 years after Tom Simpson. And like Simpson, Cav’s achievements were recognized at home by the media (the Sports Writers Association’s Sportsman of the Year) and the public (who voted for him as BBC Sport Personality of the Year). Massive achievements!

DOWNHILLERS A new generation of English-speaking downhillers took over the world scene. American Aaron Gwin of Trek dominated the World Cup with a record five victories, topping the GC ahead of a South African, two Brits, a Canadian, two New Zealanders and an Australian. The top European was 14th! And then Giant’s 19-year-old British phenom Danny Hart scorched the worlds with a fearless, faultless ride in pouring rain as Gwin and the other favorites crashed or slid out trying to match him. Spectacular!

EVANS They said Cadel couldn’t win the Tour in a mountainous edition that favored climbers like Alberto Contador and the Schlecks. They said Evans was too old, he couldn’t match the best in the mountains and his team wasn’t strong enough. And yet the 34-year-old Aussie’s famous determination won through. He developed loyalty and solidarity from his BMC Racing teammates by winning Tirreno-Adriatico in March, overcame a training crash to win the Tour de Romandie in May and raced judiciously to take second at the Dauphiné in June. And he arrived at the start of the Tour in superb form. His overall victory, the first by a rider from the Southern Hemisphere, was earned with flair (beating Contador in the stage 4 summit finish), doggedness (controlling his rivals in the Pyrénées), horsepower (pulling back time on Andy Schleck on the Galibier) and brilliance (in the Grenoble time trial). The stuff of legends!

FLANDERS The final edition of the Ronde van Vlaanderen on the course that climbed the Mur de Grammont (Muur van Geraardsbergen) and finished at Meerbeke produced the most dramatic one-day race of the year. Fabian Cancellara did another heroic ride (after dominating the earlier E3 Grand Prix) to place third; Sylvain Chavanel rode his strongest classic ever to come within inches of becoming the first French winner in 20 years; and Nick Nuyens overcame his demons to use every tactical nuance he’s ever learned to enter the history books at age 30. Brilliant!

GILBERT What can we say? World No. 1 Philippe Gilbert’s performances in 2011 defy description. He won classic after classic, was prominent from February to October, wore the Tour de France yellow jersey for the first time, won both his national road and time trial titles, and ended up overall winner of the UCI WorldTour by the widest-ever margin. And he did it with breathtaking uphill accelerations that his rivals knew were coming — but they couldn’t do anything about it. Top performances? His four-in-row spring win streak of Flèche Brabançonne, Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège; his stage 1 victory at the Tour over Evans; and his not-so-easy and gusty wins in San Sebastian and Québec. What’s he gonna do for an encore?

HORNER His season was cut short a week into the Tour de France by a pileup that sent him flying headfirst into a ditch when he was enjoying the best form of his long career. Chris Horner opened his campaign with fourth overall at the Volta a Catalunya in March, continued with second behind RadioShack teammate Andreas Klöden at the Tour of the Basque Country, and then astonished all (except himself) by dominating the Amgen Tour of California, ahead of teammate Levi Leipheimer. And who knows what he would have done in the Tour? Newly married, at 40, Horner goes into 2012 still full of ambition.

IZOARD It was fitting that one of cycling’s legendary climbs, the Col d’Izoard, saw the start of an old-fashioned, long-distance solo break that transformed the Tour de France. The man making the bold move, with two hours still to race on stage 18, was Andy Schleck. And other than an initial reaction from defending champion Alberto Contador, the Luxembourg rider’s attack went unopposed. Schleck established a lead of 4:24 with 11km to go — where Cadel Evans took up the chase, dropped Contador and closed to within 2:15 of the winner by the finish atop the Col du Galibier. It was an epic breakaway that earned Schleck his most famous victory, and a brilliant pursuit that put Evans in position to win the Tour. Thank you Monsieur Izoard.

JULY 4 In the 30 years that Americans have been riding the Tour de France, none of them had won a stage on the Fourth of July. That anomaly was finally put to bed on stage 3 of the Tour by Team Garmin’s Tyler Farrar, who won a clear sprint victory in Redon after a famous lead-out from his teammate (and race leader!) Thor Hushovd.

KELLY He ended his racing career 17 years ago, but Sean Kelly is still winning in his role as color commentator for Eurosport. Whether discussing tactics in a spring classic, predicting what will happen in a stage of the Tour, or quietly correcting one of his less-knowledgeable colleagues, the sagacious Irishman proved himself the best cycling commentator on television in 2011. He’s still the king!

LEVI Like his American teammate Chris Horner, Levi Leipheimer just gets better with age. At 37, he had his best-ever European victory, taking back two minutes in the final-day time trial, to overcome Damiano Cunego at the Tour of Switzerland. At home, he was a close second to Horner at the Tour of California and went on to score famous wins at the Tour of Utah and first USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado.

