USA Cycling launches the Athlete Development Pathway
This article originally appeared on Velo News
On Tuesday afternoon, USA Cycling announced a revamping of its athlete development pipeline. Now called the Athlete Development Pathway (ADP), the pipeline will include four crucial steps in a young athlete’s development.
According to the governing body, the Athlete Development Pathway is designed to unite four different development opportunities into a cohesive pathway that will ultimately enable athletes to reach the National Team level.
Young athletes at any level can enter the path at any time during their racing career. Each level is designed to provide the most pertinent education and development opportunities for an athlete to be best equipped to further their career to the next level.
"After running successful pilot programs like the Olympic Development Academy, we knew there was a need for race-support programs, but there also needed to be more steps in the pathway," said Alec Pasqualina, director of the Athlete Development Pathway.
"We have seen a huge success with regional camps in the past, but those had been on pause since the COVID pandemic. We are excited to bring back a full schedule for road, mountain bike, and cyclocross as well as day camps and a new digital talent identification tool."
USAC’s Athlete Development Pathway includes the following four pillars:
Day camps - USA Cycling will hold day camps in conjunction with popular local junior events to provide basic coaching and education for athletes and parents about development and race opportunities. Coming Fall 2023.
Talent identifier - This is power profile submission tool to help identify upcoming cycling talent nationwide. Athletes can connect their TrainingPeaks athlete account to USAC’s Talent ID coach account to be discovered by USA Cycling. Coming Spring 2023, available to ages 15-30.
Regional camps - Regional camps are a crucial step within the development pathway and are accessible and attainable to all athletes. Aspiring junior cyclists can join a regional camp to improve their skills, receive the same coaching as elite athletes, and be identified for further race opportunities with USA Cycling. Registration is now open for mountain bike and road camps.
European Race Camps - The European race camp will give athletes an opportunity to learn hands-on in Europe, the epicenter of cycling. Athletes will train under the guidance of top coaches and experience iconic races and courses. Athletes will be immersed in complete education sessions in strength training, skills, nutrition, tactics, sports psychology, and more. Registration is now open for mountain bike and road camps.
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