Emma Langley was not surprised that a rider from EF Education-TIBCO-SVB took the stars-and-stripes jersey at the women’s road race on the final day of the US Cycling Pro Road National Championships in Knoxville, Tennessee. But rather than her teammate Lauren Stephens landing on the top step of the podium for a second time, she found the prized jersey on her shoulders, with Stephens by her side as the bronze medallist.
“As a team we wanted to keep the jersey, it's amazing,” Stephens told Cyclingnews after the awards ceremony on Gay Street. “She's an up-and-coming rider and she will get to wear the jersey for the next year. I'm just honoured to get to stand on the podium next to her.”
On the other side of Langley was Lauren De Crescenzo (Cinch Rise), who was part of the decisive breakaway and finished second, just four seconds back after being part of another long-range attack like last year. But this time instead of a solo breakaway, De Crescenzo was part of a three-rider group with Langley and Skylar Schneider (L39ION of Los Angeles), which was whittled down to a head-to-head battle with the eventual new champion for the final two laps.
“We had an idea that Lauren De Crescenzo was going to go and play for the long game, that is her strength. We kind of had Emma keep an eye on her. So going into the race, that pair was something we were comfortable with,” Katheryn Curi, team director for EF Education-TIBCO-SVB, told Cyclingnews, excited to recap what had just happened in Knoxville.
“Having Skylar in there added a little bit of a [concern]. We thought how much are we going to give this break a leash? Skylar we know has a really good finish kick on her. I went up to Emma at one point and asked if she could win out of the three of them, and she was like, ‘eh’, so I told her to sit on.”
Curi said that when the L39ION rider was dropped from the front group, the odds tipped towards Langley, who moved up to the WorldTour level with EF Education-TIBCO-SVB this year having raced at the Continental level in the US. She won the GC this year at Joe Martin Stage Race.
“On the second to last lap I went back up to Emma and told her, ‘you can win, attack with 500 metres to go. Eat and drink.’ And then I yelled out the window, ‘We believe in you.’
Langley said that when her team director drove alongside and yelled those words of encouragement, “that meant the world to me”.
“I knew that our team could win and I knew that I could play a big part if I raced hard. Being in a break is always good because it takes the pressure off everyone behind you. But when I realised it was pretty likely that our break was not coming back, I knew all of a sudden it was on my shoulders to finish the deal. I was honest with Katheryn, I was hesitant and her saying she believed in me and the team believed in me made all the difference,” Langley said, clad in her new stars-and-stripes jersey.
“Lauren is so strong. I knew she could go from a long shot and I couldn’t, so my goal was to get over the climb with her, see if she would continue to do a bit of work and give it a punch at the finish.”
Curi said the whole team talked about the finish in the team meeting, about how hard the final three turns were to the line on Gay Street and how those corners in the final 500 metres would be the key to the win if there was a break. Langley watched her teammates in the pro criterium in that section closely and for good reason.
Langley confirmed that she took notes from both the men’s and women’s finishes at the crit on Friday night. This is the first year that the road race has had the same final kilometre as the pro criterium.
“It sure was helpful just to see that the last corner was the time to go and be first wheel through that. It gets pretty tight, lots of twists and turns, and then downhill after that last turn, so pretty hard to make up [if you aren’t first].
“It’s so special. It’s just a huge honour that I am the one [to get the jersey],” Langley added.
Curi could not stop gushing about the work of all five riders, who all finished in the top 12 with the two medallists – Veronica Ewers finished sixth, Clara Honsinger in ninth and Emily Newsom in 12th.
“I think we came into this race with five cards to play, we had five strong women. Clara [Honsinger] and Emily [Newsom] who were amazing, they were kind of workhorses. And then Lauren, she is so savvy on a bike and strong as well. Being a defending champion, one could look at that as extra pressure, but she can disengage and say ‘yes, I won the jersey, but I also have four other teammates that have the ability to win’,” Curi said.
“Veronica we have seen has hit the ground running, both here in the US and over in Europe. While the course is not necessarily a climber’s course, that climb [Sherrod Road] is her strength. Where it may take energy from other riders, I think that is her playground. So you put her on that climb, Veronica can use the climb as a place to put other people on the back foot and take energy out of their legs.
“I am proud of how everyone raced. It was truly a team effort.”
