Zabriskie Claims Bronze in World Championship Time Trial

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The United States added a second medal to its overall tally at the 2008 UCI Road World Championships when David Zabriskie (Salt Lake City, Utah) finished third in the elite men's time trial on Thursday.  Zabriskie finished 52 seconds off the pace of world champion Bert Grabsch of Germany and 10 seconds behind silver medalist Svein Tuft of Canada to add a bronze medal to the gold Amber Neben (Irvine, Calif.) won in the women's race on Wednesday.

With his medal-winning performance on Thursday, Zabriskie joins Greg LeMond as the only American to win multiple men's individual world championship medals in U.S. road cycling history.  Two years ago in Salzburg, Zabriskie claimed the silver medal, also in the time trial, and remains the only American to win a medal in the event.

One of the pre-race favorites to contend for a win, Olympic bronze medalist Levi Leipheimer (Santa Rosa, Calif.) finished fourth, 13 seconds back from Zabriskie.

Zabriskie recovered from a slow start that had him running 13th after the first intermediate time check, later crossing the finish line with a final time of 52 minutes, 53.87 seconds over the 43.7-kilometer course. After missing much of the season because of a broken vertebra suffered in a crash at the Giro d'Italia last May, Zabriskie's bronze-medal performance capped off an otherwise difficult season.

"I'm satisfied," Zabriskie admitted afterwards.  "It's always nice to do better, but considering the season I've had, I'm happy. It's been a difficult year. Coming back from the crash was difficult."

Since his first race back from injury - a 12th place finish at the Olympic Games - Zabriskie has regained the form that's earned him a reputation as one of the United States' best athletes in the race against the clock. A third consecutive USA Cycling pro time trial title in August and a top-five finish in the time trial stage at the Tour of Missouri was proof enough that he would be a contender at world's.

"I had expectations of doing well," continued Zabriskie.  "Compared to Beijing, I had a few more races in my legs. To get third is pretty good."

After winning the bronze medal in Beijing and both time trial stages of the Vuelta a Espana, Leipheimer entered as the heavy favorite on paper, but like his teammate, got off to a slow start.  After the first time check he was a surprising 16th, but battled back into medal contention.  After running 11th at the race's midway point, he crossed the third intermediate split in fifth.  But over the course's final 11 kilometers, Leipheimer could only find enough seconds to move into fourth, 1:05.42 off Grabsch's winning mark of 52:01.60.

Leipheimer will next lead an otherwise young team in the elite men's road race scheduled for Sunday. Racing alongside Leipheimer on the U.S. squad will be Steven Cozza (Petaluma, Calif.), Lucas Euser (Napa, Calif.), Tyler Farrar (Wenatchee, Wash.), Craig Lewis (Spartanburg, S.C.) and Zabriskie.

The 2008 UCI Road World Championships continue on Friday with the U23 men's road race.  Americans featured include Chris Barton (Ojai, Calif.), Chad Beyer (Anthem, Ariz.), Kirk Carlsen (Sandown, N.H.) Peter Stetina (Boulder, Colo.) and Tejay Van Garderen (Fort Collins, Colo.).

2008 UCI Road World Championships

Varese, Italy

Sept. 23-28

Elite Men's Time Trial
1. Bert Grabsch (GER) 52:01.60
2. Svein Tuft (CAN) +42.79
3. David Zabriskie (Salt Lake City, Utah) +52.27
4. Levi Leipheimer (Santa Rosa, Calif.) +1:05.42

About USA Cycling   
Recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the Union Cycliste Internationale, USA Cycling is the official governing body for all disciplines of competitive cycling in the United States, including road, track, mountain bike, BMX and cyclo-cross.  As a membership-based organization and sanctioning body, USA Cycling consists of 64,000+ members, including 57,000 competitive cyclists, 1,500 coaches, 4,000 student-athletes, 2,200 officials, 350 professional cyclists, and 200 certified mechanics. USA Cycling also sanctions 2,500 competitive and non-competitive organized cycling events throughout the United States annually, as well as 1,800 clubs and teams. Associations of USA Cycling include the United States Cycling Federation (road, track & cyclo-cross), the National Off-Road Bicycle Association (mountain bike), the BMX Association, the National Collegiate Cycling Association and the United States Professional Racing Organization.  USA Cycling is also responsible for the identification, development, support and promotion of American cyclists through various athletic initiatives and programs including the USA Cycling National Development Team, the USA Cycling Women's National Team, the USA Cycling Junior Development Team, Talent Identification and Regional Development Camps, domestic and international race calendars, direct athlete funding and support programs, and educational camps and seminars. USA Cycling also fields and supports U.S. National Teams for various international events, including the Olympic Games, World Championships, Pan American Games, Continental Championship and World Cups across all levels and disciplines of competitive cycling.  USA cycling further supports grass roots and locally-based initiatives through its 32 Local Associations and comprehensive network of licensed and certified coaches and officials. Additionally, USA Cycling conducts National Championship events for amateur and professional cyclists, awarding more than 600 national titles annually to men and women in junior, U23, masters, elite, professional and paralympic categories throughout the various disciplines of competitive cycling. To learn more about USA Cycling, visit www.usacycling.org.

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