The USA Cycling Amateur Road National Championship, presented by Papa Johns, took place in Louisville, Ky on June 30th through July 3rd. This national event featured a total of 850 riders, ages 9 to 23, from all across the country. All competitors must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents with a USA Cycling membership. This event brought together some of the youngest, and talented riders in the United States.
Athletes opened up the four days of competition with time trials at Spencer County High School in Taylorsville, Kentucky. This race is known as “the race of truth,” because it requires intense training and mental strength to achieve a desired time. On Friday and Saturday, Cherokee Park was used for two days of road races. In this type of race, all riders begin at the same time and the winner is determined by crossing the finish line first. The final race (the criterium) on Sunday was held at Shawnee Park. The criterium race is a high-speed bicycle race where riders speed around a closed circuit racecourse to finish first.
With the help of the local community and passionate volunteers, the Louisville Sports Commission and USA Cycling were able to host a great event for these athletes.
“We have a great working relationship with the Louisville Sports Commission. This is probably our fourth national championship that we’ve had here in Louisville. So it made natural sense. Our last actual national championship here at Cherokee was in 2008 with our Masters Road Nationals. So it just made sense to come right back to a venue that we already knew and work with great partners again,” said Tara McCarthy, events manager for USA Cycling National.
The community and other organizations came together to make this such a successful event. Louisville orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine physician Dr. Stacie Grossfeld enjoyed getting involved in a variety of ways. This included hosting a pre-race social gathering for athletes and coaches at her Louisville-area home, and serving as the event doctor for the criterium race held on Sunday at Shawnee Park. Dr. Grossfeld worked at the Baptist Health Louisville Sports Medicine Medical tent during the race. She was able to treat and get to know some of these top athletes in the cycling community.
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