Marc Gullickson has been named program manager for USA Cycling’s mountain bike and cyclocross programs effective January 14, the national governing body announced Saturday.

Gullickson replaces Matt Cramer, who left USA Cycling late last year.

Before his retirement in 2002, Gullickson raced for 13 seasons on the domestic and international mountain-bike and cyclocross circuits. He represented the United States at 10 world championships during his racing career — five times as a mountain biker and five as a cyclocrosser.

Gullickson also was an assistant coach to Cramer for the U.S. national team at the past three UCI Mountain Bike World Championships and shared head-coaching responsibilities for the U.S. contingent at the last three UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - including the 2007 edition in which the American squad claimed an unprecedented three silver medals.

Following his racing career, Gullickson worked with several different racing organizations and companies, including Boulder Racing, Ground Zero Sports Marketing, the TIAA-CREF/Clif Bar Cyclo-cross Team and Hutchinson Tires.

In his new role, Gullickson will be responsible for creating and implementing initiatives that support the development of mountain-bike and cyclo-cross racers and further USA Cycling’s performance goals in international competition. He will also work with USA Cycling coaches to manage the selection of athletes to training camps and national teams.

"I'm very excited to be on board with USA Cycling," said Gullickson. "With only seven months to go before the Beijing Games, one of my immediate goals is to provide our Olympians with the highest level of support possible to compete to their potential this summer.

"On the cyclocross end of the spectrum, there is clearly a lot of momentum here in the United States. We need to continue to refine our approach to preparing riders for the world championships by exposing them to international competition on a regular basis and continuing to develop the domestic scene in the U.S. Thanks to the impressive growth rate of 'cross racing, we have a talented base of young riders ready to take us to the next level."

Pat McDonough, USA Cycling director of athletics, praised Gullickson’s accomplishments “at the highest level of mountain bike and cyclo-cross racing” and cited his experience in athlete management.

“Under Marc's direction, we look forward to the continued advancement of success for American off-road athletes,” he said.