The 2009 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships are ready to roll at the SolVista Basin in Granby, Colo. July 16-19. Over 1,200 professional and amateur off-road riders, including a very strong contingent of more than 400 junior racers, will compete on the world-class terrain of the SolVista Bike Park for Stars-and-Stripes jerseys in cross-country, short track, super D, single speed, mountain cross and downhill contests.

The Yankee Clipper at Windham Mountain, set for August 15 in Windham, N.Y. will mark the 2009 finale of the USA Cycling Professional Cross Country Tour (Pro XCT) presented by Sho-air. Due to logistical concerns, the Pro XCT Finals, scheduled for September 26 in Las Vegas, Nevada have been cancelled, making the Windham Mountain event the final race of the 2009 series.

The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup is set to return to the U.S. next year for the first time since 2005 as Windham Mountain Resort in New York has been chosen to host the series finale August 28-29, 2010. After successfully hosting a 2008 national calendar event, Windham Mountain resort hosts a UCI Category 1 event his year as the sixth stop on the 2009 USA Cycling Pro Cross Country and Gravity Mountain Bike Tours.

USA Cycling is pleased to announce a unique opportunity for six junior riders to compete with full support in a U.S. Cup Mountain Bike Race Series event as part of the USA Cycling Development Camp andldquo;All Star Team.andrdquo; Four males and two females will be hand-picked from USA Cyclingandrsquo;s Regional Mountain Bike Development Camps to compete at the USA Cyclig Pro XCT presented by Sho-air #5 in Mount Snow, Vermont this August.

The UCI 2010 mountain bike inscription period is now open with a deadline of July 3, 2009. All inscriptions are submitted to the UCI through national federations, therefore the completed forms need to be submitted to USA Cycling by Monday, June 22, 2009. The 2010 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Calendar (MBNC) application period has also been bumped up to an earlier date this year to coincide with the UCI inscription period.

The USA Cycling National Gravity Calendar will kick off Feb. 13-15 with the 4th Annual Mob N Mojave Mountain Bike Race Festival in Boulder City, Nevada. The eventandrsquo;s pro downhill race will offer the first set of points toward the USA Cycling National Gravity Calendar whose winners are recognized by the mountain bike community as the best Gravity riders on American soil.

USA Cycling announced today that it will hold the 2009 24-Hour Mountain Bike National Championship at the 24-Hours of Moab in Moab, Utah on Oct. 10-11, 2009. The 2010 USA Cycling 24-Hour Mountain Bike National Championship will then be held in conjunction with the 24-Hours of Big Bear in Hazelton, W.Va., June 12-13, 2010. Previously held in conjunction with the 24-Hours of 9 Mile in Wisconsin, the event will now be run through Granny Gear Productions for the next two years.

The 2009 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Gravity Calendar began on Feb. 15 with Dan Atherton and Jacqueline Harmony earning wins in the first event, the pro downhill race at the Mob N Mojave on February 15 in Boulder City, Nevada. The pair leads the standings with one of eight events completed. The next event on the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Gravity Calendar is the Fluidride Cup in Port Angeles, Wash., May 1-3.

As a part of its mountain development program, USA Cycling will be hosting a series of European development camps in the spring/summer of 2009. The U23 and junior cross-country camps will be based in Kirchzarten, Germany, each running for a three-week period. All interested parties must complete and return petitions for one of the three camps to USA Cycling National Mountain Bike Development Director Marc Gullickson no later than April 1.

USA Cycling announced today the creation of a new professional gravity mountain bike series designed to recognize the top gravity racers in America. The USA Cycling Pro Mountain Bike Gravity Tour (ProGRT) will consist of five events, including three UCI-sanctioned races, throughout the United States. Together, these races will provide world-class athletes with a consistent stage to showcase their downhill and 4-Cross skills.