And the award goes to...

Little 500 Grand Marshal Jonathan Vaughters will have more responsibilities than riding in the pace car and talking to fans Saturday. \nVaughters, a former top-ranked U.S. cyclist and six-time Tour de France participant, will be choosing one outstanding men's Little 500 rider to receive the inaugural "Most Valuable Rider" award. But the award carries much more prestige than just MVR status -- it will give the recipient a one-year opportunity to join Vaughters and his TIAA-CREF Under-23 team to race and begin building a professional cycling career.\n"I have a team of what I consider the top young talent of the United States who want to become professional cyclists," Vaughters said. "I want to give (the MVR winner) an invitation to be part of that and potentially join our team in the future. This will really be a chance to give them some advice and the beginnings of a platform in cycling."\nVaughters began his professional career in 1994, and just four years later he represented the United States as a member of the U.S. Postal Service team with cycling legend Lance Armstrong. After Vaughters retired from cycling, he saw the need for financial and developmental support for young riders between the ages of 16 through 22. He then formed Team TIAA-CREF, which trains and sponsors young riders in hopes of making cycling a full time career. The program's goal is "to give future champions the skills to develop and continue their cycling careers and bring help to those who support them in their journey."\nTo find the Little 500 rider who will join his team, Vaughters said he will look for the most outstanding rider of the day -- the one who will put in a stellar performance in order to get his team to win the race. Without a large background knowledge of the riders, Vaughters will not base the award on what riders have accomplished in the past, but who will rise to the occasion race day. \n"I'm going to watch the race and use my years of experience in cycling to determine the largest contributor. I'm looking for the anchor of the team, the guy that's in there for more laps, who is the trunk of the tree for the team. I'll basically judge how much time they stay out front and how they break away from the field," Vaughters said.\nBut Vaughters visit isn't only exciting to Team TIAA-CREF hopefuls. IU Student Foundation Little 500 Coordinator Rob Rhamy said having Vaughters at the race is meaningful to not only cycling enthusiasts, but to the tradition of Little 500. \n"He is one of the premier American cyclists that just retired. He contacted me early in the year and was just really excited about our event. He just wanted to become a part of that. It's always a big deal for us to get high-profile athletes from the cycling world or any other, so that, I think when you get guys from the cycling world here .. .it just lends credibility to our event," Rhamy said. \nBut the overall excitement and challenge lies with the riders themselves. Little 500 preparation can be stressful enough without the added pressure of having to deliver a near-perfect performance. Though the chance to take their careers to the next level is within reaching distance, senior Cutters rider Jason Fowler said most riders' goal is the race -- first and foremost. Fowler said the chance to race professionally is only in the back of riders' minds.\n"The award does give added pressure, but I'm more focused on the race," Fowler said. "Most people are going to want to do good in the race, but this is a huge opportunity. It's very special and very rare."\n-- Contact staff writer Katie Schoenbaechler at kmschoen@indiana.edu.