Who are the great women of cycling? It's hard to judge and evaluate riders from 1950 to 1980 without stats, race reports, and input from the riders themselves, but since the 80's certainly one rider comes to mind, that's Jeannie Longo.

Jeannie Longo, certainly no one can match her palmares as there is little, in fact nothing noteworthy she has not won, and she is still riding today. Also Jeannie is the oldest pro out there still riding in her late 40's. She won the World Road Championships five times, more then anyone else ever in history. Jeannie has won the worlds, Olympics, national championships, grand tours, hundreds of classics, the world hour record, and if that's not enough, she has even taken the time to ride a number of events for fun and for the fans, especially in the USA. She has developed a fan base in America since living in Texas, and she has said that has given her the motivation to keep riding into her late 40's. Jeannie Longo spends some time living near the 9000 foot elevation level at Mt. Lemmon, Tucson Arizona.

Fabiana Luperini won 4 tours of Italy and 3 tours of France back to back. It's a record that stands today. Also she has won many of the classics and is considered to be possibly the greatest climber in history. She won the Giro Del Trentino 5 times and Fleche Wallonne three times, and those records also remain unbroken. She won Tour De Aude in 1998, won the nationals in 1996 and 2004, which was perhaps her most spectacular victory where she broke away from the pack, and stayed away the entire race with a solo win in front of her hometown crowd! Nothing could be more sweeter then that, but she went on to finish 2nd in the Giro De Feminin that year as well.

Leontien Zijlaard Van Moorsel is probably the most famous or well known in this era. She won three gold medals at the Olympic games in Sydney and has the best comeback story of any women in cycling. She set the hour record, won the grand tours, and many of the classics. Like Longo there is very little that this queen of cycling hasn't done. Her most impressive victories are winning the 1991 World championships in Stuttgart Germany, her two Grande Boucle wins in 1992-93, her comeback victories of the time trials in 1998-99, and of course her three gold medals in Sydney Australia at the games in 2000.

Joane Somarriba is without a doubt one of the sweetest ladies in cycling today, she certainly is a class act and brings plenty of wins to the table. She won the Giro De Feminin in 1999, 2000 and the Grande Boucle in 2000, 2001. She is one of few people to win both grand tours back to back and in 2000, she won both tours in the same year back to back. Only Luperini has done this and Somarriba said that it was so hard and taxing on her that she would never do it again. Also she won the World Championships time trial in Hamilton Canada in 2003, the Emakumen Bira in Spain in 2004 and the Trophy de D'ore in 2005. She is one of the greatest climbers ever in the history of the women's stage races.

Maria Canins was another great rider who won both the Giro and the Grande Boucle, something very few riders have done. She was a rival to Longo and was still racing when Luperini entered the scene in 1995. She continued to race for a few years, still climbing well at the end of her career. Maria won the national championships in 1982, 84, 85, 87, 88, 89. She won the Tour De l'Aude in 1987 and took 2nd in 1988. Maria won the Tour De Feminin in 1985, 86, and the Giro De Feminin in 1988. Maria also won the Coors Classic in 1984.

Edita Pucinskaite is a very classy Lithuania rider who has really become an icon of women's racing. She has won the 1999 worlds Road Championships in Verona Treviso Italy, Grande Boucle in 1998, Women's Liberty Classic in 1997, Trophée d'Or in 2001, 2004, Tour De Berne 2005, Tour Del Toscana 1999, Tour Del Trentino is 2000, Emakumeen Bira in 2002, Tour de l'Ardeche 2003, 2005, plus countless others too numerous to mention here. One of her biggest dreams is when she won the worlds road race in 1999 in Treviso Italy. She said that she had been dreaming of this since she was a little kid, and it was one of her biggest dreams to win the worlds. She is a great champion of the ages!

Nicole Brandli is perhaps the classiest lady ever to ride in the pro ranks of Europe. Her grace and coolness under pressure is certainly something to be admired. She is well spoken, glamorous and quite stunningly beautiful. She has ridden at or near the top for many years now, and her best exploits have been in the grand tours. She has won the women's Giro De Feminin 3 times and is set to win it four times, something only Fabiana Luperini has done. She is certainly one of the greatest climbers that even lived being in very small elite crew, and continues to climb well today. She seems to excel best in long stage races that are mountainous, the more climbs the better. She has also ridden well in both the Olympics and worlds, as well as a number of other classics, and took 2nd on the final GC of the 2003 Grande Boucle, Women's Tour of France. She finished 2nd in the Worlds in 2002.

