Tara Llanes
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Tara Janelle Llanes |
| Nickname | T |
| Born |
November 28, 1976 West Covina, California, United States |
| Height | 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) |
| Weight | 125 lb (57 kg) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Giant Bicycles/Pearl Izumi |
| Discipline | Bicycle Motocross (BMX) Mountain bike racing (MTB) |
| Role | Racer |
| Rider type | BMX: Off road MTB: Cross-country, downhill |
| Amateur team(s) | |
| 1989–1990 | Aussie Wear |
| 1990–1991 | Haro Designs |
| 1991–1994 | Haro/Cupri |
| 1994–1996 | Rotech |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 1996–1997 | Rotech |
| 1997–2000 | Specialized |
| 2000–2002 | Yeti/Pearl Izumi |
| 2002– | Giant Bicycles/Pearl Izumi |
| Major wins | |
 USA national champion 4x (2004) USA national champion downhill (2006) |
|
Tara Janelle Llanes (born November 28, 1976 in West Covina, California United States) is an American "Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1990-1993. She later became a champion Mountain Bike (MTB) racer. Her surname is pronounced "Yaw-ness" but for obvious reasons it is often mispronounced "lanes" as in the type of division of a pathway.
Note: Professional first are on the national level unless otherwise indicated.
Retired: Originally in 1995 to focus on Mountain Bike racing full time. She restarted in late 2006 with an eye toward making the 2008 Olympic Team. See "First professional race result". According to Llanes USA Cycling asked her tor restart her BMX career:
"USA Cycling approached me and said 'Now that it's an Olympic event do think (sic) you'd want to try try (sic) and compete...' and I said no. They kept talking to me, talking to me, until I entered a race and got fourth with the fastest girls that were there. So that had me rethinking things."
However, an apparent career-ending injury in MTB eliminated that possibility for 2008. She has however, stated her goal to be to return to racing competition.
*In the NBL Junior Women; No comparable level existed in the ABA.
**In the NBL it was/is Supergirls/Elite Women; in the ABA it is Pro Girls.
Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous ever changing co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question. When possible exact dates are used.
Note: Listed are District, State/Provincial/Department, Regional, National and International titles. Only sanctioning bodies that were active during the racer's career are listed.
National Bicycle League (NBL)
American Bicycle Association (ABA)
Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*
International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*
Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*
*See note in professional section
National Bicycle Association (NBA)
National Bicycle League (NBL)
American Bicycle Association (ABA)
International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*
Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*
...
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