The image of sprightly gymnasts tumbling across a balance beam has always drawn American viewers during the Olympics, just like pictures of bikini-clad beach volleyball players going for gold.In some sports, women trump the men when it comes to prestige -- and success.Might as well add cycling to the list.As the U.S. team heads for the Rio Olympics, the women wearing the stars and stripes are among the heavy favorites in several disciplines. Megan Guarnier and her teammates are perhaps the strongest team on the road, Kristin Armstrong is the two-time and defending time trial gold medalist, and the womens pursuit squad recently smashed the world record on the track.The mens squad would be happy to get a medal of any color. In any discipline.On the womens side were doing incredibly well and we have a lot to be proud of, USA Cycling chief executive Derek Bouchard-Hall said, and thats a product of two things: Americas acceptance of womens sport and Title IX, which has really helped with that. Were one of the top three countries in the world. Some of our programs are superb.Indeed, Guarnier is the worlds top-ranked rider and recently won the Giro Rosa, arguably the biggest stage race for women. In the same race, Olympic teammate Evelyn Stevens won a pair of stages and another teammate, Mara Abbott, won a stage and briefly held the leaders pink jersey.Three of the four riders on the Olympic team dominated the race. The fourth member? Armstrong.She won gold in the race against the clock at the Beijing Games and defended it four years ago in London. She has been working back from a second brief retirement for a shot at a three-peat.The womens road squad is so strong that two other riders, Carmen Small and Amber Neben, sought arbitration to determine whether they deserved a spot. And while both would have been a shoo-in on just about any other team, neither of them won their case for Team USA.Theres a lot of pressure, Guarnier said, but I dont think we can let that pressure factor into our performance. There is a certain point where the pressure is good and where it turns bad. The pressure to medal is good.Stevens will join Armstrong in contesting the time trial, and both are capable of medals. Stevens is a former world silver and bronze medalist in the discipline.This is really exciting, Stevens said. Megan is No. 1 in the world, Mara is one of the best climbers in the world, so yeah, I think we have a really great road team.On the BMX course, Alise Post recently stood on the podium at the world championships and is the worlds third-ranked rider. Her teammate, Brooke Crain, is ranked sixth.Over on the track, the pursuit squad of Sarah Hammer, Chloe Dygert, Kelly Catlin, Jennifer Valente and Ruth Winder are heavy favorites after their ride at worlds in March. They were more than 4 seconds better than the field in a race that took them just 4 minutes, 16.180 seconds.The world record (for men) is 3:51, so that just shows how strong and fast we are, said Hammer, who will also try to better the silver she won at the London Games in the omnium. One of the coolest things is looking back, and we chuckle about it, the last team (the U.S.) fielded at the world championships for men, I think was in 2006. And we beat their time.The men wont have a pursuit team in Rio. Their only riders on the track are omnium rider Bobby Lea and keirin rider Matt Baranoski, and both are considered longshots to medal.The road squad consists of just Taylor Phinney and Brent Bookwalter after a disastrous qualifying period left the Americans with fewer riders on the start line than Morocco and Iran. Both will contest the time trial, too, where Phinney is an outside medal contender.The best chance for an American medal from a mens rider is in BMX, where Nic Long is ranked No. 2 in the world and Connor Fields has a legitimate chance to land on the Rio podium.Still, they have their work cut out for them if they want to match their female counterparts.The mens side is a different challenge and thats where were struggling, Bouchard-Hall said, and theres two reasons. One is our peers are operating at an exceptionally high level. Its a big sport in Europe and they get some of their best athletes in the talent pool. For us, we compete with a lot of other sports and its harder to find those real genetic outliers.The other is investment -- we dont have near as much money to invest. We simply dont have the money to run those track programs, Bouchard-Hall said. Were disappointed where we are on the mens side but its a difficult challenge to overcome. Jack Lambert Womens Jersey . Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek defeated Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on the indoor hard-court at Belgrade Arena. The victory improved the Czech pairs impressive cup doubles record to 14-1. Antonio Brown Youth Jersey . Just as Montreal was settling into the first full working week of a new year, the Impact announced the appointment of their new head coach. http://www.steelersrookiestore.com/Steelers-Jack-Ham-Jersey/ . By having more great seasons. Manning was the only unanimous choice for the 2013 Associated Press NFL All-Pro team Friday. Dermontti Dawson Womens Jersey . The Masters champion and winner of last weeks Australian PGA has a three-round total of 14-under 199 at Royal Melbourne. "Im in a really good position for tomorrow," Scott said. Justin Layne Steelers Jersey . -- If this was Aaron Gordons final home game at Arizona, and it almost certainly was, then he went out in style. Victoria 367 (Finch 102, Harper 80, Mennie 4-64) and 0 for 36 need another 165 runs to beat South Australia 405 and 162 (Head 52, Holland 4-25, Stoinis 3-45) Scorecard Victorias Jon Holland and Marcus Stoinis sparked a South Australia collapse that gave the Bushrangers the upper hand on the third day at the MCG. The Redbacks had earned a first-innings advantage but their second-innings capitulation for 162 left Victoria chasing 201 for victory, and by stumps they were already 0 for 36, with Marcus Harris on 19 and Travis Dean on 17.The day had started with Victoria on 6 for 263 in reply to South Australias 405, and the lower order rallied to add 104 for the loss of the final four wickets. Although wicketkeeper Sam Harper missed the chance for a maiden first-class century when he was bowled by Adam Zampa for 80, late runss from Scott Boland (30), Holland (28 not out) and Chris Tremain (20) were valuable.ddddddddddddSouth Australia began reasonably well in their second innings and reached 3 for 107 before the collapse - they lost their last seven wickets for 55 runs. Holland turned one sharply in to bowl the left-hander Jake Lehmann for 28 and then he and Stoinis (3 for 45) ran through much of the rest of the order.The South Australia captain Travis Head top scored for the second time in the match, adding 52 to his first-innings 130, before he became the final victim for Holland, who finished with 4 for 25. Callum Ferguson ended his run of single-figure scores but managed only 24 before he was lbw to Stoinis. ' ' '