Brooke Miller (cyclist)

Brooke Miller
Miller in 2009
Personal information
Full nameBrooke Miller
Born (1976-03-21) March 21, 1976 (age 48)
Huntington Beach, California, U.S.
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Team information
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typeSprinter
Professional teams
2003–2005UCSC Cycling
2005Squadra Torani
2006PABW Powered by TIBCO
2007–2010Team TIBCO
Major wins
United States Multiple National Champion

Brooke Miller (born March 21, 1976)[1] is an American former professional road racing cyclist and U.S. national team member. In 2008, she won both the women's criterium and road race national championships.

Biography

Brooke Miller was born in Huntington Beach, California. She did not start to cycle until she was in graduate school, having been an elite volleyball player at the University of California at Berkeley. It was not until Miller was invited to attend the USA Cycling Women’s Talent ID camp in 2005, that she learned that women peak older than men, and she then started to take cycling seriously.[2][3]

Miller became a member of the US National Team in 2007, and competed in Europe, coming second in the first stage and winning the third stage of the Tour de l'Ardèche in France. She also came third in the third stage of the Holland Ladies Tour in Denekamp.

She graduated with a PhD in Evolutionary Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz in spring 2007,[4] and began racing full-time in 2008, although she does work as a software developer in her spare time.[1]

Following her successful racing season in 2007, Miller continued to ride for Team TIBCO in 2008, and is also the team's Marketing Director, managing "sponsor relations and strategic development, establishing and strengthening growth-oriented industry partnerships."[5]

She is the 2008 United States National Road Race and Criterium Champion. Miller won the first women's criterium to be held alongside the men's Tour of California, the race was sponsored by the Redwood Regional Breast Center.[6] She also competed in the Tour de l'Aude and the Tour of New Zealand.

Miller's ultimate goal was an Olympic gold medal, she had dreamed of this since she was a child. She began chasing her dream in volleyball before switching to cycling. However, she retired from the sport in August 2010 following the Chris Thater Memorial Classic, the official end of the women's NRC calendar.[7] Miller cited difficulty living away from home in Europe and not wanting to make the sacrifices necessary to secure her spot on the 2012 Olympic team as the main reasons behind her retirement.

Major results

2006
1st Stage 2, Nature Valley Grand Prix, Cannon Falls
1st Stage 5, Tour de Toona, Martinsburg
2007
1st Martinez
1st Santa Clarita
2nd Stage 1, Central Valley Classic
2nd Indio Grand Prix
1st Stage 2, Nature Valley Grand Prix, Cannon Falls
3rd Stage 4, Nature Valley Grand Prix, Minneapolis
3rd Stage 6, Holland Ladies Tour, Denekamp (NED)
2nd Stage 1, Tour de l'Ardèche (FRA)
1st Stage 3, Tour de l'Ardèche, Cruas (FRA)
2008
1st United States United States National Road Race Championships
1st United States United States National Criterium Championships
1st Tour of California Women's Criterium, Santa Rosa
2nd Central Valley Classic, Fresno
2nd Stage 5, Le Tour du Grand Montréal, Mont-Saint-Hilaire (CAN)
2nd Liberty Classic
3rd Stage 1, Nature Valley Grand Prix, St. Paul Lowertown
1st Stage 4, Nature Valley Grand Prix, Minneapolis
1st Manhattan Beach GP
1st Davis
3rd Stage 2, Cascade Classic, Three Creeks Snow Park
1st Stage 4, Cascade Classic, Oregon
3rd Chicago
2nd Bank of America Invitational
1st Hanes Park Classic
2010
1st Clarendon Cup

References

  1. ^ a b c Official website
  2. ^ "CBR interview: Brooke Miller". Chicago Bike Racing. August 10, 2007. Archived from the original on August 21, 2008. Retrieved September 3, 2008.
  3. ^ Leo Maxam (August 28, 2008). "Brooke Miller: Counting down the days until London Olympics". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Archived from the original on June 11, 2011. Retrieved September 3, 2008.
  4. ^ "Awards and Honors - UCSC's Brooke Miller wins cycling championship". UC Santa Cruz.
  5. ^ "Contact". Team TIBCO. Archived from the original on October 10, 2008.
  6. ^ "Tibco's Brooke Miller Wins First Ever Amgen Tour of California Women's Criterium in Santa Rosa". Amgen Tour of California. Archived from the original on July 23, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  7. ^ "Miller announces surprise retirement from women's peloton". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved September 1, 2010.