For the third year in a row, I find myself in Izegem, Belgium racing my bike with the US National Team.  For those of you who don't know, Izegem is the home base of the US Under-23 National team.  Belgium is one of the heartlands of bicycle racing and here some of our country's most talented young racers learn the craft of cycle racing in hopes of becoming professionals.

I've been in Europe for 3 weeks so far and spent time in Belgium, Luxembourg and France.  The racing has gone ok, but not stellar.  I had a pretty good day at a brutal 160k crosswind race in France, and have finished some hard Belgian 1-day races.  However, so far, most of the trip has been about reminding myself how to ride in a European peleton and learning how to ride flat, windy, technical races.  For a skinny climber type, these races are far and away my weakest point.  I can tell a huge difference from last year, when I struggeld just to finish (it's worth mentioning that usually no more than half the starters make it to the finish of these races, and often much less than that).  I'm not getting any stellar results, but if my improvement in these races translates over to the hillier races, then I should have the oppurtunity for some good placings soon.

In a little over a week I head to Spain to race the Vuelta Tarragona, a 5 day stage race.  The race is very hilly and the last day has an uphill time trial and I'm hoping to have good results there.  Also, I'll be reunited with my teammate Chris Butler at that race.  Chris is also a National team member and in Europe racing very well at the Ronde de l'isard in France.  Unfortunately we've been on different schedules so I haven't seen him since we've been in Europe.

It’s a big month for the Hincapie Development Team.  Not only are the guys and gals riding well, but they are celebrating a major step in their life…High School Graduation.  Congratulations to High School Graduates Stradford Helms, AJ Meyer, Ty Magner, Tyler Karnes and Cinthia Lehner.  As a mentor on the team, I take pride in helping these young riders develop as bicycle racers.  In the process of helping them learn about the sport, we spend time with these talented young adults on and off the bike.  We’ve always said that this team and the experience it provides is more than just riding a bike.  These high school grads prove that point.  I’m proud of all of them.

We try to teach them solid principals that they can take with them from team to team, job to job, relationship to relationship.  Strad seems to be really grasping on to the concept of branding.  He understands that he is a representative of his sponsors and he demonstrated that fact during his graduation.  He was sporting a Scott T-shirt and Hincapie Socks underneath his pretty blue robe!

Way to go Strad!  I think I wore shorts under my gowns at High School and College Graduations.  Maybe I’ll have to dig out some of those old pictures to share.  Now, I wonder what the rest of you were wearing under your robe at graduation???

I just received a link to the last 2 laps of AJ's Gorgia State Championship victory.  Watch his amazing kick with 100 meters to go!  You can't hide speed...ha ha.  After seeing this, you won't ever question how he can spin those junior bicycle gears at 180 RPM in a Pro, 1, 2 sprint.

http://ga.milesplit.us/videos?id=6906

I just talked to Carpenter and we want to let everyone know that fastman, AJ Meyer is now the GA State Mile Champion!  Ale-Jet smoked the competition with an impressive 4:27 mile last night at the state championship track meet.  He’s been working his way towards this goal for a while and he ran his fastest time ever for the win.  Way to go AJ.  We’re all very proud of you.

AJ, We might have to change your nickname to V8, after the legendary Chevy 427 V8 engine that has powered all those awesome muscle cars since the late 60’s.  I’m sure you’re tired today after staying up late signing autographs and kissing babies.  I can’t wait until you use all that runner speed to inflict damage on the peloton!  Nice job.

We are very excited to tell you that Hincapie Development Team Riders, Chris Butler and Christian Parrett are guest riding with the Metro Volkswagen Cycling Team at the Redlands Bicycle Classic, March 26-29.  Butler and Parrett have both shown great promise as future stars in our sport, and they are very excited to have the opportunity to do this NRC race.  Log on to http://www.redlandsclassic.com/ to follow along with the action as they compete against some of the top racers in the US.

The Hincapie Development Team has been committed to helping young riders learn and grow in the sport of cycling.  Many of our team members have taken tours in Europe with the US National Team.  All the team members are riding like champions this spring and we’re very proud of them all.  We are very pleased that Butler and Parrett are getting this chance in Redlands to shine on the national level.  Thank you to Metro Volkswagen for the opportunity.  Good luck to all the guys in Redlands!

It was a fantastic weekend for the 2009 Hincapie Development Team. In summary, the team scored 5 wins, 3 second, 14 top 5 and 18 top 10 finishes in two different states. Half the team competed in the Georgia Cup stage race in Rome, GA, while others showed well at criteriums in Blythewood, SC.

Chris Butler showed his early season speed by winning the pro/1/2 Time Trial ahead of his new teammate, Christian Parrett in 3rd and mentor Steve Carpenter in 4th. The team continued a strong showing in a rainy crit that evening with Butler finishing 2nd, Parrett 5th, Carpenter 6th and Ty Magner in 8th. Sunday’s road race was super exciting for the team when the newly upgraded Tyler Karnes scored an impressive victory in his first pro/1/2 race! He covered an early move and stayed away to out climb his 6 breakaway companions for the victory. Butler led the field home in 7th, Parrett 8th and Carpenter 13th. That was good enough to secure most of the top 5 spots in the GC for Hincapie Devo. Butler 1st, Parrett 3rd, Carpenter 4th and Karnes 5th. The most exciting thing about the weekend results was not necessarily the actual wins themselves, but the fact that the team discussed plans and executed the plans with great success. That’s a critical factor in developing talent and these guys are showing their true potential as top level racers. Congrats to the guys on an amazing race weekend.

The Hincapie winning was not isolated to GA. Some of the team competed in some crits in SC with similar results by veterans and newcomers alike. New team members Stradford Helms and Blair Turner dominated the Cat 3 field on Saturday. Helms broke away, establishing a gap early. Turner bridged up late in the race to join his teammate in an impressive one/two finish by Hincapie Devo (Image Attached). They continued their domination on Sunday, as Turner won with a little help from Helms, who still finished 8th in the charging field.

The women had a great weekend in Blythewood as well. Cinthia Lehner showed that she’s getting stronger by the day when she took 2nd place in the women’s open race on Saturday. She got away with 4 women and managed a great finish in a very nerve-racking and rainy criterium. Angela Austin showed that she’s on track for a great season as well by scoring a victory in the women’s Cat 4 race. Congrats to the ladies on some great performances in some really epic conditions.

The 2009 Hincapie Development Team Kits are designed (see below) and should be on the road by the end of the month. We want to thank our returning sponsors and welcome the new ones for all the support. Look for more information soon about our valuable team sponsors. The list is growing, so we'll add names as we grow the team.

2009 Hincapie Development Team Sponsors:

• Hincapie Sportswear
• Hincapie Skin Defense
• Barkley
• Scott Bicycles
• Giro
• Northwave
• Oakley
• Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice
• Reynolds Investment Management
• HeadSTRONG
• Michelin
• Fizik
• LH Thomson
• Finish Line
• Palmetto Pulmonary
• KORE
• SRAM
• Patients First
• Team Kattouf
• CytoSport