Emily Ehrlich sets record with fourth consecutive GC win at Valley of the Sun Stage Race in Arizona
Virginia's Blue Ridge-TWENTY28 puts four riders in top 10 as 'our teamwork was flawless'
Emily Ehrlich (Virginia's Blue Ridge-TWENTY28) not only defended her elite women's title at Valley of the Sun Stage Race on Sunday, but she became the first rider in 33 years to earn the GC title across four consecutive years.
Once the time trial was securely in hand, with a 37-second advantage to Fount Cycling's Marjorie Rinaldo, the 31-year-old held steady across the road race and criterium stages to keep Rinaldo at bay, the Fount rider moving to third overall at 10 seconds back. VBR teammate Marlies Mejías used a stage 2 road race victory to finish second overall, 7 seconds back in the GC.
"Winning VoS for the fourth time is proof that it holds a special place in my heart, and I'll always be grateful for the opportunities, inspiration, and confidence it has given to me," Ehrlich told Cyclingnews.
"VoS is a great way to open the season especially because it focuses on three different disciplines of road racing in three days, it's a sure-fire way to accelerate your early season fitness, and it's been an important part of doing that job for me the last four years."
North American teams descend to Arizona for the warmer climate and the unofficial start to a compressed western swing of events and team camps, VoS bookended with the four-stage Tuscon Bicycle Classic, February 21-23. Held in the greater Phoenix area, VoS offers racing for pros, amateurs and juniors, including points for the USA Juniors Cup.
Canada's Carson Mattern (TaG Cycling) used a victory in the 95-mile (153km) road race to secure the GC title for elite men. Cory Lockwood (Golden State Blazers) began the weekend as the first VoS overall men's leader by winning the ITT. After the 20-year-old Mattern took over the GC on stage 2, the Blazers' rider then finished safely in the field in the criterium to secure second overall, 16 seconds separating the two. Tim McBirney (Team Mike's Bikes p/b Equator Coffees) was 20 seconds off the overall mark for third on GC.
While the final criterium stage never played into the overall podium, the one-mile loop in downtown Phoenix provided exciting racing, the Golden State Blazers dominating the men's laps past the state capitol with Cory Williams and Tyler Williams going one-two. In the women's contest, Kendall Ryan (L39ION of Los Angeles) won in a photo finish ahead of VBR teammates Olivia Cummins and Mejías.
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Ehrlich came in as the favourite, putting her time trialling skills on display on the 10-mile (16.1km) race against the clock in Buckeye. Last year she put her TT engine to work on the track, winning gold medals at the Pan-American Championships in Carson, California in the Individual Pursuit and Team Pursuit. That was her first-ever track competition.
"I'm especially looking forward to racing the Pan American Championships for team pursuit and individual pursuit. My team pursuit team also comprises two other teammates that I was able to race with at VoS and get to know better this year. I'm very excited to see what we can do together. I'm excited to see how I can continue improving on the track in general, going into my second year of training and racing on the track," she told Cyclingnews, her ultimate goals being qualification for track and road Worlds.
Not only did Erhlich unseat Geneviève Jeanson as the winningest rider at VoS (2001-2003), but her Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28 team earned a GC title for a ninth time. The US Continental programme placed four riders in the top 10.
"Our teamwork was flawless despite this being our first race together. Racing for such a strong team is very exciting" said newly-signed Anna Hicks, who finished seventh overall.
Hicks will be part of the core group riding this weekend in Tucson, along with Ehrlich and Mejías, while Rylee McMullen and Sofia Arreola will join from track competition in their home regions. McMullen won gold medals at the Oceania Championships in the Points and Team Pursuit races while Arreola qualified for the Mexican national team.
USA Juniors Cup
Valley of the Sun was the second stop of eight events in 2025 for the USA Juniors CUP Race series. TWENTY28 Aevolo women swept the 17-18 podium, Landrie Mclain taking the overall with teammates Emma Jimenez and Bridget Ciambotti on the GC podium.
The men's 17-18 overall title went to Beckam Drake (HIll's Sport Shop). Benjamin Juracich (DDP Elite Cycling Team) was second and Rowan Child (GEPLA Watersley R+D) third.
The overall GC winners will be confirmed at Tour of America's Dairyland in June, with the Junior 17-18 men’s and women’s categories 1/2/3 receiving automatic nominations for a 2025 National Team trip, partially funded by the USA Juniors Cup.
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Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast). Her favorite road and gravel rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France), and some mtb rides in Park City, Utah (USA).