CYCLING
The Killington Mountain School Cycling team offers student-athletes access to the best possible training and competition schedule in the country. At KMS we strive to develop highly competitive junior cyclists, while ensuring that every athlete receives an exceptional college preparatory education.
Killington Mountain School is a designated USA Cycling Center of Excellence. USA Cycling recognized KMS based upon our success with the development of junior athletes. The USA Cycling Center of Excellence (COE) explains that the designation is awarded to “select junior and under-23 development teams which excel in the development of young cycling athletes. Centers of Excellence meet strict requirements and may qualify for grants from the USA Cycling Development Foundation based upon quantified results. The current programs have consistently demonstrated the ability to develop young riders into nationally competitive athletes, and annually place riders in USA Cycling Regional and National development camps, and in the USA Cycling National Development Program.”
On the bike, KMS provides coaching, mentoring, training and preparation for competitive cycling events across the USA in the disciplines of road, mountain bike and cyclocross. We strive to teach good sportsmanship and impart knowledge of race strategy, rules, and cycling safety. Our athletes gain a healthy perspective on cycling and learn the importance of hard work, structured training, good nutrition, equipment maintenance, and adequate rest.
Our team consists of cyclists of racing ages 13 through 18, and has experienced success at every level of junior racing this year, including two who made the U.S. Junior National Team.
In addition to these outstanding results, every one of our athletes is supported throughout the college application process in finding a school that best suits him or her academically and athletically. Members of the cycling team are expected to work toward their full academic potential, and they are held responsible for course work whether traveling or racing closer to home.
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Overview
The goal of the KMS Cycling Team is to foster a lifelong love for cycling and fitness while racers are supported by a strong, personalized and athletically oriented academic environment.
Killington Mountain School offers competitive cycling on three tracks. The first, for dedicated student-athletes who wish to pursue road cycling, mountain biking and cyclocross racing development at an elite level, is a year-round athletic program offered in conjunction with our full-term program. The second is a junior development team comprised of student-athletes between 8 and 14 years old that introduces younger athletes to competitive cycling. The third track is for KMS winter sports athletes pursuing cycling on a limited basis in the spring and fall.
The KMS Cycling Team experience is unique in the school's ability to structure student-athletes' studies and coursework around and through their training and racing schedules. The small class size and personal attention KMS student-athletes receive prove highly conducive to a healthy athletic atmosphere while challenging even the most academically motivated student-athletes. At KMS, athletes flourish both in class and on the race course because the instructors have a clear understanding of the training and racing demands on our student-athletes.
While the KMS Cycling Team program is designed around full-time, full-term cycling athletes, wintersports athletes at KMS are encouraged to take part in the team at any level, whether just to stay in shape or to take on some serious off-season competition. The winter sport coaches work with these athletes to plan a program that balances off-season training with cycling goals.
Annual schedule
KMS student-athletes in the full-time cycling program begin each school year with the Green Mountain Stage Race before jumping into the cyclocross season and attending a few late-season road criteriums. From late September through early November, the team races in the prep-school mountain bike league each Wednesday while racing cyclocross most weekends. The fall and winter culminate with the New England Cyclocross Championships prior to Christmas and the U.S. Cyclocross Championships in early January.
After a much-needed period of active rest, the team enters a strength-building phase that wraps up as racers leave for spring training camp in South Carolina. The training intensity grows as the team prepares for spring racing that includes challenging classics such as the Tour of the Battenkill, Tour of the Dragons and the Killington Stage Race while also participating in the prep-school road racing series. This part of the road season peaks at the Junior National Road Championships in late June and the Fitchburg Stage Race in early July. After a short break, road racing picks up again for 17- and 18-year-old riders at the only UCI junior road race in North America—Canada's Tour de l'Abitibi—after which most riders will focus on preparation for the GMSR and cross season. For truly elite riders, the ultimate goal at this point in the season is to attend USACycling camps and then qualify for Junior World Championships in early fall.
Endurance Cycling Camps
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The KMS CX Camp is a 6-day, 5-night boarding camp for junior cyclists CX racing age 13 to 18. Immerse yourself in a week of cycling with like-minded peers, make new cycling friends, and have a lot of fun as you begin the journey toward meeting your cyclocross goals! Through a combination of training rides, training races, skills work, on-bike games and drills, gym work, demonstrations and discussions, you will leave KMS ready to race. We will give you the tools you need to continue to improve long after the camp ends. There will not be a lot of down time; this camp is targeted toward junior cyclists who are motivated to reach their potential in cyclocross. Expect to be on your bike most of the week and go home tired; but it will be that satisfying tired that makes you feel good, strong, and totally excited for that first race!
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