Road nationals head to Winston-Salem

By clippedin

America’s top professional road cyclists will descend on Winston-Salem May 27-28 for the 2016 Volkswagen Professional Road and Time Trial National Championships, where they will vie for Stars-and-Stripes jerseys and make a final push for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

Time trial

The two-day competition begins with the individual time trials in Yadkin County.

The professional men will begin at 8 a.m. on a 48-kilometer course along Old U.S. 421 in Wilkes County, 45 minutes west of Winston-Salem. The professional women will race later Friday morning on 33 kilometers of the same course.

Back-to-back Olympic Gold Medalist Kristin Armstrong (TWENTY16 p/b SHO-AIR) looks to repeat as the women’s pro national champion, while Andrew Talansky (Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling), who won in 2015 will skip the race and prepare for the Tour de France.

Road race

Last year’s women’s pro champion and 2016 Olympian Megan Guarnier (Boels Dolmans Cycling Team) leads a loaded women’s field on the 140-kilometer, nine-lap contest before North Carolina native Matthew Busche (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) lines up to defend the Stars-and-Stripes in the men’s 187-kilometer, 12-lap race.

Travis McCabe (Holowesko Citadel), after an impressive three top-10 finishes in the Tour of California, said he’s still fatigued from the race heading into road nationals.

“I’m just trying to recover and hoping to have legs for nationals, but right now I’m heading into the race with no expectations. I’ve learned from the past years that anything can happen.”

The start/finish line for this event will be located on W. 4th Street at Popular Street, with the pro women starting at 9:30 a.m.

More information on the 2016 Volkswagen Professional Road and Time Trial National Championships, including technical guide, course maps, ticket sales, past results and more

Masters and Para Championships

Ahead of the May 27-28 pro competition, the week kicks off with the May 24-28 Volkswagen Masters and Para-Cycling Road National Championships.

There, all 35+ age divisions and Para riders will race for road, time trial and criterium national titles at several locations— Lewisville, Wilkes County, the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds and downtown Winston-Salem. Click here for full schedule of events.

Photo: Matthew Busche