Kirsten Faulkner earned her first win within the pink colors of EF Education-Cannondale in Belgium on Sunday with a solo victory at Craywinckelhof-Omloop van het Hageland. She accelerated from a entrance group of riders and rode away in time trial mode for the ultimate 50km to win by almost a three-minute margin.
“I didn’t need to go solo. I attacked, and nobody got here with me. I took a danger, and it labored,” she mentioned afterwards.
On the identical day as compatriot Faulkner, Lauren Stephens raised her arms for the victory on the Clasica de Almeria in Spain. The reigning Pan American highway race champion out-sprinted Yuliia Biriukova (Human Powered Health) for her first highway win of the 12 months with Cynisca Cycling. She referred to as it a “heck of a day on the workplace”.
For Will Barta, it was not simply his first win of the season however his first win as knowledgeable. The 28-year-old, now in his third 12 months at Movistar, gained the fifth and ultimate stage of Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana on February 4. On the 93km route, he broke away after simply 8km and held off chasers, which included Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Victorious), for the solo victory into Valencia.
“It could have taken some time, however I’m so glad to lastly have taken one. Hopefully, the primary of many, however for now, I’ll take pleasure in this one,” he mentioned on Instagram.
US time trial champion Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) gained the general title of the two.Pro Spanish stage race. Fellow US rider Tyler Stites, the staff chief for Project Echelon Racing, completed seventh on stage 5.
Border Wars gravel wins for De Crescenzo and Garrison
Lauren De Crescenzo and Michael Garrison (MGR p/b NICH Speed Club) gained the 100-mile Border Wars gravel race in Franklin, Georgia, on February 24.
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Both Atlanta-based winners took solo victories and debuted setups with impartial race programmes for the 2024 season. Garrison, driving on his personal as MGR offered by NICH Speed Club after 4 seasons with the US Continental Hagens Berman Axeon staff, accomplished the hilly route that crossed into Alabama in 4:52:29.
Garrison, now 22 years previous, received a model new fork for his BMC simply 12 hours earlier than the race and powered away from 5 different riders to win his first race of the 12 months. His time was 12 minutes forward of second-placed James Noori and one other 19 seconds higher than third-placed Andy Scarano.
De Crescenzo, who launched her privateer effort as LDC in her fourth full-time gravel season, completed in 5:04:49, which was good for fourth place total alongside males’s open division podium finisher Scarano. She completed with a strong 32 minutes forward of Olivia Patano, who was greater than an hour forward of third-placed Helen Rhymer.
Rhim and Arreola take GC titles in Tucson
Brendan Rhim (Project Echelon Racing) and Sofia Arreola (Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24) gained the overall classification titles for professional males and professional ladies on the 36 years of the Tucson Bicycle Classic in southern Arizona, held February 23-25.
Rhim took the primary chief’s jersey for males on Friday with a vicious 8:56 time on the 8km Maran Time Trial. He misplaced the GC lead by one second to Kellen Caldwell (Team California p/b Verge) on Saturday, who received into the breakaway throughout the Sahuarita Road Race and gained a two-up dash in opposition to Patrick Welch (Above+Beyond Cancer Team p/b BikeWorld).
It took bonus occasions at intermediate sprints and a 44-second solo win by Rhim on the 64-mile Oro Valley Circuit Race on Sunday to lock up the GC title. His Project Echelon teammates, Cade Bickmore and Caleb Classen, labored collectively to maintain management of the chasing peloton, and the duo completed within the prime 20 total. Caldwell held on for second total and Welch third after the three days.
On the ultimate day of racing, Virginia’s Blue Ridge needed to defend the chief’s jersey held by Arreola. The 32-year-old Mexican rider gained the 132-mile stage 2 Sahuarita Road Race. She completed fifth within the bunch dash on Sunday, gained by her teammate Marlies Mejías, to seal the general by 39 seconds over Cecile Lejeune (CCB-Alpine Carbon p/b Levine Law Group) and one other eight seconds forward of Julie Lacourciere of Canada.
Mejías wore the primary chief’s jersey for professional ladies with a victory Friday within the time trial, the place she rode the 8km course in 9:57, tied with Alia Shafi. Mejías completed eighth total, whereas Shafi settled for ninth.
Ehrlich and Lebo win professional titles at Valley of the Sun
Emily Ehrlich (Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24) and Joshua Lebo (CS Velo Racing) gained the professional titles for men and women at Valley of the Sun (VOS) stage race, held February 16-18 in Arizona. The three-day Valley of the Sun included a time trial, highway race and criterium, with 800 beginner and professional riders participating in 25 classes.
For Ehrlich, it was her third consecutive GC title on the early-season occasion, along with her teammate Marlies Mejias Garcia sealing second place. DNA Pro Cycling’s Sarah Van Dam, who earned her first victory for DNA on the stage 2 highway race, completed third total by a slim nine-second complete over her teammate Diana Peñuela. Virginia’s Blue Ridge landed two different riders within the prime 10, Jennifer Valente fifth total and Maeghan Easler seventh.
Lebo narrowly eclipsed Garin Kelley (Team California p/b Verge), who completed as the lads’s runner-up by simply six seconds, and Luke Arens (Kelly Benefits Cycling), who took third total one other 4 seconds again. Team California accomplished the highest 5, with Troy Fields and Kellen Caldwell fourth and fifth, respectively.
VOS was additionally the second cease for USA Cycling’s Junior Cycling National Series. EF Education-ONTO swept the GC podium for 17-18 males, winner Ashlin Barry’s complete time simply 5 seconds forward of Peyton Burckel and third place taken by Noah Streif. Haylee Johnson (Competitive Edge Racing) gained the ladies’s 17-18 total, with Helena Jones (TWENTY24 Aevolo) in second and Brooklyn Raddin (Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24 Junior Devo) in third.
California to host 2024 Pan-American Track Championships
The 2024 Pan-American Track Cycling Championships will happen April 3-7 in Carson, California on the VELO Sports Center. The occasion is a chance for riders to assert qualifying factors for the Paris Olympic Games.
The schedule opens with the Team Sprint and Scratch race on Wednesday. Team Pursuit, ladies’s Elimination and males’s Keirin will likely be held Thursday. Friday options Omnium and Sprint for ladies whereas males compete within the Points Race and Individual Pursuit.
The weekend will hand out 30 Pan-Am medals throughout 10 occasions. On Saturday, the ladies compete within the Time Trial, Points Race and Individual Pursuit, and the lads race within the Omnium and Match Sprint. On Sunday, the ladies tackle the Madison and Keirin, whereas males’s winners are decided within the Elimination race, Time Trial and Madison, the ultimate occasion of the championships.
Tickets can be found on-line and on the venue, with particular person tickets beginning at $25.50 and a five-day pack at $61.20.