Emma White (Rally UHC Cycling) and Travis McCabe (Floyd’s Pro Cycling) powered to criterium national titles at the 2019 USA Cycling Pro Road National Championship in Knoxville, Tenn. on Friday.
Watch the replay:
Pro women
White, who finished fourth in the pro race in 2018, made her move early in the final lap to take the front of the 61-rider Women’s field at the end of 70 minutes of cagey, tactical racing.
She held off a charging field, crossing just ahead of 2017 National Criterium Champion Lily Williams (Hagens Berman | Supermint) and 2015 National Criterium Champion Kendall Ryan (Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank).
“I’m thrilled; I’m really, really happy,” White said. “On the last three corners, I took first. The name of the game on this course is definitely to come into the last corner first, because it’s a downhill finish with less than 200 meters to go. At that point, it’s just going real hard.”
White said she enjoyed the fast racing on the technical 1.7-km course.
“Right from the gun, it was fast,” White said. “Hagens Berman | Supermint was putting people up the road left and right, so we knew that it was going to be a tough race and we had to play our cards right.”
White, 21, is the youngest woman to ever win the Pro Women’s Crit national title. The last person to hold that claim was Coryn Rivera (Team Sunweb).
“We all love it, we love to race hard, we love to race our bikes, we love to take chances and see what will happen. Sometimes it pays off,” Williams said of her Hagens Berman | Supermint team’s non-stop attacking and aggressive racing. “I didn’t win, but it’s a great day for me personally. Field sprint is something I’ve really wanted to improve on, so a pretty good result is pretty exciting.”
White also claimed the Under-23 criterium title for the second year in a row. Second place in the U23 category went to Chloe Dygert-Owen (Sho-Air TWENTY20), who finished sixth overall in the criterium. Third for the Under-23 Women was Skylar Schneider (Boels-Dolman Cycling Team).
Pro men
Positioning for the final corners was also key in the Elite Men’s race on the six-turn circuit. The 2017 National Criterium Champion McCabe had similar tactics to White, and also made sure to get to the front of the 76-racer field before the last hill and final three corners.
Hot on his wheel were Eric Young (Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling) and Miguel Bryon Jr. (Arapahoe | Hincapie p/b BMC), who took second and third place, respectively.
“It was really fast,” McCabe said. “I knew from last year that you had to come into the third to last corner in first place. And so I did. We sprinted from the bridge and beyond. I was able to get in there first and just sprinted for what felt like an eternity, probably half a mile and I held onto the win. It was just picture perfect, it was just what I expected to do and we came out with the win.”
Attacks flew from the start of the 80-minute race, but no riders were able to get away for more than a few laps before the ultimate bunch sprint to the line.
“This really is a proud moment,” McCabe said. “All the highs and lows of racing kind of all come down to winning a national championship and being able to represent the USA. Being able to wear the jersey for another year is pretty fantastic.”
McCabe won his first national criterium championship title in Knoxville in 2017.
“I’ve just been going around giving high fives to the crowd,” McCabe said. “Everyone came out and it was just roaring all throughout the night on the course. I’m loving it right now.”
Sunday’s road races
Sunday, June 30, brings the U.S. Pro Road Race Championship, held in downtown Knoxville for a third consecutive year. Returning this year will be the popular start/finish on South Gay Street and the Sherrod Road climb across the Tennessee River on the south side of downtown.
The Elite Women will make nine laps for a total of 71 miles (114 kilometers) beginning at 9 a.m. ET. The Elite Men will race 15 laps for a total of 118 miles (191 kilometers) beginning at 1:15 p.m. ET.
Both races will be broadcast live by WATE-TV in the Knoxville viewing area, and will be shown as a live webcast on the USA Cycling YouTube channel and Facebook page as well as broadcast locally on WATE 6 On Your Side.
To relive the action from today go to: https://youtu.be/tdUr0tJPDWE
Top 5 Elite Women
- Emma White (Rally UHC Cycling) – 1:05.49
- Lily Williams (Hagens Berman – Supermint) – 1:05.49
- Kendall Ryan (Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank) – 1:05.49
- Coryn Rivera (Team SunWeb) – 1:05.49
- Samantha Schneider (CWA Racing p/b TREK) – 1:05.50
Top 3 U23 Women
- Emma White (Rally UHC Cycling) – 1:05.49
- Chloe Dygert-Owen (Sho – Air TWENTY20) – 1:05.50
- Skylar Schneider (Boels – Dolmans Cycling Team) – 1:05.50
Top 5 Elite Men
- Travis McCabe (Floyd’s Pro Cycling) – 1:17.53
- Eric Young (Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling) – 1:17.53
- Miguel Bryon Jr. (Arapahoe | Hincapie p/b BMC) – 1:17.53
- Samuel Bassetti (Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling) – 1:17.54
- Colin Joyce (Rally UHC Cycling) – 1:17.54
For USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships results, click here.
For USA Cycling Para-cycling ITT and Road National Championships results, click here.
For start lists and call ups for all events, click here.
Broadcast and Social Media
- The U.S. Pro Road Race Championships for women and men will be webcast on Sunday, June 24 on the USA Cycling YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/user/
USACyclingOrg), and Facebook Page (@usacycling/) - The road race events will be broadcast live by WATE-TV in Knoxville, and other regional stations.
- Follow race updates on Twitter @usacyclinglive #USPro
- Follow other event updates on Twitter @usacycling and @knoxrocks
U.S. Paralympic Cycling
The U.S. Para-cycling events continued for a second day with national champions crowned in the exciting Para Relay event. Three-rider teams used the same course as the criterium riders on Saturday evening. Full results can be found here in the 2019. Competition for Para-cycling athletes conclude Saturday with the road races. Events begin at 8 a.m. from Ned McWherter Park on Riverside Drive. Award ceremonies will take place at approximately 3 p.m. Follow U.S. Paralympics Cycling onFacebook, Twitter and Instagram for updates throughout the event.
Content provided by USA Cycling