Colorado Springs, Colo. - Seven riders are set to compete on the USA Cycling National Team at the 2019 Amgen Tour of California. Made up of a composite team of the nation’s top up-and-coming riders from U.S. development and continental teams, giving young riders like the reigning U23 Road Race National Champion, Alex Hoehn the experience of riding in a World Tour race.
“This is a great development opportunity for our riders, and to be able to experience this caliber of racing on U.S. soil is unbeatable,” said Michael Sayers, Team Director, “With several of our riders coming off strong performances at the Tour of the Gila we are looking forward to seeing how the opportunity to ride against the best in the world will further develop our riders.”
Last weekend at the Tour of the Gila, a final race before heading to the Amgen Tour of California, six of the seven USA Cycling National Team riders competed for their trade teams. Alex Hoehn and Tyler Stites finished 2nd and 3rd in the Overall General Classification, while Michael Hernandez captured the Sprinters Jersey.
“The Amgen Tour of California is a race that is on every American cyclist’s bucket list,” said Michael Creed, Assistant Team Director, “This year’s course will be extremely challenging, we are confident that our riders are in great form to represent their country and inspire the next generation of U.S cyclists.”
USA Cycling Amgen Tour of California Team:
Alex Hoehn (Lenexa, Kan.; Aevolo)
Keegan Swirbul (Carbondale, Colo.; Floyd’s Pro Cycling)
Michael Hernandez (Clermont, Fla.; Aevolo)
Miguel Bryon (Miami, Fla.; Arapahoe/Hincapie)
Sam Boardman (Encinitas, Calif.; Wildlife Generation)
Travis McCabe (Denver, Colo.; Floyd’s Cyling)
Tyler Stites (Tuscon, Ariz.; Aevolo)
Reserves
Tanner Putt (Park City, Utah; Arapahoe/Hincapie)
Brendan Rhim (Greenville, S.C.; Arapahoe/Hincapie)
Support Staff:
Michael Sayers- Director Sportif
Michael Creed- Director Sportif 2
The team will be directed by Michael Sayers and Michael Creed. Sayers is a two-time member of the US World Championship Team (2002, 2003) and raced professionally for more than 14 years. He has been the Sport Director for BMC Racing Team, the USA Elite World Championship Team and the USA Elite Olympic Road Team. Creed is the current director for UCI Continental U23 development team, Aevolo. He was the sports director of Team SmartStop in the 2014 and 2015 seasons before being appointed head coach of USA Paralympics' paracycling program in November 2015.
The 2019 Amgen Tour of California starts on May 12 in Sacramento and finishes May 18 in Pasadena. Throughout the seven day stage race, riders will traverse California on highways, coastlines and mountain roads. This year’s course features over 68,000 feet of elevation gain and an iconic Mt. Baldy summit finish on Stage 6. This is the first time USA Cycling will be fielding a men’s team since the inaugural Tour of California.
This year’s National Team presence at the Tour of California was made possible with the additional support of JustBARE Chicken and VolvoUSA.
Visit USACycling.org for more information on the athletes, events and membership programs, and follow @USACycling across all channels for the latest on Team USA. For more information on the 2019 Tour of California, visit: https://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/
For more information, please contact Kelly Fox at apalermo@usacycling.org or Guillermo Rojas at grojas@usacycling.org.
