Domestic Intel: U.S. women hit Latin America; Bahati forms new team

Bahati, Hartley headline new Sharecare elite team

Rahsaan Bahati and Chad Hartley will headline the Sharecare team, a new U.S.-based elite team, in 2013, the team announced on Monday. The squad will debut on March 16 at the Cigar City Criterium in Tampa, Florida.

“Our mission is to use professional cyclists to promote bicycling for fitness, health and wellness,” said team founder Paul Weaver. “We want to encourage individuals of all ages and fitness levels to bike — as a means of transportation, for better health and just plain fun.”

Sharecare is a health and wellness social network created by Jeff Arnold and Dr. Mehmet Oz, in partnership with Harpo Productions, Sony Pictures Television, and Discovery Communications.

Sharecare 2013 roster
Marco Aledia
Rahsaan Bahati
Yosvany Falcon
Chad Hartley
Jordan Mathes
Rob White

Keough, Kirchmann lead NCC after first event

Optum Old Pueblo Grand Prix winners Luke Keough (UnitedHealthcare) and Leah Kirchmann (Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies) led the National Criterium Calendar’s season-opening rankings announced on Monday.

Men

1. Luke Keough, UnitedHealthcare, 100 points

2. Demis Aleman, Jamis-Hagens Berman, 75 points

3. Rahsaan Bahati, Bahati Foundation, 60 points

4. Hilton Clarke, UnitedHealthcare, 55 points

5. Shane Kline, SmartStop-Mountain Khakis, 50 points

Women

1. Leah Kirchmann (Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies, 100 points

2. Erica Allar, Care4Cycling-Solomon, 75 points

3. Joanie Caron, Primal-BH, 60 points

4. Lauren Hall, Optum-Kelly Benefits Strategies, 55 points

5. Cari Higgins, Exergy Twenty16, 50 points

Men’s Team

1. UnitedHealthcare, 155 points

2. Jamis-Hagens Berman, 94 points

3. Champion System-Stan’s NoTubes, 66 points

4. SmartStop-Mountain Khakis, 50 points

5. Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies, 47 points

Women’s Team
1. Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies, 172 points

2. Care4Cycling-Solomon, 129 points

3. Primal-BH, 88 points

4. Exergy Twenty16, 85 points

5. Novo Nordisk, 30 points

Optum heads to Europe

The Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies team is headed to Europe this month to take on a calendar of races that includes the Vuelta a Castilla y León and GP Miguel Indurain.

“The invitations we received in Portugal and Spain have exceeded our expectations,” said director Jonas Carney. “We have raced a lot in Western Europe in recent years, including at our first world championship team time trial last year in the Netherlands, and I know our team is incredibly motivated to compete overseas. We have lined up six noteworthy events that will suit both our sprinters and climbers. We are honored to take part in them, especially in a race as exemplary and difficult as Castilla y Leon.”

Performance manager Eric Wohlberg said the team would ride for U.S. criterium champion Ken Hanson in the sprints and will go on the attack with riders like Michael Creed, Björn Selander, and Alex Candelario.

Optum 2013 spring schedule
March 15-17: Tucson Bicycle Classic
March 17: Clássica Aveiro-Fátima
March 20-24: Volta ao Alentejo/Crédito Agricola Costa Azul
March 22-24: San Dimas Stage Race
March 30: Gran Premio Indurain
March 31: Vuelta Ciclista a La Rioja
April 4-7: Redlands Bicycle Classic
April 13: Presbyterian Hospital Invitational
April 7: Klasika Primavera de Amorebieta
April 12-14: Vuelta a Castilla y León

American women take results from Latin America

Addyson Albershardt (Pasta Zara) led a contingent of U.S. women in a run of UCI races in El Salvador earlier this month. Albershardt won stage 5 of the Vuelta el Salvador on March 3 and took home the best young rider’s prize in the seven-stage event. Former world time trial champion Amber Neben (Pasta Zara) was sixth in the Grand Prix de Oriente on February 27. Ruth Winder (Vanderkitten) was eighth in the Grand Prix GSB on March 7 and ninth in the Grand Prix el Salvador on March 8, and her Vanderkitten teammate Liza Rachetto was fifth in stage 6 of the Vuelta el Salvador.

USAC Talent ID Camp heads to the Pacific Northwest

USA Cycling will hold a Talent ID Camp at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, July 28-August 2. The camp is designed to give young riders an opportunity to learn skills from established coaches and to show themselves to USA Cycling Development Program staff.

“Riders attending this camp have a fantastic opportunity to learn from the best coaches in the area and expert staff and advisers,” said camp manager Jim Anderson. “This camp is designed to give riders a chance to improve skills, learn new training techniques and jump to that next level of their competitive cycling.”

The Washing Bicycle Racing Association is offering up to 10 $400 scholarships for camp attendees. Early registration is available until 90 days before the camp opens, for $750.

More information on the 11 road camps and two mountain bike camps for 2013 is available at www.usacycling.org.

Mountain bikers camp in Boulder

Six women’s cross-country racers gathered for a pre-season camp in Boulder, Colorado, earlier this month. Kate Courtney (Whole Athlete-Specialized), Lea Davison (Specialized Racing), Georgia Gould (Luna Chix), Ksenia Lepikhina (BMC Mountain Bike Development), Shayna Powless (BMC Mountain Bike Development), and Deidre York (The Gear Movement-Epic Pro Cycle) joined coaches Marc Gullickson, Shaums March, Tammy Donahugh, and Peter Webber for the three-day camp at the Valmont Bike Park in Boulder.