Zabriskie Claims Third Straight Professional Time Trial Title

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David Zabriskie (Salt Lake City, Utah/Garmin-Chipotle) remains the only athlete to win a USA Cycling professional time trial championship after successfully defending his national title on Saturday – his third straight since the event’s inception in 2006.

Zabriskie edged runner-up Tom Zirbel (Boulder, Colo./Bissell) by just five seconds to maintain his monopoly on the stars-and-stripes jersey, completing the 33.4-kilometer course in 40 minutes, 39.40 seconds. Zabriskie's Garmin-Chipotle teammate, Christian Vande Velde (Boulder, Colo.), took home the bronze medal, finishing 10 seconds off the pace.

Fresh off a 12th-place finish in the time trial at the Olympic Games in Beijing, Zabriskie once again illustrated his reputation as the fastest American in the individual race against the clock. Remarkably, his 2008 title comes only three months after fracturing a vertebrae in a crash at the Giro d'Italia last May.

"Coming back from injury, this is really just my third race back," Zabriskie said. "Cycling is full of ups and downs. I've had numerous injuries, so I have to say thanks to all the people who stand behind me."

For Zabriskie, Saturday's victory marks his fourth career national time trial title as a professional. He also won in 2004 when both pros and amateurs competed together in the elite national championships.

Garmin-Chipotle put four of its riders in the top five as Steven Cozza (Petaluma, Calif.) improved upon his 16th-place performance from a year ago, finishing just 34 seconds behind Zabriskie to place fourth, and Tom Danielson (Durango, Colo.) was fifth, 51 seconds back.

In addition to reaffirming Zabriskie's dominance, Saturday's race also confirmed Zirbel's progress as a consistent contender in major time trials. At 29 years old, Zirbel is still showing improvement. Two years ago, he finished 1:29 behind Zabriskie to place seventh. Last year, he was 15 seconds back to finish just off the podium in fourth. And this year, his five-second deficit and silver medal suggest that 2009 may be his year to unseat Zabriskie.

After the first two titles Zabriskie won in Greenville, a course change didn't deter him from capturing a third.

"I didn't care what the conditions were going to be like, what the course was," he said. "I came to win."

Racing three laps of a technical, 11.1-kilometer flat to rolling circuit, Zabriskie left the start gate last as the top-seeded rider and recorded the fastest marks at both intermediate time checks. After passing through the first lap with a three-second advantage on Zirbel, Zabriskie opened up his advantage to seven seconds after the second lap. He then lost a few seconds on the final lap but never looked to be in danger of losing his lead.

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