Over four days in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA Cycling hosted men’s and women’s national time trial, criterium, and road championships. The TT kicked things off Thursday, June 21, in Oak Ridge, followed by the criterium in downtown Knoxville on Friday evening. After a rest day, the marquee event, the road championship, was held in sweltering heat and humidity on Sunday, June 24.
The weekend started off with a pair of defending champions doing just that — Amber Neben (PX4 Sports) and Joey Rosskopf (BMC Racing Team) successfully defended their time-trial crowns. Neben retained her hold on the stars-and-stripes skinsuit by riding two laps of the 11km (7-mile) course along Melton Lake in Oak Ridge in 29:43 — 15 seconds faster than Taylor Wiles (Trek-Drops.) Finishing third in the 30-rider field was 21-year-old Emma White (Rally Cycling), giving her the U23 national title for women.
Like Neben in the women’s event, Rosskopf was the final rider out of the start house. Chad Haga (SunWeb) held the best time as 17 other riders in the 38-rider field crossed the line, but would finish second, 28 seconds behind Rosskopf’s winning time of 39:46 the three-lap course. Rosskopf’s BMC Racing teammate, Brent Bookwalter would finish in third, just six seconds behind Haga.
Under the setting sun and summer showers in downtown Knoxville, (Wolfpack-Hyperthreads) and Ty Magner (Rally Cycling) were crowned national criterium champions. Riding for a small team from Texas, the 29-year-old Ganzar surprised the star-studded field with a sprint win in the 75-minute contest, crossing the line just ahead of Kelly Catlin (Rally Cycling). Overcast skies and light showers gave way to blue skies as the pro men took the course for a 90-minute battle on the 1.1-mile, six-turn circuit. After a late burst of speed from teammate Brad Huff, Magner emerged from a three-man sprint for the national title. His teammate Eric Young finished second, followed by Sam Bassetti (Elevate-KHS) in third.
Sunday brought the signature event, the national road championship, contested in Knoxville for a second consecutive year, with a return to the course’s defining climb up Sherrod Road. The pro women races nine laps for a total of 114km (72 miles), and the pro men raced 15 laps for a total of 191km (120 miles).
In the women’s race, Coryn Rivera (Sunweb) out-sprinted three-time national champion Megan Guarnier (Boels-Dolmans) to take her first elite road title from a small group of contenders. Guarnier’s late attack was marked by Rivera’s teammate Ruth Winder, forcing a sprint from the select group. Emma White (Rally Cycling) rounded out the podium while earning the U23 national title, just as she did Thursday in the time trial championship, where she finished third and took the U23 TT title.
In the men’s race, 21-year-old Jonny Brown (Hagens Berman-Axeon) rode into a late-race breakaway of four riders with around 70km remaining before going it alone 20km from the line to become the youngest elite road champion in U.S. history. Of the other three from the breakaway, Robin Carpenter (Rally Cycling) finished second, 45 seconds off the winning time, and 32 seconds ahead of Jacob Rathe (Jelly Belly), who rounded out the podium. Gavin Mannion (UnitedHealthcare), who had initiated the decisive breakaway, finished fourth, four seconds behind Rathe. It was an emotional hometown victory for Brown, the younger brother of Nathan Brown (EF Education First-Drapac), who was born outside of Nashville. The Brown brothers grew up in Memphis, and both moved to Austin, Texas, however Jonny moved to Knoxville just one month prior to the national championships.
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- After a disappointing prior TT championship attempt, Tayler Wiles came into this year’s national championships full gas. She finished second, just 15 seconds off the win.
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- For the second consecutive year, Amber Neben dominated the women’s time trial championship.
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- Riders without much team support risked being stranded, like Justin Mauch (Marc Pro Cycling Team) was after flatting in the rain.
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- Chad Haga set a fast time early on, and despite racing in the worst conditions, he was only bested by one rider — the defending champion.
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- Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing) goes through mandatory TT bike inspection.
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- The final few riders sat in focused silence before their starts.
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- Joey Rosskopf (BMC Racing) repeated as national time trial champion.
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- Emma White (Rally Cycling) gets ready for the criterium championship. She would win the U23 title in all three disciplines.
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- Coryn Rivera lined up for the criterium championship and finished fifth, but remained focused on the road race.
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- The Tennessee Theater was a landmark for the criterium course.
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- Rain came on midway through the women’s race, turning the street paint slick.
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- Fans weren’t turned away by the summer rain.
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- The women’s criterium championship finish was decided by less than a wheel length.
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- Leigh Ann Grazer following her win, with teammate Carolyn Defoore wiping away tears of joy.
