2006-2007 Team Roster

Sarah Hammer

Career Highlights

• Reigning, back-to-back World Track Cycling Champion
• First US-woman to defend a World Championship title since 1984-1985
• 2007 Velo-News Female Cyclist of the Year
• Four Times World Cup Gold Medalist
• 20 National Championship Cycling Titles
• US National Record Holder - 3K Pursuit (3.30.213)
• ADT Event Center Track Record Holder - 3K Pursuit (3.32.86)

Overview

Twenty-three year old Southern California native Sarah Hammer is the rising star of the international cycling scene. With a World Championship win, four World Cup wins, a national pursuit record, and twenty national titles, Hammer is steadfastly establishing her legend within US cycling, and as the gold medal favorite for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. “She's one of our best athletes,” said Andy Lee, spokesman for USA Cycling in Colorado Springs, Colo., “and one of our top hopes for an Olympic gold medal in Beijing.”

Hammer is an athlete who has been competing internationally since the age of sixteen with a unique maturity that shows both on and off the bicycle. At a young twenty three years of age, Hammer has been a professional on both the road and track, a member of the US National Team, a resident athlete at the US Olympic Training Center and a top collegiate student. Perhaps most impressive of her accomplishments is the ten-year drought she ended by winning the World Pursuit Track title in 2006. Building on her 2006 on-the-bike success, Hammer recently launched the American Women’s Track Cycling Fund (AWTCF.org), an organization developed to support and mentor America’s future crop of female Olympic track cycling champions.

How She Got There

Sarah began her cycling career at age eight when introduced to the sport by her father, Cliff. Cliff, a top competitor himself, exposed Hammer to all disciplines in the cycling arena. Through her father’s guidance, Hammer was a quick study with her first junior national title coming in 1995; the same year that Rebecca Twigg won the last women’s World Championship Track gold medal for the United States. Through the years, this father-daughter team remains strong with her father playing an integral element in Hammer’s support system. “He’s my biggest fan,” said Hammer, “even at the World Championships, with eight thousand crazed screaming fans, I could here his voice in turn four.” Hammer’s coach, Andy Sparks, adds, “To tell you the truth, I’ve never seen anything like this. Sarah always performs the best, whether in training or racing, when her father is around. These two have been training together since she was eight and they are both ferocious competitors. Cliff is the perfect example of why Sarah’s support system is so strong. In my opinion, that’s why I believe she is unbeatable, no one has a stronger team.”

Why She Quit the Sport

Hammer began competing at the early age of ten. In 2003 she began to show signs of burnout and by 2004 she had quit the sport entirely. “I sold everything bike related, I was done.” Hammer stated. Although she thought she was done, those around thought differently. “I think it’s normal,” said Sparks, “as the saying goes, sometimes you don’t realize what you have till it’s gone. Sarah is a competitor by nature. We all knew she would be back stronger than ever.” Sparks and other of Hammer’s supporters turned out to be right, and Hammer’s retirement turned out to be a short one.

The impetus of this return came in the fall of 2004 as Hammer sat in her Colorado Springs home watching the World’s largest track cycling spectacle - the Olympic Games. Hammer observed that many of the riders that were winning, including the newly crowned Olympic champion and World Record Holder, Sarah Ulmer, were riders that she had previously beaten. Hammer stated, “I thought: I have beaten those girls! That was the first time I realized I really could win the Olympic Gold. The next day we started planning how.”

2006—A Very Successful Comeback

The first major competition in Hammer’s 2005 comeback was the US National Track Championship. With only six months of preparation, Sarah emerged victorious in both the women’s three kilometer pursuit and points race. With a finishing time of 3:41 in the pursuit, anticipation for the upcoming World Championships was already building as Hammer’s National Championship winning time would have won her the silver medal at the World Championships held at the ADT Event Center Velodrome earlier that year. Hammer’s first goal had been accomplished.

Following the US National Track Championships, Sarah still had over seven months to prepare for the World Track Championships. In this time she continued to train hard and went on to take victories in both the Manchester and Los Angeles World Cups. In April, Hammer made the US World Championship team and headed to Bordeaux, France, to compete in her first Senior World Championship. After a dramatic qualifying round she looked to the scoreboard and saw herself as the fastest qualifier. Later that day, Sarah emerged victorious and brought a ten-year World Championship drought to an end. At only twenty-two years of age and after only twelve months of training since her comeback, Sarah listened to the US national anthem as she stood on the top step of the podium in the World Championships. Hammer’s second goal had been accomplished.

Sarah has now squarely set her sights on her next goal—a gold medal in the Beijing Olympics. Along the way Hammer has the intermediate goals of defending her World Title and winning Gold at the upcoming 2007 Pan-American Games.

2007—Off to a Great Start

2007 opened with the Los Angeles World Cup, the most competitive World Cup event ever. Over 250 competitors from nearly 50 trade teams and nations descended on the ADT Event Center Velodrome for three days of competition. This was Sarah's first international event since winning the World Championship in 2006, and was sure to be a test of her fitness.

