Collegiate Cycling Nationals

The 2015 USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships are being held in hilly, hot and humid Asheville, North Carolina over May 8-10. The weekend consisted of a road race on Friday, on the grueling roads through the foothills of the Great Smoky mountains; the races ranged in length from 79 kilometers for the women racers to 118 kilometers for the men. The criterium race was held on Saturday, described by most riders as a circuit hill race rather than a true criterium course. (Of the 170 Division 1 men starting the criterium race, only 30 finished). Sunday will feature the team time trial and the individual time trial races, said to be held on a much flatter route, to the relief of the sprinters and to the dismay of the climbers.

Collegiate cycling is governed by USA Cycling, rather than the NCAA. Riders must be enrolled as full time undergraduate or graduate students. Top cyclists from eleven regions compete for the big honors, including many riders supported by college scholarships and professional sponsorships. The fields are separated into Division 1 and Division 2 schools, based on the size and the performance of their collegiate teams. Local Midwest teams represented at the Nationals include University of Minnesota Duluth and University of Wisconsin, Madision.