Roanoke alumni have major presence at world cycling championships in Richmond

Cyclist Shelley Olds '03 returns to Virginia this week to compete for the United States in the UCI World Championships in Richmond, Va. Olds, a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team, will race in the UCI road race on Saturday, Sept. 26. The race airs on NBC Universal Sports Saturday, starting at 12:30 pm (Eastern Time). 

"This will be the first time in nearly 30 years that Americans have had the chance to race for one of the sport's top honors on home soil," according to The Richmond Times Dispatch. The newspaper did a story about the outlook for the women's team recently.
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Olds isn't the only Roanoke alum involved in the world championships. Tim Miller '93 is the chief operating officer for Richmond 2015, the organizing body for the race. Richmond Times Dispatch published a Sunday Q&A with Miller on Sunday. He was profiled in the Roanoke College Magazine earlier this year.

Olds is coming off a big win earlier this month. She won La Madrid Challenge. It's part of the Vuelta de España, one of the three grand tours for male professional cyclists. (The other two are the Tour de France and the Giro D'Italia.) As with many professional sports, the female athletes don't receive nearly the attention as the men's races, so racing in conjunction with the grand tours is a big deal. Olds is literally leading women's cyclists worldwide into greater prominence.

"Same course, same finish line, same podium, same awards as the men," Olds said after La Madrid Challenge. "Pretty cool stuff. I hope next year we have more than one day. It's a start!!"

Can't wait to watch Olds race? Watch highlights of La Madrid Challenge or you can catch her interview with Universal Sports Network.