With three days of racing on tap, OUCH Pro Cycling placed primary importance on Friday’s Women’s Points Race. The morning session saw Sarah breezing through qualifying and establishing herself as the race favorite. In the all-star final, which included the reigning Points Race World Champion, attack upon attack sprang from the field. Sarah found herself with few friends, and was forced to chase most of the dangerous moves alone. Going on the offensive 30 laps into the 80-lap race, Sarah clawed her way into a tie for the lead with a Cuban rider with only the final sprint to be contested. Sarah only had to beat the Cuban to the finish. With fellow American Becky Quinn bringing Sarah to the front, Sarah came across the line with a nail-biting win before a crazed, hometown crowd!

The morning of day two saw Sarah lining up for the event in which she is the reigning World Champion—the Women’s 3000 Meter Pursuit. Despite the taxing effort of the prior night’s Points Race victory, the morning qualifying round ended with Sarah breaking her own American record and dominating the competition. In an event usually decided by fractions of a second, Sarah’s next closest qualifier found themselves seven seconds slower! In the evening final, Sarah rode easily to claim her second World Cup gold medal.

By day three, the OUCH Pro Cycling Team had demonstrated its dominance, and it was clear that every rider in the field would be marking Sarah’s every move. The question on everyone’s lips was simple: Could Sarah and OUCH complete the hat trick by winning the Scratch Race? After once again moving easily through the qualifying rounds, Sarah lined up against the World’s best female cyclists (including the reigning World Champion in the Scratch Race) for the 10-kilometer final. At a short 40 laps, there is no room for error in this race. The first half of the race saw Sarah keeping a watchful eye on her competitors, and being closely watched herself, as some small attacks sprang from the field. With five laps to go, and in near a replay of her victory in last year’s L.A. World Cup, Sarah seized control of the race. The hometown crowd was on its feet, witness to Sarah’s strength and speed. At three laps, Sarah took the lead and never looked back, leaving the competition powerless to contest the finish.

With the hat-trick completed, Sarah closed the Los Angeles World Cup in true dominating style!

Training at the Home Depot Center

When planning Hammer’s comeback, athlete and coach first developed an operational model for success in Colorado Springs. The key components in their plan called for an international-standard track that could be accessed multiple times a week. The second necessary component was consistent fair weather. Hammer notes, “We found everything necessary to our plan, and more, in more in Southern California. At that time, the ADT Event Center was a new facility that had much promise.” Sparks adds, “From a coach’s perspective, The ADT Event Center Velodrome is perfect. The conditions are always the same; there are no variables within any of our training sessions. On an outdoor track I have to take in consideration temperature, wind and humidity. At the Home Depot Center, these conditions are fixed. There are national teams coming all the way from Poland to train at the ADT Event Center, the quality of the facility cannot be overstated.”

Every Tuesday and Thursday Hammer can be found training at the ADT Event Center Velodrome, a facility that Hammer openly praises. “The Home Depot Center has been there since day one, long before the results were even close to where they are today. Roger Young, Rod O’Connor and all the Home Depot staff all deserve credit for my current success, it has become a family affair.”

Going into her training detail, Hammer notes, “My weekly training consists of two days a week on the track. I really thrive under a consistent and fun routine and this is exactly what the ADT Event Center Velodrome continues to provide. I have a ton of supporters at the L.A. track and it definitely helps me get that little extra 2-3% out of training when everyone is cheering me on in training efforts. Consistent hard training equals international wins.”

Giving Back to the Sport she loves

In the months following her 2006 World Championship win, Hammer felt the time was right to launch an organization to support and mentor America’s future crop of female cycling champions. Using Hammer’s experience and expertise, the American Women’s Track Cycling Fund strives to help create female champions both on and off the bicycle. The AWTCF mission statement reads:

We believe that cycling, and track cycling in particular, can teach valuable lessons that are applicable far beyond the cycling arena. Whether at the developmental or elite level, we aspire to help bring our experience and support to as many young women as possible.

Working in conjunction with Julia Cross of the Women’s Cycling Challenge and legendary track coach Roger Young of the ADT Event Center Velodrome, Hammer’s organization has already had an impact. The Ladies Only Days has been a collaborative project that has proved to be one of the most successful programs ever to be introduced at the ADT Event Center Velodrome. In a mere twelve weeks this free program has introduced track cycling to over 100 female cyclists.

On starting her own team—OUCH Pro Cycling

Another of Hammer’s 2006 accomplishments is the founding of her UCI Professional track team—The OUCH Pro Cycling Team. Hammer worked in conjunction with coach Sparks to come up with a team that would provide her the best possible platform to achieve Olympic gold medal success. The objectives for the team are nothing short of Olympic Gold Medals and World Records.

Hammer states, “The OUCH Sports Medical Center provided a sponsorship that has enabled us to launch this exciting project. This team is designed to control all training variables. Now I get to control what equipment I ride, which events I want to compete in, and what I want my appearance schedule to be. I could not have a better team set-up.”

This pioneering effort will not only fund Sarah's racing and training budgets as she undertakes her bid for a Gold Medal in Beijing, but will also aid in critical and costly rider refinements that are mandatory for Olympic Gold Medals.

The OUCH Pro Cycling Team will compete on the domestic and international stage with targeted performances at the 2007 World Track Championships (March 29th) in Spain, and the 2007 Pan-Am Games (July 22nd) in Brazil.