America’s best in BMX to be crowned this weekend in Chula Vista
 

Chula Vista, Calif. (March 27, 2014) — Olympians, national champions and the future stars of American BMX racing will headline the competition this weekend at the 2014 USA Cycling Elite BMX National Championships and the 2014 UCI North American Continental BMX Championships.  Racing gets underway at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., on Saturday with the national championships and continues on Sunday for the continental championships.

Both competitions begin at 11 a.m. Pacific time each day on the Beijing track at the Olympic Training Center, a replica of the supercross track used at the 2008 Olympic Games. Saturday’s national championship will feature the best American riders competing for a Stars-and-Stripes jersey, while Sunday’s racing will include top supercross BMXers from throughout North America vying for the gold medal along with valuable UCI points.

Riders to Watch

Three-time national champion Alise Post (Saint Cloud, Minn./Redline Bicycles) is the one to beat in the elite women’s race. Among those trying to dethrone her will be fellow 2012 Olympian Brooke Crain (Visalia, Calif./Haro Bicycles) and two-time junior time trial and supercross world champion Felicia Stancil (Lake Villa, IL/Factory GT Bicycles), who moved up to the elite class this year.

Nic Long (Lakeside, Calif./Haro Bikes) returns to defend his 2013 elite men’s Stars-and-Stripes jersey, but 2013 elite men’s time trial world champion Connor Fields (Henderson, Nev./Chase BMX) will be attempting to take back the title he claimed in 2012. Another rider poised to ascend the podium is Nick Koehler (Tustin, Calif./Crupi), the 2012 junior men’s national champion.

With last year’s winner Maliek Byndloss (Cape Coral, Fla./Factory Ssquared) changing his national federation to Jamaica, the junior elite men’s title is up for grabs.  2013 runner-up Aldon Volle (Penryn, Calif./ Dan's Comp/Rift Bicycles) will be aiming to climb one more step on the podium. He’ll be squaring off against 2013 junior supercross world champ Sean Gaian (Santee, Calif./Factory GT), Cole Tesar (Huntersville, N.C./ FBN Plastics/C-yaa Frames/Monster Army/Profile) and Collin Hudson (Longmont, Colo./Redline Bicycles), a five-time amateur world champion who will make his debut in the junior elite category this year. In the junior elite women’s race, Shealen Reno (Plano, Texas/Hyper Bicycles) will look to claim her second championship in a row.

Admission and parking at the Olympic Training Center is free. Attendees can park in the Visitor Center parking lot and follow the signage to walk to the Beijing supercross track.

For updated news, photo gallery, results and more, visit the 2014 USA Cycling Elite BMX National Championships page. You can also follow the event on Twitter using the hashtag #BMXNats.