The USA Biking Professional Highway Nationwide Championships kick off in Charleston, West Virginia, tomorrow with elite, U23, junior and para-cycling competitions happening all through the week.
The venue first hosted the championships in 2024, and USA Biking plans to return again to town for a number of extra years.
Elite racing kicks off on Wednesday, Might 21, with the time trial races earlier than transferring onto criterium racing on Friday, Might 23, and ending on Monday, Might 26, with the highway races.
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The time trial course takes place solely on Kanawha Boulevard alongside the Kanawha River. The ten.4-mile race in opposition to the clock is pan-flat with simply 95-feet on elevation achieve, and the course options two U-turns to maintain racers on their toes.
Friday’s criterium includes a flat, six-corner course that begins and finishes at Haddad Riverfront Park.
The highway race course consists of two distinct loops with two climbs to make a 13.1 miles lap with 1,126-feet of elevation achieve. Elite males are scheduled to finish 10 laps for a 131-mile race and greater than 10,000-feet of climbing, however the girls solely full 6 laps for a 79-miles race with 6,756-feet of climbing.
The course instantly heads to the otherside of the river from the beginning/end for the primary climb up Bridge Highway earlier than descending again down and crossing the river once more. Racers then head alongside a flat part parallel to the river over to a climb up Wertz Avenue. After descending again all the way down to Kanawha Boulevard, riders navigate an 8 flip circuit to get again to the beginning/end.
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Names to Watch
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For the time trial, final 12 months’s elite girls’s chief, Taylor Knibb (Hoka-Trek), will likely be in Charleston to defend her stars and stripes jersey, however she’ll be met with some sturdy competitors from final 12 months’s second-place finisher, Kristen Faulkner (EF-Oatly-Cannondale). Additionally comfy within the aero extensions this 12 months is Alia Shafi (Fount Biking), who received this 12 months’s Redlands Bicycle Traditional TT stage.
Within the males’s time trial, Tyler Stites (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) completed second final 12 months and will likely be a quick man to observe. Jugo Scala Junior (Undertaking Echelon Racing) and Eric Brunner (Aggressive Edge Racing) have additionally had TT success this 12 months at Redlands and the Tour of the Gila.
Final 12 months, the lads’s criterium was dominated by Undertaking Echelon Racing, which swept all three podium steps with Stephen Bassett, Brendan Rhim and Scott McGill—all three of whom will likely be in attendance. Lucas Bourgoyne (Staff Cadence Cyclery PB Encore Wire) and Michael Garrison (MGR p/b +SpeedStudio) have seen success on the USA Crits circuit this 12 months, whereas L39ion of Los Angeles and Staff Winston Salem could have sturdy squads.
The ladies’s crit in 2024 was received by Coryn Labecki, who’s now retired. However runner-up Elizabeth Dixon (Fount Biking Guild) and third-place Kendall Ryan (L39ion of Los Angeles) will likely be competing. Cynisca’s Alexis Magner and L39ion’s Holly Breck can even be riders to observe. LA Sweat and United Biking can even have sturdy groups.
Olympic gold medalist Faulkner will undoubtedly be a risk within the highway race, the place she’ll be seeking to repeat her 2024 victory. Earlier nationwide champion Lauren Stephens (Aegis Biking Basis) additionally plans to toe the road. Fount’s Shafi and Ellexi Snover are coming off constant stage outcomes at Redlands, whereas Galen Bollard (Aggressive Edge Racing) received stage 4 of Gila (Stephens was victorious within the general).
Not one of the males’s 2024 podium performers are on the beginning record for this 12 months. As an alternative, the roster is headlined by WorldTour expertise in Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) and Riley Sheehan (Israel Premier Tech). Simmons’ little brother Colby will likely be there for EF Schooling Easypost, and the Ineos Grenadiers will likely be represented by Andrew August and Artem Schmidt. Scott Mcgill (Undertaking Echelon Racing), Quinn Felton (CycleSport.com), and Owen Cole (Staff Winston Salem – Circulation) are additionally names to observe.
The way to watch
(Picture credit score: Getty Photos)
The criterium and highway race will likely be streamed reside on FloBikes.
Might 23
6:30 p.m. ET – Ladies’s Elite Criterium
8 p.m. ET – Males’s Elite Criterium
Might 26
8 a.m. ET – Ladies’s Elite Highway Race
1 p.m. ET – Males’s Elite Highway Race