MARTIN People said that Fabian Cancellara was unbeatable in time trials, but HTC-Highroad’s German Tony Martin proved them wrong in 2011. He won nine time trials, notably defeating Cancellara in Denmark to win the world championship, while also capitalizing on his TT successes to take GC wins in Portugal (Tour of the Algarve), France (Paris-Nice) and China (the inaugural Tour of Beijing). And an honorable mention has to go to Ireland’s and Garmin’s Dan Martin, whose break-through year saw him win Italy’s Tour of Tuscany, score stage wins at the Tour of Poland (finishing second overall) and Vuelta a España (taking 13th overall), and place a brilliant second in the season-ending Tour of Lombardy (now called Il Lombardia).

Thor Hushovd and Edvald Boasson Hagen at the 2011 Tour de France stage 10. Photo: Graham Watson | grahamwatson.com

NORWAY There were only two Norwegians at the Tour de France, but Garmin’s Thor Hushovd and Sky’s Edvald Boasson Hagen each scored two remarkable stage wins. EBH took his first in Lisieux on top of a nasty little climb that saw off the other sprinters; TH upstaged that by catching back to a breakaway on the scary descent of the Col d’Aubisque and ditching two Frenchmen to win solo in Lourdes; and then the two of them were in the winning breakaway on the dramatic stage into Gap, where Hushovd had teammate Ryder Hesjedal to help him take the three-man sprint. But Boasson Hagen made it two stages apiece by winning solo the very next day with a brilliant attack over the ultra-narrow Colle Pramartino into Pinerolo. Winners don’t get much better than these two!

OUTSIDERS While Gilbert fulfilled his favorite status at five of the hillier UCI WorldTour classics (Amstel, Flèche, Liège, San Sebastian and Québec), all the other major single-day races had surprising, even shocking winners. HTC’s Matt Goss raced a superb Milan-San Remo to out-speed Cancellara and Gilbert for the win; Saxo Bank’s Nick Nuyens won Flanders (see above); Garmin’s Johan Vansummeren earned a dramatic solo victory in Paris-Roubaix; and Leopard-Trek’s Oliver Zaugg caused a total upset at Il Lombardia (see below). But the biggest surprise of all was Juanjo Cobo’s Vuelta victory for the upstart Geox-TMC team that his since disbanded. Let’s hope the upsets keep coming in 2012!

PASSPORT Now in its fourth year as an added weapon in the war against doping, the biological passport — which is an electronic record of the blood and other parameters of every rider in ProTeams and Pro Continental squads — has proved its worth. More than half a dozen riders have been suspended on the evidence in their bio passports or from targeted tests after anti-doping officials saw suspicious numbers in their passport. None of the suspended riders’ appeals have been upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

QUOTABLE QUOTES Like other pro sports, cycling has become “over-quoted.” A lot of times, media people don’t even ask true questions; they just say: “Talk about this or talk about that.” The result is too many bland comments from riders, but smart quotes sometimes surface to give greater insight to what remains one of the more complex sports to analyze. This past year, world champ Mark Cavendish often came through, especially his view that “cycling is the cleanest sport around.” Another quotable individual is Frenchman Thomas Voeckler; his popularity zoomed during his 10-day reign in the Tour’s yellow jersey, leading him to say, “The one thing I can’t understand: Why does the public want to tap us on the back? That 100th tap of the day is really painful.”

RICHMOND Shockingly, the United States didn’t win a single medal at the Copenhagen road worlds; but at the UCI Congress held that week, the City of Richmond won its bid to host the world road championships in 2015. This is only the second time that the worlds will be held in this country, three decades after Colorado Springs was the first. And, with better focus, home turf should help produce some U.S. medals!

SIERRA ROAD The Amgen Tour of California organizers had been talking about a mountaintop stage finish for years. It finally came this past May … and it was a humdinger! With careful planning and the blessing of host city San Jose, the finish was set up atop the 5.6km, 9.4-percent Sierra Road, where eventual race champion Chris Horner simply rode away from his opposition to win solo, 1:15 ahead of runner-up Andy Schleck. Keep those summit finishes coming!

TRACK Bit by bit, track racing is making a comeback. It has been booming in Britain for almost a decade, with sold-out crowds at Revolution meets in Manchester and elsewhere; and there’s talk of a six-day race returning to London, now that the $150 million Olympic velodrome has been built for next year’s games, and there’s a continued synergy between Sky’s road and track teams. The re-branded UCI Track World Cup series, sponsored by Samsung, has taken off this winter: there were packed crowds at the recent round in Cali, Colombia, and the finale scheduled for London’s new track in February is certain to be a huge success.

USAPCC When part-time Aspen resident Lance Armstrong chatted with the governor of Colorado less than two years ago to discuss bringing a Coors Classic-style stage race to the state, neither could have expected that it would be so successful, so fast. Not only did the inaugural edition of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge feature the 1-2-3 finishers from the Tour de France but it also attracted more than a million spectators to the weeklong event. Roll on next August!

