The 18 cyclists in town over the week are seen as the future of American cycling. Many have already been signed by the top international and domestic racing teams. At next month's Tour of California — a warm-up stage race that attracts most of the world's top teams — USA Cycling will send eight of the U-25 racers to compete against the likes of Discovery Channel, T-Mobile and Team CSC.

With doctors like Heiden and Testa now at TOSH, and Johnson's Utah ties, bringing the national team to town was a natural move.

"The federation feels that to get the most out of their athletes, they'd like to tap into this knowledge," Heiden said. "The timing to bring them here was just right. And with our facility, they like to go to places that are much more specialized to specific events and sports. We're a natural fit for cycling."

And while cycling in the United States will likely never pass football, baseball or basketball in popularity, there is certainly a growth trend in the sport thanks to Armstrong.

"He helped make it real," Johnson said. "Him, and big races like the Tour of California and Tour of Utah put the sport in the picture for millions of Americans."

Though there were only road cyclists involved in this round of testing, TOSH has partnered with USA Cycling to provide testing and training to track, mountain, BMX and cyclo-cross racers.

"This is kind of like spring training for cyclists," Testa said. "Nowhere else in the country can an entire national team come together under one roof like they can here at TOSH and undergo the most comprehensive testing and training in preparation for the 2007 race season."

Athletes were evaluated in areas including VO2 max, lactate response, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal tests.

"We're looking to find out the highest and most efficient level of exercise they can sustain for a long period of time," Jim Walker, director of TOSH's sports science lab, said. "Sports is as much science now as it is practice. You need both to be the very best."

And scientific advantages, rather than the pharmaceutical ones, which have dogged the sport in recent years, are what USA Cycling is hoping will turn the tide for American cyclists.

With that in mind, many of the athletes in Utah for the scientific testing followed their lab experience with a couple of hours worth of icy air on Utah's roads.

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E-mail: jeborn@desnews.com