Stars and Stripes on the line at Marathon National Championships this weekend

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Eighteen Stars-and-Stripes jerseys will be awarded in Sun Valley, Idaho, this weekend as the 2014 USA Cycling Marathon Mountain Bike National Championships bring an end to the Ride Sun Valley Bike Festival on Saturday, July 5.

The Contenders

In the pro/open men’s event, the field will be stacked with talent as Todd Wells (Durango, Colo./Specialized Factory Racing) attempts to defend his victory from last year’s edition. Should he be successful, it will be three national titles in a row for the Colorado rider. However, Wells will be up against some of the same threats he faced last year, including Stephen Ettinger (Bozeman, Mont./BMX Mountain Bike Racing Team), Alexander Grant (Salt Lake City, Utah/Sho-Air-Cannondale), and Carl Decker (Bend, Ore.).

The women’s pro/open race will be wide open as Monique “Pua” Mata (Yucaipa, Calif./Sho-air-Cannondale), winner of the last three national titles in this category, will be noticeably absent from the start line as she is recovering from surgery. Women to be on the lookout for include Serena Gordon (Bend, Ore.) and Jana Repulski (Boise, Idaho/ Broken Spoke Cycling-Broken Spoke Cycling).

The Schedule

In addition to the pro/open events, national titles are up for grabs in the senior, masters, and singlespeed categories. The one-day event consists of a morning and afternoon wave, beginning with the men’s singlespeed at 8 a.m. The men’s pro/open race will go off at 1 p.m. with the women’s pro/open event leaving the start line five minutes later. For a complete list of categories and start waves, please see the race schedule.