VOECKLER At 32, Thomas Voeckler’s career appeared to be set: He was a good one-day racer, with the ability to win stage races of less than a week; but he wasn’t built for the grand tours. And then, on stage 9 of this year’s Tour, the Frenchman made it into a solid breakaway that was given its freedom when a nasty crash put several team leaders out of the race. The break gained four minutes by the end of the day, Voeckler pulled on the yellow jersey and he impressively defended his GC lead through the Pyrénées and the Alps before finally losing it two days from the finish. But taking fourth overall has given him a new image and a new incentive for the next part of his career.

WOUTER Everyone on the Leopard-Trek team was excited to be competing in their first grand tour … and then, on the third day of the Giro d’Italia, near the foot of the long but not too technical descent of the Passo del Bocco, their Belgian sprinter Wouter Weylandt lost control of his bike. It appeared that the left side of his handlebar clipped a retaining wall, causing him to somersault through the air and land on his head some 100 feet down the road. Weylandt, 26, never regained consciousness and died in the hospital. It was cycling’s most public death since Fabio Casartelli crashed on the first Pyrenean descent of the 1995 Tour de France.

XBOX Cycling video games have been around for a while, but none have truly replicated the skills necessary to win a grand tour; but that changed in 2011 when the Tour de France came to Xbox. Gamers don’t particularly like the experience because when you make your rider go fast he usually goes anaerobic and gets passed by the peloton. But cycling fans can have fun by using the tactics and timing needed in the sport itself.

YOUTUBE The popularity of cycling has been greatly enhanced by the number and frequency of race videos and interviews that have been posted on YouTube. Some of the more outrageous ones — like the world downhill championship ride of Danny Hart — have gone viral; but now even “mundane” cycling action has a chance to be seen at any time, throughout the world, by anyone with a laptop, tablet of smart phone.

ZAUGG Probably for the first time in the history of cycling, a rider who had never won a race in eight years as a professional came out of nowhere to win one of the toughest monuments, the Tour of Lombardy. Leopard-Trek’s Swiss rider Oliver Zaugg soloed to victory in Lecco after a well-timed uphill attack on the last climb, 10km from the line, catching all the favorites (including Philippe Gilbert) by surprise. Zaugg’s win helped him get a contract with the squad that has now merged with Team RadioShack. Can he win another monument in 2012?

Women’s track long team

Eleven female track riders were chosen for the long team. Sarah Hammer earned the only automatic nomination by meeting three selection criteria.

Automatic nominations:

Sarah Hammer (Temecula, Calif./OUCH Pro Cycling) earned an automatic nomination by placing second in the women’s omnium at the 2011 UCI Track World Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, and she also won two omniums at 2011 UCI Track World Cup events (Manchester, Great Britain, and Cali, Colombia).

Discretionary nominations:

Dotsie Bausch (Irvine, Calif./OUCH Pro Cycling) won a silver medal in the team pursuit at the 2011 UCI track world championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands along with teammates Hammer and Jennie Reed.

Jennie Reed (Seattle, Wash./OUCH Pro Cycling) won a silver medal in the team pursuit at the 2011 UCI track world championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands along with teammates Hammer and Bausch.

Cari Higgins (Boulder, Colo./Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY 12) placed sixth in the points race in Apeldoorn.

Lauren Tamayo (Asheville, N.C./Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY 12), along with teammates Bausch and Hammer, helped set the world record in the women’s team pursuit at the 2010 Pan American Games in Aguascalientes, Mexico and is also a member of the 2012 Olympic road long team.

Jennifer Valente (San Diego, Calif./GS Adams Avenue Bicycles) was selected after winning the Women’s Scratch Race at the 2011 junior track world championships in Moscow, Russia.

Elizabeth Carlson (Jim Thorpe, Pa./Black Dog Professional Cycling Team) finished fourth in the women’s team sprint at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, along with teammate Madalyn Godby.

Madalyn Godby (Louisville, Colo./enCompass Racing), finished fourth in the women’s team sprint at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, along with teammate Carlson

Cristin Walker (Houston, Texas/Momentum Coaching Group p/b Atomic), with teammate Tela Crane, finished second to Carlson and Godby in the women’s team sprint at the 2011 USA Cycling elite track national championships.

Tela Crane (Sammamish, Wash./Broadmark Capital), with teammate Walker, finished second to Carlson and Godby in the women’s team sprint at the 2011 USA Cycling elite track national championships.

Dana Feiss (Telford, Pa./Home Depot Center Team) placed 19th in the Women’s Keirin at the first UCI Track World Cup of the season in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Men’s track long team

The entire men’s track long team is made up of discretionary nominees.

Michael Blatchford (Cypress, Calif./Project London 2012) represented the U.S. at the 2011 UCI track world championships. He competed in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China and finished seventh in the team sprint at the most recent UCI track World Cup.

Bobby Lea (Topton, Pa./Pure Energy Cycling-ProAirHFA), represented the U.S. at the 2011 UCI track world championships. He competed in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

Kevin Mansker (Long Beach, Calif./Project London 2012), represented the U.S. at the 2011 UCI track world championships. He finished seventh in the team sprint at the most recent UCI track World Cup.