Judith Arndt is one of greatest talents ever to come out of Germany. She is only surpassed by her long time friend Petra Rossner. Judith is a great all around talent on the track, in the grand tours, and especially one day classics and World Championships. Her gutsy determination and grit is clearly seen as she is often at the front of the pack doing more then her fair share of the pace making. Arndt climbed well early on in her career in the grand tours, since then her palmares has been extensive. She won Rotterdam Tour in 2001, Tour De Aude in 2002-2003, and she just recently won the Worlds in 2004. Arndt also took 3rd in the Grand Boucle in 2001 and 2003 just beating Luperini for 3rd proving she can still climb well as the tour was very hard that year.

Petra Rossner is perhaps the greatest sprinter ever in history of women's pro peleton. Her finishing kick is truly remarkable as she is able to simply leave everyone in the dust. I remember seeing her final kick in the Liberty Classic which she has won a record 7 times, yes count um, 7 times! Also I remember seeing her win the final stage of the Grande Boucle and she simply blasted away like a rocket. There was no chance, none of girls could match her kick, not even the powerful Zoulfia Zabirova! Her greatest legacy has got to be her total domination of the Liberty Classic, however one year Lyne Bessette broke away which made the final sprint useless. Rossner won the world cup in 2002, and she has won numerous stages in the Grande Boucle, and finished 3rd way back in the 1988 Giro De Feminin, won the Rotterdam Tour in 2004. Like Ardnt, Rossner has also had success on the track.

Rasa Polikeviciute is known as one of the most famous sisters in cycling, the Polikeviciute twins, Rasa and Jolenta. She was well known competitor in the Grande Boucle taking 2nd place on the final GC in 1996. In 1994, 95, she took 2nd in the prestious Women's Tour De l'Aude. Rasa is well known in both America and Europe as a great stage racer and climber. She won the Women's Challenge in 1997 and took 3rd in 2001 while also completing in a number of other races in America including the Liberty Classic. Rasa biggest win was the World Road Race Championships in 2001 at Lisbon Portugal.

Amber Neben is perhaps the best America rider ever. She has won the Tour De l'Aude twice, something only Judith Arndt has done. Amber is a great stage racer winning of both the Tour of the Gila, Redlands and the Gracia Orlova. She has won both the time trail and the road race in the nationals, and placed 2nd place several times. Amber also won the Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend Oregon and was named athlete of the Month in May 2006 by the U.S. Olympic Committee, after winning the Tour De l'Aude for the second time in a row after a close battle with Susanne Ljungskog.

Nicole Cooke is the latest excellent British rider to come out of the UK. She is a powerhouse, an excellent sprinter, and has been especially effective in uphill sprint finishes like SPGF, and Fleche Wallonne. While enduring repeated injuries, she has always bounced back to win another day. She is smart rider, well spoken, and ranks right near the top for women racers today. She won SFGP twice, won Fleche Wallonne twice, got 2nd in the worlds road race in 2005, won the Giro in 2004, took 3rd in 2003. She has proven herself time and again in the mountains and an excellent sprinter in classics. She should continue to ride well for years to come.

Susanne Ljungskog is probably best remembered or known for winning the World Championships two years a in row, twice in a showdown with Mirjam Melchers who crashed in wet conditions in 2002 at Zolder Belgium, and she lost a hotly contested sprint to Susanne at Hamilton Canada in 2003. The following years Susanne and Mirjam joined forces on the Flexpoint team. Susanne really starting racing well in 2002, 2003 winning the worlds and she was first in the UCI rankings. She also won both the national road race and time trial in 2003, as well as the Holland Ladies Tour and the Memorial Michela Fanini. Clearly these have been her best years, but she is still a top contender today.

Alessandra Cappellotto was one of the best Italian women ever to race a bike. While she was at times overshadowed by Fabiana Luperini, but she still managed to shine in a time where there were a huge number of great riders. Her greatest victory was probably in 1997 when she won the Worlds road race in San Sebastian Spain and she finished first on the national Rankings that year, 2nd on the UCI World rankings. She won the Italian National Championships in 2001 and 2003. Alessandra has a dizzying array of palmares that date back to 1989. She retired in 2004 after winning the last race of her career at the Duo Normand in France. She went on to be a team manager.

