The first stars-and-stripes jerseys were handed out Thursday as time trial champions were crowned at the 2006 USA Cycling National Festival at Seven Springs.

Kristin Armstrong (Team Lipton) defended her national title on the rolling, 30-kilometer course through Laurel Hill State Park by posting a time of 46 minutes and 46.07 seconds. Last year Armstrong placed third at the world championships, but the veteran time trialist called this year’s course "the hardest in my career."

"I was like ‘Whoa, this is hard!’" Armstrong said of the unusually steep climbs and headwind on the return side of the course loop. "I had teammates on the sides of the road yelling times at me which helped a lot on a course like this . . . but then I saw Amber (Neben) and focused on her at the end. I didn’t even look at my watch at that point."

Starting one minute behind Neben, Armstrong caught and passed the recent Tour del’Aude champion in the final 15km. Neben (Buitenpoort-Flexpoint), 2006 Pan American time trial champion and two-time national time trial championship runner-up once again placed second to Armstrong, finishing in 47:29.69. 2004 national time trial champion Christine Thorburn (Webcor-Platinum) finished third in the field of 43 riders in a time of 47:42.37.

Armstrong’s performance would have qualified her for a position on the U.S. team that will compete at the 2006 UCI Road World Championships in Salzburg, Austria, in September, but Armstrong’s third-place finish at the event last year already earned her an automatic nomination to that team.

On the elite men’s side, Ian McKissick (Recycled Cycles) took first among the field of 44 riders in 44:06.17 on the same 30km course. This year’s elite men’s competition was the first time an elite, amateur-only time trial championship had been contested in recent history due to the inaugural USPRO Time Trial Championships taking place in September in Greenville, S.C.

Joshua Frick (DC Velo-Martens Volvo) placed second in 44:27.38 and Kenny Williams (First Rate Mortgage) placed third.

In other internationally recognized categories, USA Cycling junior program phenom Tejay Van Garderen (Team 5280/eSoles) finished first in the field of 100 riders in the junior men 17-18 category. Van Garderen completed the 21km course in a time of 31:08.79 and improved upon his third-place effort from a year ago.

"I’m actually really surprised that I won since I just flew in from Europe a couple of days ago and I’m jet-lagged, but I’m just super psyched that I won," Van Garderen said.

"In time trials I’m used to a steady, set tempo, but here you’re big-ringing it, little-ringing it, standing up, sitting down, you could never get a rhythm. I was going insane … For the past few years I haven’t used watches or heart rate monitors on time trials, I just go by how I feel. I was just trying to make myself hurt."

Junior women 17-18 champion Jacquelyn Crowell (Colavita) took first in the field of 11 riders in 37:45.18 on the same course as the junior men.

Van Garderen and Crowell’s wins also earn them automatic nominations to the world championship team for this year’s UCI Junior Road World Championships in Belgium.

Recent USA Cycling Collegiate time trial champion Mara Abbott (Rio Grande-Sports Garage) continued her streak of national titles with a win in the U23 women’s category. Abbot clocked a time of 51:31.92 over the 30km course – a mark that would have placed her in the top 10 of the elite women’s race.

In the 15-16 age group, Nick Bax (Hot Tubes Development) and Danielle Haulman (Hot Tubes Development) earned national titles in the men’s and women’s division respectively, turning in times of 30:45.50 and 38:11.58.

Daniel Tisdell (LGBRC-Easton-Specialized) rode to a national championship in the junior men 13-14 group, posting a time of 15:04.81 over a 9km course and Coryn Rivera (Major Motion) captured a stars-and-stripes jersey in the junior women 13-14 age group, clocking a time of 16:39.31.

In the youngest age category, John Funk (PVelotek) earned a national title in the junior men 10-12 category with a time of 16:38.84, while Katrina Howard (entral Valley Cycling) grabbed a title in the junior women 10-12 race with a time of 19:13.48.

The USA Cycling National Festival at Seven Springs continues Friday with the U23 and all junior category criteriums at Jennerstown Speedway.

Complete results