Turning point

Post 2013 USA Cycling Junior Road and Track National Championship ramblings...

Junior Nationals presents a turning point to the majority of young cyclists that attend.  All across the USA, juniors are placing well in local races and dream of winning at Nationals.  Most can tell you the podium for the past three years!  Two year age-groups present a challenge when one is at the bottom of the age-group and a ripe opportunity when one is the elder of the field.  This year Nationals were hotly contested.  On the road side, the 15-16 and 17-18s need to be a category 1 (rare), 2 or 3.  Which leaves a bunch of category 4 and 5 juniors at home.  The 15-16, 17-18 fields were packed with star talent and almost 100 riders in both fields.  On the track, fifty-two 15-16 year olds were vying for one national championship over a five-event omnium.  Talk about competitive!

The results are in, each athlete receiving their placing for the road time trial, road race, criterium and omnium.  Some were pleased with their performance, some had hoped to do better.

Now we're into the "turning point"... will all of the riders that didn't win in 2013 come back even stronger in 2014, or will they give up this sport?

The rate of rider turnover in our sport is too great, which is why I'm writing this note.  I hope that Juniors are patient with their development.  Case in point - Tanner Putt (2013 U23 road race champ) and Ty Magner (2013 U23 crit champ) were not stellar Junior races... but just a few more years of consistently improving and they are at the top of their game.  All riders mature/ growth spurt differently.  Are you patient enough with yourself and your performances if your best years are still three or four years from now?  I hope so!

Larry Nolan, Team Specialized Junior Director