Carolina Cycling News attended the Greenville Hospital System US Pro Cycling Championships press conference held at the Hincapie Sportswear World Headquarters in Greenville, South Carolina. The Greenville Hospital System USA Cycling Professional Championships will return to Greenville for the sixth consecutive year and move to Memorial Day Weekend, May 28-30, 2011. The Time Trial presented by Duke Energy will be held on Saturday, May 28, 2011. The Individual Time Trial Course will be hosted at CU-ICAR. Cyclists will compete against the clock on a 6.9 mile course (completed 3 times). The Road Race presented by TD Bank will be held on Monday, May 30, 2011. The Road Race Championship course covers 112 miles, starting and finishing in downtown Greenville. Cyclists will also race over Paris Mountain four times. Greenville has secured the US Pro road race and time trial championships until 2012. At that point it will again go out to bid.

2010 National Road Race Champion, Ben King was present at the press conference where he unveiled the 2011 Team RadioShack kit. King will be racing for Team RadioShack for the 2011 racing season. As a member of Trek/Livestrong’s U23 team, King made history when he soloed away to win the 2010 road race. King said, “I was trying to find all the motivation to keep going. It doesn’t seem like it was worth it when you are hurting that bad but Lim kept yelling, ‘You are making history, this is huge’.” King’s reign as national champion will be cut short as the national championships are moved to May to align with the majority of countries’ national championships which are held in that month.

Licensed by USA Cycling, Inc. (Colorado Springs, CO) and organized by Medalist Sports, the event is supported by its partners which include Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS), Title Sponsor; TD Bank, Presenting Sponsor of the Road Race Championships; Duke Energy, Presenting Sponsor of the Individual Time Trial Championships; GE Energy; Hincapie Sportswear; Yakima Products; the City of Greenville; Greenville County and in partnership with the Palmetto Peloton Project and the US Handcycling Federation, the Championships are expected to draw tens of thousands of spectators from around the country to Greenville over the course of the event weekend.