Arriving in Italy last week, the U.S. team spent the weekend competing in local events. "The races over the weekend were a great chance to get the bugs out," said Jeff Proctor, men's junior and espoir Team Manager. "They were tune-up races, nothing more. There were no expectations and no pressure, just a chance to air out the legs. Everyone is really focused right now. We have meetings every day to talk about race strategies. We have real potential in both races [junior and U23 men], and we're training smart this week." It is felt by many that the junior team has the best chance for gold, led by Saturn Development Team’s Jesse Anthony.

Equally sure of his riders, Bruce Fina, team manager for the elite men and women, says that they will give a strong performances this weekend. "We treated last week's local races as training races. We were trying a few different strategies, and I was pleased with the results. In the past, we've tried to do a couple of World Cup races before the World Championships. But this year, with the location of Monopoli, we weren't close enough to other World Cup races. It just wasn't feasible this year. So we tried a different method. And all of the athletes got out of these local races what they wanted to get out of them."

Somewhat similar to the US Nationals, held December 14th in Napa, California, the weather in Monopoli has been wet, with the forecast for this weekend promising more of the same. Nothing will dampen the spirits of this enthusiastic bunch, however.

"The weather hasn't been great, but that doesn't matter," said Proctor. "We did a two-hour training ride [Monday], and we rode to the coast. These big rollers were crashing on the shore, and the guys were standing on the rocky coastline, nearly getting knocked over by the waves. It's a great experience for these guys to be here, and I have a really good feeling about the results this weekend."

The following athletes will represent the U.S. in this weekend's World Cyclo-Cross Championships:

Elite Women:

Photo courtesy of
CyclocrossWorld.com.
Ann Grande (Des Moines, WA)
Birthdate: 12/19/68 Age: 34
Team: KONA/Kenwood Communications
Number of years racing cross: 6
2002 US National Champion

Photo courtesy of
CyclocrossWorld.com.
Carmen D’Aluisio (Watsonville, CA)
Birthdate: 2/19/67 Age: 35
Team: ClifBar
Number of years racing cross: 7
2002 US National Championships – 6th place, Elite

Photo courtesy of
CyclocrossWorld.com.
Rachel Lloyd (San Anselmo, CA)
Birthdate: 5/6/75 Age: 27
Team: Team Spine/Santa Cruz
Number of years racing cross: 9
2002 US National Championships – 2nd place, Elite

Photo courtesy of
CyclocrossWorld.com.
Gina Hall (Richmond, CA)
Birthdate: 1/1/67 Age: 36
Team: ClifBar
Number of years racing cross: 5
2002 US National Championships – 3rd place, Elite

Photo courtesy of
CyclocrossWorld.com.
Christine Vardaros (Sunnyvale, CA)
Birthdate: 7/19/69 Age: 33
Team: Sally Spicer/Mill Valley Cycleworks
Number of years racing cross: 5
2002 US National Championships – 7th place, Elite

Elite Men

Photo courtesy of
CyclocrossWorld.com.
Jonathan Page (Northfield, NH)
Birthdate: 9/16/76 Age: 26
Team: Richard Sachs
Number of years racing cross: 9
2002 US National Champion

Photo courtesy of
CyclocrossWorld.com.
Marc Gullickson (Boulder, CO)
Birthdate: 2/9/68 Age: 34
Team: CyclocrossWorld.com
Number of years racing cross: 7
Winner of the Verge New England Series
2002 US National Championships – 4th place, Elite

Photo courtesy of
CyclocrossWorld.com.
Andy Jacques-Maynes (Berkeley, CA)
Birthdate: 9/22/78 Age: 24
Team: ClifBar
Number of years racing cross: 5
2002 US National Championships – 5th place, Elite

Photo courtesy of
CyclocrossWorld.com.
Jackson Stewart (Los Gatos, CA)
Birthdate: 6/30/80 Age: 22
Team: ClifBar
Number of years racing cross: 5
2002 US National Championships – 8th place, Elite

Photo courtesy of
CyclocrossWorld.com.
Johannes Huseby (Medford, MA)
Birthdate: 6/21/75 Age: 27
Team: Independent Fabrication
Number of years racing cross: 13
2002 US National Championships – 15th place, Elite
Verge New England Series – 3rd place

U23 Men

Adam Craig (Corinth, MN)
Birthdate: 8/15/81Age: 21
Team: Giant/Pearl Izumi
Number of years racing cross: 2
2002 US National Champion, U23
Verge New England Series – 5th place Elite

Josh Anthony (Beverly, MA)
Birthdate: 11/6/82 Age: 20
Team: CyclocrossWorld.com
Number of years racing cross: 5
Verge New England Series – 4th place Elite

Barry Wicks (Portland, OR)
Birthdate: 11/15/81 Age: 21
Team: 11/15/81
Number of years racing cross: 4
2002 US National CX Championships – 2nd place, U23

Ryan Trebon (Ft. Bragg, NC)
Birthdate: 3/5/81 Age: 21
Team: Krystals
Number of years racing cross: 1
2002 US National Championships – 3rd place, U23

Alan Obye (Mendon, VT)
Birthdate: 12/1/82 Age: 20
Team: Balance Bar/Devo
Number of years racing cross: 5
2002 US National Championships – 4th place, U23

Junior Men

Jesse Anthony (Beverly, MA)
Birthdate: 6/12/85 Age: 17
Team: Hot Tubes Cycling Team
Number of years racing cross: 5
2002 US National Champion, Juniors

Konrad Lebas (Ansonia, CT)
Birthdate: 11/3/86 Age: 16
Team: CCB/Volkswagen
Number of years racing cross: 6
2002 US National Championships – 9th place, Juniors

Zak Grabowski (Lafayette, CO)
Birthdate: 2/26/85 Age: 18
Team: Saturn Development
Number of years racing cross: 3
2002 US National Championships – 3rd place, Juniors

David Fleischauer (Olympia, WA)
Birthdate: 9/5/85 Age: 17
Team: Rad Racing NW
Number of years racing cross: 3
2002 US National Championships – 7th place, Juniors

Steve Cozza (Petaluma, CA)
Birthdate: 3/3/85 Age: 17
Team: Swift
Number of years racing cross: 2
2002 US National Championships – 4th place, Juniors

Information thanks to:
CyclocrossWorld.com
USA Cycling