Giddeon Massie (Cypress, Calif./Bike Religion) represented the U.S. at the 2011 UCI track world championships. He competed in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

Dean Tracy (Portland, Ore./Project London 2012) represented the U.S. at the 2011 UCI track world championships.

Jimmy Watkins (Bakersfield, Calif./Project London 2012) finished seventh in the team sprint at the most recent UCI track World Cup. Watkins placed fourth in the keirin at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. Along with teammates Tracy and Blatchford, Watkins set the 750m team sprint national record, earning him a silver medal.

Taylor Phinney (Boulder, Colo./BMC Racing Team) is hoping to earn a spot on the Olympic road team as well. Phinney is a two-time Pursuit world champion and 2010 world championship bronze medalist in the omnium.

T.J. Mathieson (Redondo Beach, Calif./Momentum Coaching Group p/b Atomic) finished 11th in the time trial at the UCI track World Cup in Cali, Colombia.

Sarah Hammer smiles after winning the scratch race at the Alcides Nieto Patino velodrome in Cali, Colombia. Photo: Luis Robayo | AFP

American Sarah Hammer won a pair of medals last week during the second round of the UCI Track World Cup in Cali, Colombia.

Hammer took gold in the women’s omnium, finishing no lower than fourth in the six races and tallying 14 points to defeat Tara Whitten (CAN) and Laura Trott (GBR), who finished one-two at the 2011 world championship.

Whitten took the runner-up finish with 28 points while Trott was third with 29.

The contest between Hammer and Whitten was close until the fifth event, the scratch race, which Hammer won while Whitten finished 14th.

Hammer is an automatic qualifier for nomination to the track cycling Olympic Long Team, to be announced December 15.

Earlier in the week Hammer won a bronze with teammates Lauren Tamayo and Jennie Reed in the team pursuit. The trio finished third in the morning’s qualifying with a 3:26.027, just missing the gold-medal round. They bounced back in the evening session, posting a 3:22.090 to win the bronze over Lithuania.

“While the Cali velodrome is covered, it’s still open air and the wind conditions were challenging for the qualifying round,” said Benjamin Sharp, USA Cycling’s endurance programs director. “The final, the next night, was much quicker and we were able to capitalize on that. It’s too bad that our qualifying round wasn’t better as the final with Great Britain would have been very competitive.”

The long-team qualifying standard for the women’s team pursuit is 3:21.575 and Hammer, Tamayo and Reed were a half second off the mark in the final. No riders have qualified to be automatically nominated to the long team in the team pursuit.

The third round of the 2011-12 UCI Track World Cup is set for January 13-15 in Beijing. USA Cycling will be running trials December 8-15 to decide who makes the team.

The governing body dropped the 30-34 age category for both men and women, citing what national events managing director Micah Rice called a “chronically low level of participation.”

“For example, this year at masters road nationals, we had 25 men show up for the 30-34 criterium while our 40-44 and 45-49 fields had over 100 riders each,” Rice said. “For the women’s 30-34 race, there were 10 riders. The numbers at masters track nationals were even smaller.”

USA Cycling members will notice other changes in 2012:

• The tandem track sprint national championships will be eliminated.
• USA Cycling will begin selling annual licenses for a youth class. This class is defined as riders with an actual age of 6 through a racing age of 9. A “youth race” is defined as a race held on a closed course with a circuit of 5km or less.
• Riders in the 12-and-under age categories will be restricted to mass-start-legal bikes in all races, which means no aero bars, no wheel covers, and at least 16 spokes per wheel. These rules will also apply to the 13-14 age group in 2013.

The 2012 USA Cycling rulebook will be available online soon at www.usacycling.org/rulebook. USA Cycling officials will begin receiving the rulebook in the mail in December 2011.

U.S. cyclists earned 24 medals — nine gold, 11 silver and four bronze — during the eight-day competition, more than any other country.

Oz Sanchez and Jennifer Schuble each won a pair of gold medals. Sanchez, a Marine Corps veteran, remained undefeated in the mixed time trial H1-4 and also won the men’s road race H2-4. Schuble topped the podium in the women’s 500-meter time trial C1-5 and the women’s individual pursuit C4-5.

Other gold medalists included Monica Bascio, Allison Jones, Greta Neimanas, Steve Peace and the tandem of Clark Rachfal and pilot Dave Swanson. Jones set two American records at the velodrome, in the 500m time trial and the 3km individual pursuit.

The tandem of Kara Whitsell and pilot Lisa Turnbull collected four silver medals. Whitsell and Turnbull took second in the mixed time trial, women’s individual pursuit, women’s 1000m time trial and the women’s road race. Neimanas and Matt Updike each collected two silvers while Vincent Juarez, Michael Farrell and Peace added one apiece.

Jones won two bronze medals while Farrell and the tandem of Rachfal and Swanson each scored one third-place finish.

