Nat Thompson: Pedaling prestige

Nat Thompson played all types of sports, from football to soccer to cross country to sailing, but it wasn't until he was a sophomore in college that he found his real love -- bike racing.

He became so involved in the sport that he took a year off from college to train with a top cyclist in Colorado.

Then late last year, he was accepted to train at the prestigious Johan Bruyneel Cycling Center in Belgium. One of 11 riders (five from the U.S.) to earn an invitation, he left for Belgium on March 1 and will spend the next 31Ú2 months training with some of the best cyclists in the world.