Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 2007

Carson, Calif. - Bobby Lea of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team earned the eighth elite national title of his career Saturday by teaming with Colby Pearce to win the Madison at the USA Cycling Elite National Championships.

Lea and Pearce jumped out to a fast start and held off Rahsaan Bahati and Austin Carroll (Rock Racing) in the 40-kilometer race, out-scoring them 22-17. Defending champions Brad Huff and Michael Friedman (Team Slipstream) finished third with 16 points.

Lea’s win makes him an automatic qualifier for USA Cycling’s 2008 men’s endurance Talent Pool team. From this team, USA Cycling will select the athletes who will represent the United States at the Olympic Games in Beijing, the World Championships in England and in four UCI World Track Cup races.

Lea earned two other podium finishes during the championships at the ADT Event Center. The 23-year-old won a bronze medal in Friday night’s 60-lap points race as Friedman successfully defended his title in the event. Thursday night, Lea finished fifth in the scratch race, which was won by David McCook (Kelly Benefit Strategies presented by Medifast).

In the Madison, Lea said he and Pearce wanted to accomplish two things: get off to a good start and not let any of the other teams get a lap up.

“It's such a long race you can have big momentum shifts, so there is no rule to starting it out,” Lea said. “We were hoping to crack the whip early to catch guys in traffic (because) there is always a lot of confusion and we were hoping it would work in our favor.”

Lea’s victory was his fifth of the season. It raised Toyota-United’s win total to 39 for 2007 and to 94 in the team’s two-year history.