The 185-to-100 final tally ended a near 15-year division between the two organizations. Starting in 2012, the ACA will re-brand itself the Bicycle Racing Association of Colorado — the name the group bore in 1999 when it broke away from USA Cycling over a variety of grievances — and serve as the USA Cycling Local Association for Colorado and eastern Wyoming.

The biggest change most ACA racers will see next year is an increase in costs, both for their annual license and in race entry fees. Right now it’s hard to say exactly how much entry fees will go up, but license fees for seniors will rise from the current $45 for an annual ACA license to $60 for a USAC license, with the option of spending an additional $30 for a BRAC membership. Junior licenses will rise from $15 to $30, with BRAC membership costing an additional $15.

While not a requirement to race, a BRAC membership will provide a variety of benefits, including discounts on operational surcharges at all Colorado events, discounted access to the transponder timing system, eligibility to participate in Rocky Mountain Road Cup and Colorado Cross Cup points competitions, and perhaps most important, the knowledge that you’re doing your part to keep the ACA alive, as much of the organization’s slimmed-down operating budget will derive from membership fees.

In 2011, the ACA had 2,911 members and by the end of the year will have sanctioned approximately 110 races and 25,000 racer days.

Outgoing ACA Board of Directors president Bill Barr seemed to echo the sentiment of many in the room, saying that neither reintegration nor continued autonomy was ideal.

“It’s just a matter of which is worse,” he said. “Bike racing is too small to be fragmented, and in order to grow the sport we need to find a way to work together.”

Still, despite the ACA board’s recommendation to approve reintegration, Barr was firm with his criticism of cycling’s national governing body, looking directly at USA Cycling CEO Steve Johnson as he outlined his concerns.

“If we go back there are a lot of things that bother me,” said Barr. “I think USA Cycling gives a lot of lip service to local racing. Right now the revenue we generate goes to support racing in Colorado, and we are careful with that revenue. If we go back that sucking sound you hear is our money going to Colorado Springs.” He added that the local association budget would shrink and racing would become more expensive for athletes and promoters alike.

But not rejoining USA Cycling would likely have meant the formation of a competing local association with the backing — and potentially, the financial support — of the national governing body. Over time, that almost certainly would have spelled the end of the ACA.

“We were already hearing that some of the big (ACA) races were going to over to USAC sanctioning next year,” added Barr. “If we don’t go back, ACA will slowly waste away and there is nothing we can do about that.”

CEO Johnson, who at times seemed visibly dismayed at the level of distrust and lack of faith in his organization, did his best to sell the move, outlining a variety of benefits that come with USAC membership.

“It’s a cost-versus-value question and value trumps cost,” said Johnson, the lone USA Cycling representative at the meeting. “We want to increase value.”

That value, said Johnson, includes items such as no longer needing two licenses if you race both ACA and USAC events; category reciprocity between the two organizations; access to a national ranking system that’s used for call-ups at events such as cyclocross national championships; increased anti-doping efforts in the amateur ranks; and the return of pro racers to area events following a year in which USA Cycling began enforcing a heretofore-overlooked rule that barred UCI-licensed racers from competing at raceas not sanctioned by the national federation.

Johnson denied that the seemingly out-of-the-blue enforcement of the license rule was a strong-arm tactic to weaken the ACA, instead claiming that the UCI had become upset when racers such as Lance Armstrong started occasionally competing in non-fed-sanctioned races, and had asked that USA Cycling start stringently enforcing the rule.

“When you take out a UCI license you agree to their rules,” said Johnson. “If you break the rule we pull the license. You can’t expect to continue to receive value without some kind of association.”

Additional pressure on the ACA’s ability to function was imminent. Johnson said dual sanctioning and category reciprocity would have been discontinued.

“With dual sanctioning it’s an issue of who is covered by whose insurance, and we wouldn’t have been able to do that anymore,” explained Johnson. “With reciprocity, it’s been a long time since the separation (between USAC and the ACA) and there is something called genetic drift. We have no confidence in what you are doing here because it’s something we have no control over.”

Johnson’s case failed to move many in the room, and even some supporters weren’t overly impressed.

“Steve, as a salesman you fail,” said Pete Webber, rep for Boulder Cycle Sport, the largest ACA team with 97 members. “But I still think we should do this. It means unity for the sport. It will make it easier for collegiate racers to race in our races. It will give us a common race calendar without event overlap. We’ll have pros back at our races. And it will give us inclusion in the national ranking systems.”

Indeed, a day after the meeting the ACA announced that 2011 results from its Colorado Cross Cup cyclocross series would be incorporated into USAC’s national system, which is good news for Colorado racers gunning for a call-up at the U.S. national championships in January.

Other prominent figures in the Colorado cycling community couldn’t overcome their trepidation. DBC Events founder and president Chris Grealish voted against reintegration.

“It just felt like a super-rushed effort for unknown reasons,” said Grealish, whose company promotes the Boulder Cup cyclocross race. “I don’t know that we have to bum rush into this. The ACA is doing incredibly well without USA Cycling. We don’t need them. We do our own thing and we keep the money here. They want to take all the money. It’s unbelievable. I may sit out a year. We do a great job on our own without their blessing or their help.”

