Former pro cyclist George Hincapie talks to the bikers before the start of the 26th Annual 3 State 3 Mountain Challenge, presented by Village Volkswagon of Chattanooga and The Chattanooga Bicycle Club. The race featured 100, 83 and 67-mile routes.The USA Cycling Professional National Championships have attracted some of the sport’s most famous – and at times infamous – competitors since it began in 1985. Here’s a look at some of the more notable past road race and time trial national champions.
Men
Eric Heiden (1985): After winning five gold medals in speed skating at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, Heiden took up cycling and won the road race at the first-ever USC Cycling pro championships in Philadelphia. He also took part in the 1986 Tour de France as a member of the 7-Eleven Cycling Team.
Davis Phinney (1991): Phinney was the second American ever to win a stage at the Tour de France in 1986 and won bronze at the 1984 Olympics in the team time trial event before earning the U.S. road race championship. He is married to Connie Carpenter-Phinney, an Olympic gold-medal winning cyclist and former U.S. women’s road race champion. Their son, Taylor, won the U.S. time trial championship in 2010.
Lance Armstrong (1993): After winning the road race national title as a 21-year-old, Armstrong nearly lost his life in a battle with testicular cancer. He recovered, and went on to become one of the most well-known cyclist in the United States, winning the Tour de France seven times before being stripped of those wins last year after admitting to using performance-enhancing drugs.
David Zabriskie (2004, 2006-09, 2011-12): Zabriskie owns the time trial competition at the U.S. pro championships, winning the event seven times in the past decade. He is expected to be here Saturday looking to defend his 2012 title after competing at the Tour of California this month. Zabriskie served a six-month ban that ended in March of this year after admitting to his use of performance-enhancing drugs during his time as a member of the U.S. Postal Cycling Team.