Anna Millward (Wilson) is another rider who has racked up a dizzying array of palmares in a few short years. She shined bright for the short time of her career before she was sidelined with an leg injury at the world championships. Anna won the Powerbar Women's Challenge in 1996, one of the big highlights of her career. She was 1st place on the national rankings as well in 96 and was voted female road cyclist of the year. She won the national time trial championships in 1997, and again 1st in the national rankings, plus setting the hour record twice. Again she was 1st at the national time trail championships in 1998. She won the Sea Otter classic in 1999, and finished 1st in both the national rankings and the UCI World Cup. Anna won the nationals again in 2000 and again won the fabled HP Women's Challenge. She also won the national rankings and female cyclist of the year. In 2001, she won Sea Otter again, and took both the national and UCI rankings, as well as the World Cup rankings and the Pro Tour Series rankings, plus female cyclist of the year.

Kathy Watt won the gold medal at the 1992 Olympic games in Barclona Spain. She has been an excellent competitor in all events, track, road, TT and even stage races. Add to that her Olympic quests and she has proven time and again to be worth her salt. Most impressive to me was her gold medal performance in games in Spain. She blew by Marie Purvis of Great Britain to take the lead and never game it up. Jeannie Longo failed to catch her in the end and Watt finished alone way ahead of the pack. Just recently Watt took the TT Silver medal in the Commonwealth games, finishing 15 seconds behind Oenone Wood who took gold. Watt has stood the test of time with a long career and is still riding well into her 40's.

Zinaida Stahurskaya has been racing since the 80's, and she won the World Road Championships in 2000 at Plouay France. Zina won the Giro De Feminin in 2001, and was runner-up in 2002, while winning the Grande Boucle the same year. Some other notable wins are the GP Liberazione in 1999, the Memorial Michela Fanini and the Giro Del Trentino in 2000. In 2005 she won the GP Carnevale d'Europa, Tour de Limousin and the Giro De San Marino.

Zoulfia Zabirova had been a powerhouse for years in the pro peleton. She is an excellent powerful sprinter, another east block rider who is quite attractive as well. She had won many stages with her powerful breakaways and sprint finishes. She won stage 8 and 12 of the 2003 Grande Boucle, won the worlds time trial in 2002, 3rd in 2003, won Tour of Flanders in 2004. She has competed in every discipline, track, time trialing, road events as well as Olympics and grand tours. She is an excellent all around rider, and a major player for years to come.

Catherine Marsal was a French pro who was a dominate force in the 90's with Jeannie Longo. The French duo were a force to be reckoned with and regularly did battles with Leontien Van Moorsel. Marsal was 2nd at the Worlds in 1989 and won the Road race in 1990 in Japan. She was 2nd in the worlds again in 95, 96, and 3rd in 97. In 1990 Marsal won the Giro De Feminin and the Tour De l'Aude. She won it again in 1994, and took 3rd in both 96 and 98. Catherine Marsal is considered one of the truly great riders of France aside from Jeannie Longo. Marsal retired in 2004 and became a team manager of Teams S.A.T.S

Linda Jackson came into cycling when most women think about retiring in their 30's. She gave up a good job as an investment banker to follow her dream. She won the 1998 HP Women's Challenge against one of the strongest fields ever. Linda also won six national titles in both the time trial and the road race. Linda won the Tour De Toona in 1996 as well as taking 3rd at the World Championships. She was 2nd in the Giro De Feminin twice in 1997, 98, contesting some of the hardest days and climbs ever against Fabiana Luperini who was simply unbeatable at the time. Linda won the Tour De l'Aude in 1997 and took 2nd at Redlands as well as 3rd in the Grande Boucle. Linda Retired in 2000 to in hopes of starting a family life. Today, Linda is the manager of Tibco, and coaches the excellent sprinter Brooke Millar.

Genevieve Jeanson is one of the great climbers of the modern era winning shattering Longo's old record on Mt. Washington by 4 minutes. She has won Sea Otter, Redlands, Tour De Snowy, Fleche Wallonne, Tour of the Gila, Tour De Toona, Junior World Champion, Montreal World Cup, and was still very young when she quit racing. She had not yet fully entered the Euro circuit and the grand tours, so we will never know her full potential. Truly this was the greatest climber since Luperini.

Lyne Bessette is a well seasoned rider competing in a very well rounder career both in Europe and North America. She is one of the few riders who has been able to race all over the world. Many riders today in Europe often don't compete in America because of costs to their teams, but being a native Canadian helped her career. She had been in many of the premiere American events like Redlands, Tour De Toona, Liberty Classic, and her native Montreal World Cup. Also has been in many races in Europe and down under in Australia. Bessette won Liberty Classic in 2003 and Tour De Toona in 2004. She won Redlands in 1999 and 2004, Fitchburg and Sea Otter in 2002, and is also a good climber, evident in the very steep grades of the SFGP, T-Mobile International which was just canceled last year.