Adam Rachubinski, who runs the 51-member Alpha Bicycle Company team and also voted no, cited the rising costs for juniors as his major concern.

“We just think it’s going to end up costing junior racers and their families too much in the long term,” he said. “The fact that a junior has to be a local association member and the promoter has to be a local association member in order for the junior to race free, on top of the increase in license cost, is going to be too much for a lot of families.”

After the vote, Johnson lingered at the front of the meeting room, as several club reps walked up, offering handshakes and words of encouragement and accord.

“I think that from the perspective of growing the sport as much as possible, and growing the pie for everybody, that the national organization is positioned to do that,” said Johnson.

“How do I convince someone who doesn’t feel like we offer them anything? That’s the major question here. I think at the end of the day everyone here has to decide what they get out of the sport and what is the value they want to pay to do it. It’s incumbent on us to deliver that value, and the proof is going to be in the pudding.

“There is no right or wrong answer today. They will see the answer in a couple years if it is successful. If it’s not successful they have the option every year of not renewing the contract.”

Bos will undergo surgery to repair damage caused by a burst vein in his groin next Monday and will then undergo a period of rehabiliation, during which he will not be able to move his left leg for the first month and a half.

“Because of this long period of rehabilitation, I’ve decided to give up on my Olympic track ambitions,” he said. “I have to be realistic, even though it hurts.”

The 28-year-old switched from track cycling to road racing after the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. On the track, the Dutchman won three world titles in 2004, 2006 and 2007 but only took a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and was also thwarted in his quest for gold in Beijing.

He had planned to return to the track for the London Games and was hoping to compete in the omnium, a new event combining six different races.

Kashechkin had scheduled his attempt for November 4-6 when the Astana velodrome will host track cycling’s World Cup but he is now looking for a new date next season.

“I’m really motivated by this challenge. And I’m aiming to set a new record at Astana cycle track,” Kashechkin said in a statement at his Facebook page.

“It’s a mission of a great interest to me,” he added. “But it’s not for this season. I hope I will be able to set a date for my attempt next season.”

The current world record for the greatest distance cycled in one hour is held by Czech racer Ondrej Sosenka, who totalled 49.700 kilometers on July 19, 2005, at the Krylatskoye velodrome in Moscow.

Kashechkin, 31, served a doping ban from 2007-2009 after testing positive for blood doping following the 2007 Tour de France, from which Astana was evicted after the 15th stage following a blood doping positive for teammate Alexandre Vinokourov.

Miller, 42, tested positive for methylhexaneamine, in a sample collected on July 27, according to the U.S. Ant-Doping Agency.

The World Anti-Doping Agency classifies methylhexaneamine as a “Specified Substance,” that can result in a reduced sanction.

Miller’s suspension began September 2, 2011, the day he accepted a provisional suspension. As a result of the sanction, Miller is also disqualified from all results obtained during the Masters Track Nationals, which began on July 26, 2011, as well as any other competitive results obtained after that date.

Theo Bos. Photo: Andrew Hood

Theo Bos says he’s looking forward to the arrival of Mark Renshaw to Rabobank and says he’s mulling a return to the track for another shot at Olympic gold next season.

The former trackie has had moderate success since focusing on the road in the wake of the 2008 Olympic Games, but said the chance to take a shot at an elusive gold medal might lure him back on the boards next year.

“My experience in Beijing (2008) was not so good. I want to erase those memories,” Bos told VeloNews. “We made a plan for the Olympics and it didn’t work out. I wasn’t at the level I needed to be win a medal.”

Bos, 28, ruled the boards in the mid-2000s, winning world titles in Keirin, sprint and the kilo as well as a silver medal in the 2004 Olympics in the sprint. His efforts for a gold medal fell flat in Beijing, however, and he turned his attention to the road in the 2009 season.

Bos, however, said he’s considering a run at the omnium — a new Olympic event for 2012 London — and said he may race some World Cup track events this winter to test his form on the boards before making a final decision if he will try to earn a spot on the Dutch Olympic team next summer.

“I still haven’t decided,” he said about another shot at the Olympics. “Maybe I will try in the omnium. Maybe I will race some World Cups to make a test.”

Bos insists he’s still committed to the road, but admits he’s still missing what he called a “big win.”

“I won five races this year. I had some good results, but I still don’t have that big win,” he said. “I am satisfied with my progression on the road. It was hard to change from being a sprinter on the track to a sprinter on the road. I have met my expectations but I want to win bigger races.”

Bos’ 2011 wins include two stages at the Tour of Oman to open the season and a stage win at the Tour of Denmark in August. Since hitting the road in 2009, he has yet to win a race at the WorldTour level.

Bos says he will only benefit with the arrival next season of Australian veteran Renshaw.

After working as the lead-out man for Mark Cavendish, Renshaw is looking forward to the chance to be the lead sprinter at Rabobank. That’s something that Bos says he welcomes.

