US domestic racing rolls out of hybernation this week with the Redlands Bicycle Classic and the start of USA Cycling's 2015 National Racing Calendar. The men's and women's NRC individual and team classifications will be decided over seven events throughout the season, beginning with the five-stage California race that starts on Wednesday.
The biggest change for the NRC this year is the loss of the Cascade Cycling Classic after the Oregon stage race's organizers chose to forgo NRC status for 2015. Cascade's absence from the national calendar means the women's series will conclude at the North Star Grand Prix in June, while the men's series once again ends in September at the Reading 120, the re-branded name for the UCI race formerly known as the Thompson Bucks County Classic. Along the way, the series will visit the familiar stops in Arkansas, New Mexico, California, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Minnesota.
With the UCI Road World Championships taking place in Richmond, Virginia in September – the first time in nearly 30 years that the elite rainbow jerseys will be decided in the US – the domestic racing scene is flush with UCI-registered teams hoping to benefit. Eleven men's Continental teams are registered in the US this year, while six US women's teams are racing at the UCI level.
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Stephens returns with Tibco to defend 2014 title
Although Specialized-Lululemon became Velocio-SRAM and registered in Germany this year, several other teams stepped up to the UCI level to increase the ranks. New US UCI teams BMW-Happy Tooth, Pepper Palace-Happy Tooth and Twenty16-Sho Air join Tibco-SVB, Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies and UnitedHealthcare at the women's professional level.
Tibco's Lauren Stephens, the 2014 NRC individual rankings winner, will return with her team to defend the title this year. Last season's runner-up Mara Abbott's offseason move from UnitedHealthcare to Wiggle Honda means the talented climber will race mostly in Europe this year, opening up at least one podium spot for a new rider.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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