US Team pursuit champion is competing on the road with Twenty16-RideBiker, but the Rio track awaits
Sarah Hammer (L), Jennifer Valente (2nd L), Ruth Winder (C), Chloe Dygert (2nd R) and Kelly Catlin (R) of USA celebrate their gold medal after winning the Women's Team Pursuit Final
Chloe Dygert (Twenty16-RideBiker) has accomplished a lot in cycling for a 19-year-old. The Pacific Northwest rider already has three world championships to her name: the 2015 junior road race and time trial titles and the 2016 elite team pursuit gold, and she's recently been named to the US Olympic track team that will compete in Rio.
But even for a proven winner like Dygert, dabbling in double disciplines can be a monumental task.
"I think it's more mental than anything," she told Cyclingnews this week while competing at the Redlands Bicycle Classic.
"I'm not quite yet adapting to road and track yet, so for me it's really hard to go to the track and be good at the track and then go to the road and be good at the road. So hopefully in time I'll adapt better and things will be easier."
Since winning the elite team pursuit title in January, Dygert has been focused on the road with Twenty16-RideBiker, the UCI team of two-time Olympic time trial champion Kristin Armstrong.
It's a good place for an aspiring Olympian to learn, and Dygert has been soaking up as much as she can from her 42-year-old teammate. But her goals on the road in her first season at the elite level are relatively modest for a three-time and reigning world champion.
"I just want to be the best teammate I can be to get whoever else we need a GC win or a stage win," she said.
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The only downside of winning a world championship as an 18-year-old junior is that Dygert doesn't get the opportunity to wear her road rainbow stripes in races. But Dygert said it's not really all that disappointing.
"I mean it is juniors, and it's a big deal for winning juniors and stuff, but I guess when you're at that level as a junior, the next biggest thing is to be the elite world champs, so that's my next goal, and it's not that much of a disappointment to not get to wear it this year."
Growing up in Missoula, Montana, Pat competed in his first bike race in 1985 at Flathead Lake. He studied English and journalism at the University of Oregon and has covered North American cycling extensively since 2009, as well as racing and teams in Europe and South America. Pat currently lives in the US outside of Portland, Oregon, with his imaginary dog Rusty.