“He’s faster than me and he will be the man for the big races,” Bos said. “I know I have to improve and riding with a rider like Renshaw will only be better for me.”

Rabobank sport director Erik Breukink said there will still be plenty of opportunities for Bos to try his luck in the sprints next season.

“With Mark, we will have a top sprinter for the big races. We believe he can win a lot of races,” Breukink told VeloNews. “Theo is still learning. We know that he is fast when he can get to the line in position to make his sprint. We are working toward that goal.”

British Cycling said the 31-year-old double world champion, who claimed individual pursuit gold in Beijing four years ago, has left the Olympic Program.

“Having suffered several setbacks at crucial points, I believe I’m no longer on a pathway which will see me fulfill my Olympic ambition to win a second Olympic gold medal,” Romero said.

“I’m proud to have contributed to the cycling team’s great Olympic triumph in Beijing and I thank all the amazing people within British Cycling who were central to my success. I wish my current teammates every success in London next year.”

Former rower Romero is the only British woman to win Olympic medals in two different sports following her silver medal at the 2004 Games in Athens in the quadruple sculls. She was awarded an MBE in 2009 for her achievements.

Roger Hernandez refused to take part in a doping control test at the event.

He accepted a two-year period of ineligibility, which began on August 21, the day after he last competed. Hernandez is also disqualified from all competitive results obtained on and subsequent to July 29, 2011, the date upon which he refused to submit to sample collection.

According to the USA Cycling website, Hernandez medalled in three events at the championships, including a silver medal in the sprint.

But who is Elia Viviani?

At 22, Viviani is a second-year pro on the road, but boasts a long palmarés on the track, including multiple European U23 and junior championships. In just his sophomore season with Liquigas, the Italian has won no fewer than four times on the outdoor circuit, opening with the GP Costa degli Etruschi one-day in February.

“You know, I’ve been with Elia for most of his wins this year, including his first at Etruschi,” said teammate Tim Duggan. “He’s so strong on days like this, days that aren’t necessarily the straight-forward sprint finishes.”

The Liquigas train came to the front of the bunch 20km from the finish, towing Viviani ahead of rivals that included UnitedHealthcare’s Robert Förster and Skil-Shimano’s Kenny Van Hummel. Liquigas American Ted King said it was earlier than they had planned, but the team knew they would take control early in the finale.

It was Duggan that went to the front on the outskirts of Steamboat Springs, leading the team into a tricky closing 4.8km along the Yampa River. At 130 pounds and more at home in the mountains, Duggan peeled off with 4km remaining, leaving the work to Sylvester Szmyd, Davide Cimolai, Daniel Oss and Viviani. Oss laid down a blistering final leadout on Lincoln Avenue and Viviani came around for a 200-meter winning kick.

“Oss is sprinting really quick and Viviani just came off a European track championship and obviously was sprinting well,” said King. “You look at how many stages are going to be sprints this week and he was the best one for it.”

Viviani was the best one for the day, just as he was in Mumbai, India, in February when he topped Robbie McEwen (RadioShack). That win came a week after Viviani bested a number of Italian rivals and took the GP Costa degli Etruschi, with his teammate Peter Sagan, familiar to many American fans from his Tour of California exploits, finishing fourth.

It was Viviani’s stage 7 win at the 2010 Presidential Tour of Turkey, over Italian champion Giovanni Visconti, that was the biggest of his young road career. When the Italian was raising his arms on the eastern Mediterranean coast, Oss was arriving in northern Italy for the Giro del Trentino ahead of his first Tour de France.

Oss is another Liquigas rider who can vie for the points jersey Viviani will don before the start at Mount Werner Saturday morning. The team may support the tall, curly-haired Italian in Saturday’s uphill run-in to Breckenridge. With a breakaway likely scooping up all of the intermediate points in Kremmling and Dillon, the finale will offer the day’s biggest boon in the green jersey competition.

“Tomorrow is maybe for Oss,” Viviani said before looking toward Sunday’s sprint in Denver.

At the same time he is aiming to protect his green jersey, Viviani is vying for a place in the Italian national team for the world road championships this fall in Copenhagen, Denmark. He told VeloNews that he was happy to have chosen Colorado and the Tour of Utah over the Vuelta a Expaña to prepare for worlds and he hoped Italian manager Paolo Bettini was watching from afar.

“(Daniele) Bennati is the team leader for Italy, but the parcours in Copenhagen suits a rider like me and I hope to make the selection next month,” Viviani told VeloNews. “I think this month in the USA is good for me for the preparation for worlds. Now after this win, I think maybe I go to Copenhagen for team Italia. I hope.”

Beyond Copenhagen, Viviani will turn his focus to the track. He has split time between the oval and the road in his first two seasons as a pro and hopes to qualify for the new omnium event.

“After this road season I will probably ride three World Cups for the Olympic qualification,” he said. “I will ride the big races (on the road) in the first three months of the year and then focus on track for the omnium because it is very important to me and to Italy.”

