US riders Faulkner and Stephens join Barta with road wins in Europe

Kirsten Faulkner earned her first win in the pink colours of EF Education-Cannondale in Belgium on Sunday with a solo victory at Craywinckelhof-Omloop van het Hageland. She accelerated from a front group of riders and rode away in time trial mode for the final 50km to win by nearly a three-minute margin. 

“I didn’t want to go solo. I attacked, and no one came with me. I took a risk, and it worked,” she said afterwards.

On the same day as compatriot Faulkner, Lauren Stephens raised her arms for the victory at the Clasica de Almeria in Spain. The reigning Pan American road race champion out-sprinted Yuliia Biriukova (Human Powered Health) for her first road win of the year with Cynisca Cycling. She called it a “heck of a day at the office”.

For Will Barta, it was not just his first win of the season but his first win as a professional. The 28-year-old, now in his third year at Movistar, won the fifth and final stage of Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana on February 4. On the 93km route, he broke away after just 8km and held off chasers, which included Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Victorious), for the solo victory into Valencia.

“It may have taken a while, but I’m so happy to finally have taken one. Hopefully, the first of many, but for now, I’ll enjoy this one,” he said on Instagram.

US time trial champion Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) won the overall title of the 2.Pro Spanish stage race. Fellow US rider Tyler Stites, the team leader for Project Echelon Racing, finished seventh on stage 5.

Border Wars gravel wins for De Crescenzo and Garrison

Lauren De Crescenzo and Michael Garrison (MGR p/b NICH Speed Club) won the 100-mile Border Wars gravel race in Franklin, Georgia, on February 24. 

Both Atlanta-based winners took solo victories and debuted setups with independent race programmes for the 2024 season. Garrison, riding on his own as MGR presented by NICH Speed Club after four seasons with the US Continental Hagens Berman Axeon team, completed the hilly route that crossed into Alabama in 4:52:29. 

Garrison, now 22 years old, got a brand new fork for his BMC just 12 hours before the race and powered away from five other riders to win his first race of the year. His time was 12 minutes ahead of second-placed James Noori and another 19 seconds better than third-placed Andy Scarano. 

De Crescenzo, who launched her privateer effort as LDC in her fourth full-time gravel season, finished in 5:04:49, which was good for fourth place overall alongside men’s open division podium finisher Scarano. She finished with a solid 32 minutes ahead of Olivia Patano, who was more than an hour ahead of third-placed Helen Rhymer. 

Rhim and Arreola take GC titles in Tucson

Brendan Rhim (Project Echelon Racing) and Sofia Arreola (Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24) won the general classification titles for pro men and pro women at the 36 years of the Tucson Bicycle Classic in southern Arizona, held February 23-25.

Rhim took the first leader’s jersey for men on Friday with a vicious 8:56 time on the 8km Maran Time Trial. He lost the GC lead by one second to Kellen Caldwell (Team California p/b Verge) on Saturday, who got into the breakaway during the Sahuarita Road Race and won a two-up sprint against Patrick Welch (Above+Beyond Cancer Team p/b BikeWorld). 

It took bonus times at intermediate sprints and a 44-second solo win by Rhim on the 64-mile Oro Valley Circuit Race on Sunday to lock up the GC title. His Project Echelon teammates, Cade Bickmore and Caleb Classen, worked together to keep control of the chasing peloton, and the duo finished in the top 20 overall. Caldwell held on for second overall and Welch third after the three days.

On the final day of racing, Virginia’s Blue Ridge had to defend the leader’s jersey held by Arreola. The 32-year-old Mexican rider won the 132-mile stage 2 Sahuarita Road Race. She finished fifth in the bunch sprint on Sunday, won by her teammate Marlies Mejías, to seal the overall by 39 seconds over Cecile Lejeune (CCB-Alpine Carbon p/b Levine Law Group) and another eight seconds ahead of Julie Lacourciere of Canada.

Mejías wore the first leader’s jersey for pro women with a victory Friday in the time trial, where she rode the 8km course in 9:57, tied with Alia Shafi. Mejías finished eighth overall, while Shafi settled for ninth.

Ehrlich and Lebo win pro titles at Valley of the Sun

Emily Ehrlich (Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24) and Joshua Lebo (CS Velo Racing) won the pro titles for women and men at Valley of the Sun (VOS) stage race, held February 16-18 in Arizona. The three-day Valley of the Sun included a time trial, road race and criterium, with 800 amateur and pro riders taking part in 25 categories. 

For Ehrlich, it was her third consecutive GC title at the early-season event, with her teammate Marlies Mejias Garcia sealing second place. DNA Pro Cycling’s Sarah Van Dam, who earned her first victory for DNA on the stage 2 road race, finished third overall by a slim nine-second total over her teammate Diana Peñuela. Virginia’s Blue Ridge landed two other riders in the top 10, Jennifer Valente fifth overall and Maeghan Easler seventh.

Lebo narrowly eclipsed Garin Kelley (Team California p/b Verge), who finished as the men’s runner-up by just six seconds, and Luke Arens (Kelly Benefits Cycling), who took third overall another four seconds back. Team California completed the top five, with Troy Fields and Kellen Caldwell fourth and fifth, respectively.

VOS was also the second stop for USA Cycling’s Junior Cycling National Series. EF Education-ONTO swept the GC podium for 17-18 men, winner Ashlin Barry’s total time just five seconds ahead of Peyton Burckel and third place taken by Noah Streif. Haylee Johnson (Competitive Edge Racing) won the women’s 17-18 overall, with Helena Jones (TWENTY24 Aevolo) in second and Brooklyn Raddin (Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24 Junior Devo) in third.

California to host 2024 Pan-American Track Championships

The 2024 Pan-American Track Cycling Championships will take place April 3-7 in Carson, California at the VELO Sports Center. The event is an opportunity for riders to claim qualifying points for the Paris Olympic Games. 

The schedule opens with the Team Sprint and Scratch race on Wednesday. Team Pursuit, women’s Elimination and men’s Keirin will be held Thursday. Friday features Omnium and Sprint for women while men compete in the Points Race and Individual Pursuit. 

The weekend will hand out 30 Pan-Am medals across 10 events. On Saturday, the women compete in the Time Trial, Points Race and Individual Pursuit, and the men race in the Omnium and Match Sprint. On Sunday, the women take on the Madison and Keirin, while men’s winners are determined in the Elimination race, Time Trial and Madison, the final event of the championships.

Tickets are available online and at the venue, with individual tickets starting at $25.50 and a five-day pack at $61.20.