Hincapie and Zabriskie scoop US national titles

George Hincapie clinched his third national title at the US Pro National Championships on Sunday, August 30, in his hometown of Greenville, South Carolina - eleven years after winning his first.

Hincapie previously won the right to wear the coveted stars-and-stripes national champion's jersey in 1998 and 2006.

The Columbia-HTC rider's participation in this year's event was thrown in doubt when Hincapie broke his collarbone during the Tour de France in July. However, he recovered sufficiently to be in good form for the nationals.

Andrew Bajadali (Kelly Benefit Strategies) placed second with Jeff Louder (BMC Racing) third in the tough race that saw more riders drop out than make the finish line.

On Saturday, David Zabriskie won his fourth consecutive victory in the time trial. The Garmin-Slipstream rider finished the 33.4 kilometre course in 39 minutes 37 seconds. Tom Zirbel (Bissell Pro Cycling) was second with Scott Zwizanski (Kelly Benefit Strategies) third.

Hincapie will now join Columbia-HTC team-mate Mark Cavendish in the Tour of Missouri, which runs from September 7-13.