Viviani said he hopes to earn a medal in the first omnium competition since the UCI reshuffled the Olympic track program following the Beijing Games. He said after London he would shift his focus to the road for the “five or six years.”

While he said he wasn’t sure exactly how to ascend to the level of the more established sprinters like Mark Cavendish and Tyler Farrar, Viviani has many years ahead of him in the pro peloton and time to learn.

Baronski finished in 1:04.660 in just his second career 1km race. Australia’s Jaron Gardiner won the gold in 1:03.872, France’s Benjamin Edelin was secon in 1:04.374.

American Kaleb Koch (Glenview, Ill./Cycle Sports Foundation Inc.-ISCorp Cycling Team) also contested the race and finished 24th after registering a personal-best 1:06.921.

Another highlight of the second day was the American team of Addyson Albershadt (Matthews, N.C./FLYING PIGS), Kate Wilson (Los Angeles, Calif./FLYING PIGS) and Jacqueline Denny (Liberty, Mo./FLYING PIGS). The three women registered an unofficial American record by posting a 3:52.5 in the junior women’s team pursuit to qualify sixth.

Australia won the women’s pursuit in 3:27.654, followed by Russia and Italy.

In the women’s points race, Kate Wilson (Los Angeles, Calif./FLYING PIGS) finished ninth. The race was won by Italy’s Maria Giulia Canfalonieri.

After the flying lap (23rd), points race (22nd) and elimination race (21st), Mathew Lipscomb (Decatur, Ga./Greenville Spinners Bicycle Club-Hincapie Development team) currently sits in 25th in the men’s omnium. The three-kilometer individual pursuit, 10-kilometer scratch race and the one-kilometer time trial are slated for Friday.

The pursuit team — Gregory Daniel (Englewood, Colo./Chipotle Junior Development Team), Mathew Lipscomb (Decatur, Ga./Greenville Spinners Bicycle Club-Hincapie Development), Paul Lynch (Colchester, Conn./Hot Tubes Development Cycling Team) and Thomas Wrona (Pinehurst, N.C./Hot Tubes Development Cycling Team) posted a time of 4:17.678.

The previous American record for the junior men’s team pursuit, 4:23:33, was set in 1999 by Mike Creed, Will Frischkorn, Devon Hoff-Weekes and Jon Retseck.

Australia won the pursuit title in 4:02.632. Russia and New Zealand were second and third.

In the team sprint, the American team of Matthew Baranoski (Perkasie, Pa./SUB 49), Ryan Gadow (Dublin, Calif./San Jose Bicycle Club) and Kaleb Koch (Glenview, Ill./Cycle Sports Foundation Inc.-ISCorp Cycling Team) placed 11th with a time of 24.524.

Germany won the men’s team sprint, followed by France and Russia.

American Collin Berry (Huntington Beach, Calif./VRC-NOW-MS Society) finished 11th in the men’s scratch race, which was won by Frantisek Sisr of the Czech Republic.

The women’s team sprint duo of Jennifer Valente (San Diego, Calif./Adams Avenue Bicycles-G S) and Chloe Chepigin (Chappaqua, N.Y./Young Medalists-Team Rothrock) placed fifth overall with a time of 48.682. Russia won the women’s team sprint in 45.061, followed by Australia and New Zealand.

Tom Moran photo

Whitehead, 50, died while attending the USA Cycling junior track national championships in Texas, but details regarding the cause of his death were not available.

Whitehead had served as coach and mentor to several successful track and road riders, including multiple world champion Sarah Hammer and U.S. criterium specialist Rahsaah Bahati.

In a brief release issued late Wednesday, USA Cycling noted that it had learned “of the unfortunate passing of Mark Whitehead while in Texas attending the Juniors Track National Championships.

“USA Cycling would like to extend its deepest condolences to family, friends and athletes of the former professional cyclist and 1984 track cycling Olympian.

“No further details are available at this time. ”

Whitehead held 20 national championship titles, including the team pursuit in 1984, which contributed to his selection to the U.S. team for 1984 Los Angeles Games. Whitehead had a reputation as a cagey, but often volatile, track strategist who had, on several occasions, been sanctioned for both on- and off-track outbursts. Whitehead’s reputation as a temperamental rider led fellow competitors to label him with the friendly moniker “Meat Head.”

The nickname was something Whitehead embraced. Ever the jokester, Whitehead would exclaim after a victory, ”Ya can’t beat the Meat!”

Whitehead was among those 1984 Olympians who were targeted in a post-Olympic scandal involving blood-doping, a practice that was, at the time, not prohibited under UCI or Olympic rules. The ensuing scandal led to the eventual adoption of rules banning the practice in all sports that fall under the authority of the International Olympic Committee and, later, the World Anti-Doping Agency. The practice was banned by the U.S. Cycling Federation (USCF) in January of 1985.

He was briefly married to fellow cyclist Rebecca Twigg.

He is survived by his second wife and three children, Ian, Pete and Davey.