Cycling is not actually an official NCAA sport and therefore there isn’t as much funding available as in the classic American sports; however this doesn’t mean to say that the facilities available are less professional. Scholarships worth an average of $1.2 million per annum are awarded to approximately 60 male and female cyclists.
Competing
The National Mountain Biking Championships take place every October and are certainly a good way of preparing for the road season. The National Road Race Championships are in March and training is timed especially for this event. After March the cyclists can concentrate on the European Season. There are cyclists from all over the world in the college teams in the USA, which leads to a high level of competition. We work together with some of the teams at the top of the board. Take Lees McRae College as an example, they have not only Brent Bookwalter , who was also a member of the Cadel Evans Team in the Tour de France this year but also Andrew Tolansky who has signed a contract to ride for Germin. Take a look at this video: http://lmcbobcats.com/article.asp?articleID=2727
Timing
The best time to go to the USA on a sports scholarship is straight after you finish school. College coaches prefer to give scholarships to younger students, as it enables them to continually train and improve a player’s performance over a period of four years. It is also possible to go to the US for just one year. Due to the contact we have to a large number of college coaches we have been able to help athletes after they have completed their Bachelor to do their Master in the USA. The best timing is if you contact us about one year before you plan to start studying in the USA. Cyclists can start studying either at the Spring Semester (January) or the Fall Semester (August).
To apply for a scholarship you don’t need to be National Champion, as long as you have taken part in races at national level and show development potential.
Here is a portrait of the Lees McRae Cycling Team:
http://lmcbobcats.com/sport.asp?sportID=6