Svetlana Bubnenkova Is also one of the classiest ladies out there, but she is also one of the most determined and grittiest riders ever. Her style is one of pure grit, pain and swagger that is easily noticed, so much so that even cycling fans can feel and share in her pain. Its written all over her face when she rides! Her mask is one of the best, but it's real, and that doesn't subtract from her beauty and grace. She is one of the most likeable riders, and a really big ham for the cameras. She often blows kisses and mugs for the camera! She was 2nd in 1996-97 Tour de l'Aude, 2nd in Giro De Feminin in 1999 and 1st in 2002. Recently she took the 8th stage of the 2005 Giro De Feminin.

Dede Barry is one of my favorites, and probably the most experienced American to ever race, being a pro in Europe for many years. She is a glamorous rider, and quite friendly. She rode well in SFGP here in California before her retirement, and grabbed the Silver medal in the time trial at the Athens games in 2004. An excellent effort since Van Moorsel was the previous winner and excels in this event. Her palmares are incredibly extensive. She was a juniors road worlds champion in 1989, national time trial champion in 1993, won the Women's Challenge in 1995, national road race champion in 1996, won the Tour De Toona in 1997, won the Tour De Snowy in 1998, won the Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic in 1998, and the list of palmares are truly dizzying. She is certainly one of the greatest riders America has ever produced, if not the greatest!

Laura Charameda is also one of my favorite riders who I have had the pleasure to meet. She would have to also be either the greatest American racer ever or close to it. She raced extensively both in America and Europe, winning numerous stage races and classics as well as 3rd place in the World Road Championships at Oslo Norway in 1993. She's a ferocious competitor, and an awesome sprinter. She has mastered her craft over many years and shares her talents in many clinics and workshops nationwide. Laura won the National Criterium Championships in 1992 and has been 1st in the national rankings several times. Laura won so many stages in the 1995 German tour, International Thüringen Rundfahrt, that it was nicknamed the festival of Laura. She raced on the well known Sanson team in 1996 when Luperini was winning the tours, and she won the Tour of Sicily in 1995. In 2006, after over a decade of racing, Laura won the Mclane Pacific proving she is still one of the best sprinters around today.

Ina Yoko Teutenberg is one of the best sprinters ever. She has almost literally built her career around sprint finishes, and she rarely loses them today. She has literally dozens of stages wins and some classics, but she did win the Tour of Germany in 1996, and in 2005 she won both the Liberty Classic and the Rottedam Tour. In 2006, she won the Geelong and again the Rotterdam Tour. However Ina is simply a great sprinter in the company of riders like Petra Rossner.

Regina Schleicher being much like Ina Teutenberg is also an excellent sprinter, and just last year she out sprinted Ina Teutenberg at the Liberty Classic. Regina won the national championships in 1994, and is only one of three people to win 4 stages in a row in any race, but she did it at the 2003 Giro De Feminin. Ironically, Zinaida Stahurskaia did it two years earlier in 2001. Regina won the Nurnberger Altstadt in 2000, and the GP Feminas Castilla y Leon as well as the GP Plouay in 2002. In 2003 she won the GP Carnevale d'Europa, but her best year was 2005 where she won both the national championships and the world championships. In 2006 she won the Liberty Classic and again she won both the GP Carnevale d'Europa and the Nurnberger Altstadt. Regina is another marvelous sprinter who's best years could still lie ahead.

Trixi Worrack is a good all around rider, another one of the German riders who made them such a threat in numbers with the likes of Regina Schleicher, Judith Arndt, Petra Rossner and Ina Teutenberg. The Germans were always a huge favorite at the worlds, and while Trixi hasn't won the worlds yet, she certainly is an accomplished rider. Trixi was a junior world time trial champion in 1998 at Valkenburg. She won the Tour of Mallorca in 2001. She won the national championships in 2003 and the Tour De l'Aude in 2004. Also in 2004 she won the Memorial Michela Fanini. In 2005 she won the Primavera Rosa, the last winner before the race was canceled.

