USA Cycling Announces 2000 Olympic Long Team

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Jan. 10, 2000) - USA Cycling, the national governing body for the sport of cycling in the United States, announced its 2000 Olympic Long Team Monday. The Olympic Long Team is comprised of athletes who have met the respective disciplines' qualifying procedures. More athletes can be added to the 2000 Olympic Long Team by meeting certain qualifying criteria.

"This outstanding group of athletes has taken a big step towards competing at the Olympic Games in September. There are still opportunities in 2000 for other athletes to be nominated to the Olympic Long Team and we expect to see some more names added to this prestigious group. We will be able to only take 26 athletes for 40 possible start positions at the Olympic Games so final nomination is going to be difficult," said Sean Petty, USA Cycling Director of Athlete Performance.

USA Cycling qualified 26 of a possible 28 athlete spots for 40 (out of a possible 43) start positions.

The road cycling squad is comprised of 11 cyclists, including 1999 Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong (Austin, Texas). Armstrong finished the 1999 campaign ranked seventh in the world and became just the second American to win the Tour de France. U.S. Postal Service teammates George Hincapie (Charlotte, N.C.), Tyler Hamilton (Boulder, Colo.), Dylan Casey (Mountain View, Calif.) and Marty Jemison (Park City, Utah) also qualified for the long team.

Former U.S. Postal member Jonathan Vaughters (Boulder, Colo.), who will ride for French team Credit Agricole in 2000, and Chann McRae (Austin, Texas) of the Mapei team, who placed fifth at the World Championships in the road race and fifth in the individual time trial during the Tour of Spain, also earned spots on the long team.

Hincapie won the First Union Classic, placed fourth at Paris-Roubaix and recorded four top-10 World Cup finishes. He finished the year ranked 10th in the World Cup rankings. Hamilton won the Tour of Denmark and placed 13th at the Tour de France. Casey placed third at the Tour of Holland. Jemison was the top U.S. rider at the First Union USPRO Championships (fifth), and Vaughters won the Route de Sud (France) and an individual time trial stage in that event.

Armstrong, Hamilton, McRae and Vaughters qualified for the road race and individual time trial, while Casey, Hincapie and Jemison qualified in the road race.