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Road Nationals get underway in Irvine, California, with the ITT races.

By VeloNews.com
Published: Aug. 7, 2008

Alison Powers (Colavita-Sutter Home) and Jonathan Chodroff (CRCA-Empire Cycling Team) won the national elite time trial championships in Irvine, California, on Wednesday.

Elite Women
Powers said she fulfilled a goal she set seven months ago by besting second-place finisher Mara Abbott (Team Columbia) by 1 minute, 39 seconds. Chrissy Ruiter (ValueAct Capital) came in third at 51:05.50.

"Since I found out that nationals were at the same time as the Olympics, I have wanted to win this race," an elated Powers said, referring to the absence of Olympians Kristin Armstrong , Amber Neben and Christine Thorburn — the three athletes who stood on the top three spots of the national time trial podium last year.

"Yes, the three best time trialists are in Beijing right now, but I have to take advantage of it if I can. So, since January, this has been my number one goal."

Power is one of five women who has spent the majority of the season racing with the Italian-based USA Cycling Women's National Team program throughout Europe.

Powers said the national championship course in Irvine suited her strengths. "We drove it two days ago and I liked it right away," she said. "The longer the course is, the more it works in my favor."

Elite Men
In the elite men's time trial, second-year racer, Jonathan Chodroff (CRCA-Empire Cycling Team) took the gold with a time of 44:14.80 seconds on the 33-kilometer course. Mike Olheiser (Memphis MotorWerks-Cervello) was second in 45:09.50 and Andy Jacques-Maynes (California Giant Berry Farms) turned in the third best time at 45:14.00

A former collegiate rower, Chodroff was 15th last year in the U23 men's event where he raced without any time trial gear. This year, he came in with not only the right gear, but good results, such as his win at the Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic. "I knew I always had the power and a big engine," he said. "It was just a matter of learning how to get in the right position to show that."

Stetina wins U23 Men's
Peter Stetina (Garmin-Chipotle), another racer who's spent a lot of time in Europe, but with the USA Cycling National Development Team, was crowned U23 national champion. Stetina's time was 44:27.70, a solid 1 minute, 27 seconds faster than second-placed Bobby Sweeting (TOSHIBA-Santo). Taylor Sheldon (Team Rio Grande) took third place with a time of 46:17.30.

Stetina said that, like Powers, he had been gunning for this race ever since the location was announced. "My uncle actually lives about five miles away, so whenever I want warm weather training, like in the winter, I come here," he explained. "I know all these roads, the town, and all the restaurants and all that. The only thing that could have been better was if it was in my hometown."

A strong climber, Stetina said he has been working hard all season on his time trialing skills in an effort to become a GC contender. "I've been top 10 [in time trials] all year," he explained, referring to finishes at Leige-Baston-Leige for U23's, the Redlands Bicycle Classic and the Cascade Cycling Classic, "but I haven't been able to crack the top spot, so it's about time."

Sheldon started 30 seconds before Stetina.

"He was a good rabbit to have and my goal was to catch him early, get him fast, and I knew I'd be having a good ride if I could do that. And then at the turn, I saw I had a lot of time on Nick Frey (TIME Pro Cycling) who was the defending champ, so I just put my head down to the finish. I felt really good."

The 2008 USA Cycling Junior, U23 and Elite Road National Championships continues on Thursday with the criterium competitions.

2007 USA Cycling Junior, U23 and Elite Road National Championships

Elite Women's Time Trial
1. Alison Powers (Boulder, Colo.) 49:18.94
2. Mara Abbott (Boulder, Colo.) 50:50.00
3. Chrissy Ruiter (Bend, Ore.) 51:05.50

U23 Men's Time Trial
1. Peter Stetina (Boulder, Colo.) 44:27.70
2. Bobby Sweeting (Bradenton, Fla.) 45:54.10
3. Taylor Shelden (Breckenridge, Colo.) 46:17.30

Junior Men's 17-18 Time Trial
1. Adam Leibovitz (Indianapolis, Ind.) 27:11.30
2. Ian Boswell (Bend, Ore.) 27:18.80
3. Andrew Barker (Lakewood, Colo.) 27:18.90

Junior Women's 17-18 Time Trial
1. Jerika Hutchinson (Mt. Shasta, Cali.) 31:43.40
2. Danielle Haulman (Denver, Colo.) 32:17.13
3. Cinthia Lehner (Greer, S.C.) 33:36.00

Elite Men's Time Trial
1. Jonathan Chodroff (Kennet Square, Pa.) 44:14.80
2. Mike Olheiser (Huntsville, Ala.) 45:09.50
3. Andy Jacques-Maynes (Capitola, Calif.) 45:14.00

National Champions

Junior Men's 10-12 Time Trial: Philip O'Donnell (Suwanee, Ga.)
Junior Women's 10-12 Time Trial: Laurel Rathburn (Monument, Colo.)
Junior Men's 13-14 Time Trial: John Funk (Topeka, Kan.)
Junior Women's 13-14 Time Trial: Zoe Frazier (Suwanee, Ga.)
Junior Men's 15-16 Time Trial: Lawson Craddock (Houston, Tex.)
Junior Women's 15-16 Time Trial: Coryn Rivera (Tustin, Calif.)

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