Oenone Wood is a rider for all seasons. She is one of the most consistent riders that ever raced, placing 2nd or 3rd many times in a number of disciplines from Time Trialing, stage racing, classics, and both the olympics and the worlds. She ranked 1st in world cup rankings 2004, 3rd at the Worlds road race 2005, and so many times 2nd and 3rd in many events, but she is a very consistent rider, and every year a threat to the world cup. Oenone Wood is a perfect example of what a cyclist should be. She is a machine, chiseled to do the task at hand, and she has the looks of precision and grace on the bike. She just recently won the TT Gold medal in the Commonwealth games 2006, and is set to have a great year!

Karin Thurig is a multi-talented rider who also run triatlons, but her specialty is the time trial. In 2001, she took 2nd in the National time trial championships, and then 1st again in 2002. In both 2004 and 2005 Karin won the world time trial championships, and took 2nd in 2006. She also won the National time trial championships again in 2005 and 2006. She won the Chrono Champenois in 2004 and 2006. Karin also has a sister Andrea, who rides in the pro ranks.

Mirjam Melchers is a workhouse. She has consistently placed well for years in all kinds of events from the Olympics, stage racing and one day classics. She had been an excellent team player for years at Farm Frites for Leontien Zijlaard Van Moorsel. She is an excellent sprinter and often takes her turn at the front of the pack towing the line. She placed 2nd in the worlds road race in Hamilton in 2003, won the Holland Ladies Tour in 2004, won Tour of Flanders twice, 2005 and 2006, plus her palmares is extensive for all kinds of stage wins in one day classics and tours. She should be around for years to come!

Sarah Ulmer is one of the fastest track stars ever, and she has the legs to match. She smashed the world record in the 3000km pursuit at the Olympics in Athens. In 2005 Sarah won both the National road and time trial championships. In 2006 she won the Tour of New Zealand and Wellington.

Mari Holden is one of the best American riders ever, and she was the 2000 world time trial champion. Mari won the national time trial championships in 1995, 96, 98, and also won Redlands in 98. In 1999, Mari won both the national road and time trial championships. In 2000 she won both the national and world time trial championships, and took 2nd place in the time trial at the Olympics in Sydney Australia.

Laura Van Gilder has one of the longest careers of any American cyclists. While she hasn't been a international player, she is one of the winningest riders ever on US soil. She literally has hundreds of race victories over the years. She's a great sprinter at one day classic events, and rode for Lipton in 2006 before switching to Cheerwine in 2007.

Tina Pic Mayolo is one of the greatest American sprinters ever. She has a wicked last second kick which catches her rivals off guard in the last few meters. She is one of the oldest women still riding today, but she hasn't slowed down any, still winning many top events. Tina is another one who has literally hundreds of top placings in classics and stage races.

Kristin Armstrong has been around for a while, but recently she has really come into her own winning the 2006 world time trial championships at Salzburg Austria. She won the national road championships in 2004, and the national time trial championships in 2005. She also won the Sea Otter Classic, and the Pan America time trial championships in 2005. In 2006 Kristen won both the national road and time trial championships, as well as the world championships in Salzburg Austria. She also won the Holland Ladies Tour in 2006. Kristen is a huge talent and a likely contender again for the both the worlds and the Olympic games in China.

Audrey McElmury marks the beginning for American women by being the first women to win a world title. Audrey McElmury was America's first World Road Champion of either sex, amateur or Professional, a modest champion who is virtually unknown. Audrey won the World Road Championships in 1969 at Brno Czechoslovakia and she won won both the National Pursuit title and first National Road Championship in 1966. In 1969 she won the track Omnium, which are races based on the best overall or points. In 1970 she again won the Pursuit and Road Championships. She held the U.S. National Hour Record on the track for over 20 years (1969 to 1990), along with several on the road.

Alfonsina Morini was the only women to ride in the men's Giro d'Italia in 1924. If Alfonsina was competing in the Giro d'Italia today, it would be sensational news and in everyone's living room thanks to worldwide network TV coverage of cycling. She competed in races against both men and women, and in 1911 broke the women's speed record, previously set in 1905. Her record stood for 26 years at 37 kilometers per hour (23 mph) and she did it on a 44 pound single geared bike. The first major race that she competed in was the 1917 Giro di Lombardia, with a course of 204 Kilometers, with 74 entries and 32 finishers, Alfonsina finished 32th on the final GC. In 1938 she won the female speed record at Longchamp, riding 35.28 kph.

Yvonne Reynders won the worlds Road Championships in 1959, 61, 63 and 66. She was 2nd in 1962, 65. She won 12 medals at the woman's world championships and three of those were the pursuit, plus 3 silver medals.

