Carson, Calif. – (September 28, 2009) –The 2009 USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships will take place September 30 – October 4 at the Home Depot Center Velodrome in Carson, Calif. on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills.

The USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships are the National Championships for the sport and will feature more than 300 elite cyclists from across the United States – including rising stars, as well as 2012 Olympic hopefuls. The competition features both sprint events (match sprint, time trial (500m and 1km), Keirin and team sprint) and endurance races (individual pursuit, team pursuit, scratch race, points race and the Madison). Access to the five-day event featuring the USA’s best is free.

USA Cycling’s newest star, World Champion and 2008 Olympian Taylor Phinney (Boulder, Colo./Trek-Livestrong) is scheduled to compete. Phinney will be defending his individual pursuit national title and will also apply his skills in both the timed events and endurance races. A member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team, Phinney also set a new junior world record at the ADT Event Center last year.

Other riders scheduled to compete are Olympian Adam Duvendeck (Long Beach, Calif./Momentum), former Elite Criterium National Champion Daniel Holloway (Morgan Hill, Calif./Felt-Holowesko-Garmin) and Ben Jacques-Maynes (Watsonville, Calif./Bissell), many of whom began training on the track at the Home Depot Center. On the women’s side several heavy hitters are set to compete, including the recent winner of the Giro della Toscana’s sprint jersey Shelly Olds (Scotts Valley, Calif./Proman), Pan American medalist Cari Higgins (Boulder, Colo./Proman) and former pursuit world champion Sarah Hammer (Temecula, Calif./American Track Foundation).

Caption: Shelly Olds is one of more than 300 of the nation’s top track cyclists set to contest the USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships in California this week.