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Domestic road explainer:

Frequent questions about the U.S. road schedule

The new issue of VeloNews, on sale today, features a run-down of the top domestic road teams.

For domestic road racers, the road to the top is a long one.

USA Cycling's National Racing Calendar includes 35 events across 23 states, stretching from the Amgen Women's Criterium, held during the Tour of California in February, through to the Priority Health Grand Cycling Classic in September in Michigan.

The men's series starts this week with the Redlands Bicycle Classic in California. The womens series began with the Amgen Womens Criterium.

The NRC's combination of stage races and one-day races determines the best overall domestic rider, said Tim Johnson, captain of the Health Net-Maxxis team, which has won the NRC team competition four years running.

"The winner of the NRC (individual title) is someone who is the most consistent at scoring points in stage races with time trials and climbing and in one-day races," Johnson said. "There's been a move on some of the domestic teams toward having specialized riders, but it's the all-around riders like Rory (2007 NRC champ Rory Sutherland of Health Net) or Scott Moninger who can show their stuff every week who end up winning."

While the NRC determines the best domestic teams and riders, the newer USA Cycling Professional Tour gives a select few of the domestic teams an opportunity to go head to head with the top international teams.

VeloNews.com is committed to bringing readers complete coverage of all the NRC and Professional Tour events, for men and women, in 2008.

And for a complete rundown of the domestic road scene, its top teams, top riders and top races, check out the lastest issue of VeloNews, on sale April 1.

In the meantime, scroll down to review the NRC and Professional Tour schedules and answers to a few Frequently Asked Questions about the two series, courtesy of USA Cycling's Andy Lee.

VeloNews: What is the NRC? Is there a series prize list?

Andy Lee:The National Racing Calendar is a collection of the most prestigious men's and women's events in the United States open to professional and amateur teams alike. In 2008, the Calendar features 35 races — 31 of which include women's racing and 28 of which include men's. The season-long calendar awards four champions at the end of the year — men's and women's individual and men's and women's team. It also features all types of road racing — criteriums, road races, stage races, circuit races, time trials and omniums.

There is no overall prize list, but collectively, the events on the NRC offer a total of $1.2 million in prize money — $688,000 for men and $523,000 for women. Overall winners are considered the top domestic cyclists and/or teams in the United States.

VN: How long has the NRC been held?

AL:2008 will mark the 12th year of the NRC.

VN: What is the difference between the NRC and the USA Cycling Professional
Tour?

AL:The USA Cycling Pro Tour consists of all UCI-sanctioned races in the United States, plus the three USA Cycling Professional National Championships (Criterium, Time Trial & Road Race). As both the NRC and cycling as a competitive sport in the United States grew, the demand to be on the NRC became overwhelming. Beginning in 2007, we made the decision to separate the international-caliber events from the national-level events and create two separate Calendars — both of which cater to a unique set of competitors.

The USA Cycling Pro Tour is only open to UCI-registered trade teams and athletes. Ultimately, it was created to recognize the significant growth of international competition in the U.S. and to spotlight the events which have made the commitment to host world-class, UCI-santioned events. As the number of both UCI events and UCI-registered trade teams in the U.S. grew, the need for a season-long professional series became apparent.

VN: Is the Professional Tour related to the UCI ProTour?

AL:No, the only UCI Calendar you could relate it to would be the UCI America Tour, but without the races in Canada, Mexico and Central and South America. The 12 UCI events in the U.S. this season are a part of the UCI America Tour.

VN: Why are the national championships not part of the NRC this year?

AL:Primarily because having Nationals be part of the NRC provides an unfair advantage to a team with a greater number of Americans on its roster.

VN:How do you determine which events are part of the NRC?

AL:There are several factors which are looked at throughout the bid process. In order to keep the desired level of prestige for the series, and to create a calendar that is manageable for teams to compete in enough events in order to factor into the overall rankings, we try and keep the calendar to between 35-40 events annually.

Key components considered for inclusion on the Calendar include an event's history (past winners, number of years in existence, consistent sponsorship and community support), the overall quality of race-day operations (timing, results, registration, course safety), submission of results to USA Cycling in a timely manner following the completion of the event, prize list, media coverage, dates and locations, selectivity and difficulty of the courses and the consistent use of USA Cycling and NRC branding. Bids are evaluated and ranked according to their overall bid based on all criteria.

The 2008 USA Cycling Professional Tour

The 2008 National Racing Calendar

* Women Only
** Men Only