Beryl Burton won the Worlds twice and was a great pursuit rider on the track. She has a total of 12 World Championship medals, and set a 12 hour time trial record. She won the women's world pursuit title in 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963 and 1966 and took the silver medal in 1961, 1964 and 1968. She won the bronze in 1967, 1970 and 1973. Tragically she died while out on a training ride.

Marianne Martin won the first women's Tour De France, and was credited with bringing a new level of awareness to women's cycling in America. Martin was a good climber and never gave up the lead until victory into Paris. The streets were said to contain more two million spectators watching the race that day.

Connie Carpenter (Phinney) won the first women's olympic road race in Los Angeles, and between her and Martin, together they brought about the renewed interest in women's cycling nationwide. Connie won the national road championships 4 times, an amazing feat, and holds 12 U.S. national championships plus 4 world titles, as well as winning the first women's cycling event in Olympic history. She was national champion, she was world champion, and she was an Olympic champion, a tremendously gifted cyclist, and arguably the greatest woman cyclist in U.S. history.

Rebecca Twigg was one of the most successful track riders in history with a career spanning two decades and winning an incredibly 6 gold medals at the Worlds. She also won 2 silver medals and a bronze, two of which came from the Olympic games. She was a three time Olympian (84, 92, 96), and a ace rider in (3km) pursuit. She won the pursuit more times then you could possibly imagine at both the national and international level. Rebecca was an excellent road racer winning both classics and stage races. She won the International Women's Challenge 3 times in a row (84, 85, 86), a record which was never broken.

Sue Novara (Reber) won 7 world championship medals including two gold as a sprint champion. Sue had collected more medals in the world championships then any rider in US history. She won 2 golds, 4 silvers, and a bronze, (1975-1981). She never failed to finish in the top three during those years. At the 1975 world championships in Belgium, Sue won the match sprint, with Sheila Young coming in 3rd, and again in 1976 Sue beat Sheila in the match sprint at Monteroni Italy. At the 1978 world championships in Munich Sue won her third successive silver medal in the match sprint. In 1979 Sue won her sixth career medal in the match sprint. The 3rd place bronze came at the 1979 world championships in Holland. In the 1980 world championships in France, Sue won the match sprint for the second time.

Bunki Bankaitis (Davis) was part of the America women's time trial team to win at the Olympics. The Worlds course was 50km, and the US team was led by Bunki Bankaitis-Davis, Jan Bolland, Jeanne Golay and Eve Stephenson. The French were highly favored to win with Jeannie Longo, Catherine Marsal and Cecile Oden. The team time trial was the last time to be performed at the Olympics, and it was one of the greatest racing moments ever in history. Longo and Marsal were at the time, the best women of that era, and the American team won by a healthy margin of 13 seconds.

Mary Jane Reoch won nine national road and track championships from 1971 to 1980, and a lifetime total of 11 national championships. She was named to the first ever national women's team and she was on the world championship team 9 times. Miji also became the first America women to ride under 4 minutes in the 3km pursuit. In April 1977, Miji Reoch set records for eight distances of five to 25km at the National Capital in Washington DC. Also in 77, Miji led a four women team to win three of nine events on a two week trip to Europe.

Sheila Young won the match sprint in 1973 which was the first track event after more then 50 years. In 1976 Sheila beat Sue Novara in the finals of the match sprint at the world championships in Italy. In 1981 Sheila came out of a 4 year retirement to win the world sprint championship in Czechoslovakia. It was her third rainbow jersey after winning in 1973 and 1976. She was a 4 time national sprint champion in 71, 73, 76, and 81. Sheila won three silver medals, and five of the title matches were against Sue Novara, a fierce rival. Also in 1981 Sheila took 2nd place at the USCF Criterium Championships at Lima ohio.

Connie Paraskevin Young competed successfully for nearly two decades on the track, and was also a speed skating champion like Twigg and Novara. Connie is a 10 time national women's match sprint champion who retired after the 1996 Olympic Games. Connie was also a four time women's sprint world champion and always in the top three in the world for over ten years. She was a five time Olympian and she competed in both the winter and summer games and took speed skating gold in 1982, 83, 84. Connie is also a world record holder in the cycling 200 meters track events. Connie was a member of the U.S. Olympic cycling team in 1988, 92 and 96. As a bronze medallist, Connie was the only American to claim a cycling medal at the 1988 Olympic Games, and she won the only gold medal at the 1990 World Track Championships in Maebashi Japan.