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- A narrowly missed win left the Rally women’s team with a case of second-place funk.
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- The downtown Knoxville area was converted into a race venue for the weekend. Combining the time trial, criterium, and road race onto a single host city made the national championships a bigger event for racers and spectators.
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- At times the men’s criterium field appeared larger than the 95 who started the championship race.
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- A huge crash with ten laps to go meant more than a dozen riders went to the pit under the free-lap rule.
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- The criterium championship was held in setting that has come to define the sport, in a heartland city on a warm summer night.
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- Strung out and all together with two laps to go, led by Brad Huff and Robin Carpenter of Rally.
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- Ty Magner and Eric Young finished 1-2 for Rally at the men’s criterium championship.
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- The women’s criterium championship podium of LeighAnn Ganzar (center) Kelly Catlin (left), and Jennifer Luebke (right).
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- Coryn Rivera pinned up her numbers on the eve of the women’s road race. A 9am start time required all preparation to be done the night before.
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- Rally’s Heidi Franz was an early animator of the women’s race, riding off the front for several laps.
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- Start and finish for the road race was close to the United States Courthouse in downtown Knoxville; 84 women started the race.
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- For many, the difficult conditions and course led to disappointment. Megan Heath sat out the final lap of the women’s race.
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- The Knoxville course connected the downtown to the neighborhoods via the industrial area.
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- The women’s field crossed over the river all together on the third lap.
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- Tayler Wiles was a favored rider, but with no teammates and the rest of field watching her, she found herself a marked rider.
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- Halfway up the last hill before the finish, Megan Gaunier (Boels Dolmans) had opened a slight advantage, but Rivera was coiled and ready to strike.
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- With 150 meters to go, the women’s road race field remained very close.
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- After three second-place USPRO finishes, Rivera finally grabbed the stars-and-stripes jersey that she’ll be able to wear at UCI WorldTour races for the next year.
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- Race-winner Coryn Rivera’s Liv Langma.
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- Post-race debrief at the Hagens Berman-Supermint Pro Cycling camp.
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- A hot and humid day required planning for nutrition and hydration. Sunscreen was nearly pointless with the amount of sweating about to take place.
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- The men’s USPRO field staged in the center of downtown Knoxville.
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- Call-ups for front included only three of the riders who would finish in the top ten.
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- The first group to cleve off the 121 who started was a nearly 25 riders, including several pre-race favorites.
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- Riders crossed the Gay Street Bridge across the Tennessee River to get to the twisty and narrow neighborhoods. The Gay Street bridge is the oldest of the four bridges in Knoxville, completed in 1898 by the famous Youngstown company.
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- By lap 8 of 15, for some the race had devolved to slamming beers and riding wheelies for the crowd.
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- Ben Wolfe pulled from a can of locally-brewed Yee Haw Dunkel after he pulled out his team radio earpiece.
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- Before the race, 2013 Vuelta a España winner Chris Horner (Team Illuminate) predicted a finish between first and 40th. In the end, he pulled out sometime after it became a four-man race.
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- Gavin Mannion (UnitedHealthcare) drove the break up the steeps of Sherrod Road.
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- Some riders had extra motivation for the championship. Brent Bookwalter’s decade-long tenure with BMC Racing Team, which includes eight Grand Tour finishes, may end this year as the team’s title sponsor bows out.
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- The USPRO circuit wound through the neighborhoods surrounding Knoxville, and included a combination of wide-open highway, downtown streets, and narrow, steep climbs and descents.
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- Afternoon rain showers came in the final laps and brought welcome relief to the heat and humidity from the day.
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- With three WorldTour riders and the previous year’s champion, the chase group was long on talent but short on organization, and never reeled in the four leaders.
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- After nearly winning the road championship in 2017, Neilson Powless (LottoNL-Jumbo)was active all race in helping establish a lead group, driving a chase filled with WorldTour riders, and chasing on his own. By the penultimate lap, these efforts left him blown and just ahead of the boom wagon.
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- After Jonny Brown rode away, the lead group of four became a chase group of three, with Jacob Rathe, Robin Carpenter, and Gavin Mannion riding for the podium.
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- Jonny Brown celebrated during the final turns of the downtown finish in front of a crowd that included many friends and family.
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- Although he had been on his own for 20km, Jonny Brown took one more check over the shoulder before crossing the line in Knoxville.
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- Jonny Brown’s ride, by the numbers.
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- Jonny Brown used an aluminum-framed team-issue Specialized Allez to win the national championship.
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- Tennessee native Jonny Brown, the youngest winner of the pro road championship, is flanked by Robin Carpenter (Rally Cycling) and Jacob Rathe (Jelly Belly.)