USA Cycling announced, yesterday, the elite teams that will represent the United States at the 2006 UCI Road World Championships from September 19-24 in Salzburg, Austria.
In the elite men's division, nine riders will compete in the road race and will field a team consisting of six UCI ProTour veterans and three domestic-based pros. ProTour riders Chris Horner (Davitamon-Lotto) Fred Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto), Christian VandeVelde (CSC), Tyler Farrar (Cofidis), Patrick McCarty (Phonak), and Guido Trenti (Quickstep-Innergetic) join U.S.-based riders Jackson Stewart (Calif), Danny Pate (TIAA-CREF) and Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United).
US Time Trial Champion David Zabriskie (CSC) and Baldwin were also selected to compete in the men's time trial.
All UCI ProTour riders were automatic selections to the team by virtue of their spots on UCI ProTour teams. Stewart was an automatic selection as the highest-ranked American in the UCI America Tour standings. Baldwin was the sole discretionary selection for both the road race and time trial.
The elite women's squad will consist of Amber Neben (Buitenpoort Flexpoint), Kristin Armstrong (Lipton), Tina Pic (Colviata Cooking Light), Christine Thorburn (Webcor Platinum), Kim Anderson (T-Mobile) and Kimberly Bruckner (T-Mobile).
Neben earned an automatic selection for the time trial based on her win at the Pan American Championships earlier this year. She was also an automatic selection for the road race as the highest-ranked American in the world.
Armstrong was also an automatic selection for both the road race and the time trial. Her win in the road race at the 2006 USA Cycling National Festival at Seven Springs earned her a nomination for the road race while her bronze-medal performance in the time trial at last year's world championships secured her spot in that event this year.
Pic was an automatic selection for the road race based on her two top-five finishes in UCI World Cup races this season.
US world's teams
Elite men time trial: Chris Baldwin, David Zabriskie
Elite men road race: Chris Baldwin, Chris Horner, Tyler Farrar, Patrick McCarty, Danny Pate, Fred Rodriguez, Jackson Stewart, Guido Trenti, Christian VandeVelde.
Elite women road race: Kim Anderson, Kristin Armstrong, Kimberly Baldwin, Amber Neben, Tina Pic, Christine Thorburn.
Elite women time trial: Kristin Armstrong, Amber Neben, Christine Thorburn.
