HINCAPIE MAKES 5TH OLYMPIC CYCLING TEAM

George Hincapie is getting a fifth chance at winning Olympic gold.

The longtime American cycling star — best known for helping Lance Armstrong win the Tour de France seven consecutive times — was announced Tuesday as one of nine discretionary selections to the U.S. Olympic team that'll race in Beijing next month.

Hincapie, 35, becomes the first U.S. racer to make five Olympic cycling teams. No other American has raced a bike in more than three.

"It's very exciting," Hincapie told The Associated Press on Tuesday from his home in Spain. "I never would have imagined being in five Olympics. It's a huge accomplishment, and I feel honored to do another one."

Hincapie — who'll begin his 13th Tour de France on Saturday — joins two-time Olympians Jason McCartney and Christian Vande Velde (a 2000 track cycling Olympian), along with Olympic rookie David Zabriskie as discretionary picks to the five-man American road squad. Levi Leipheimer earned an automatic Olympic spot by finishing third in last year's Tour.

The preceding story is taken from an account published at USA Today online. The complete story is found at:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/beijing/cycling/2008-07-01-team-announcement_N.htm

George Hincapie rides for High Road’s Team Columbia aboard the Giant TCR Advanced SL bicycle. No other team in the pro peloton has as many victories in 2008 as the men and women of Team Columbia. So far this season, Hincapie has won stages in the Tour of California and the Dauphiné Libéré.